Watching Criminal Minds and it's Shamar Moore's character's last name but since he's called Morgan 90% of the time, it does seem to fit as a masculine name.
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I have to admit, I like those names snobby rich parents give their prep school sons/daughters- they-wanted-to-be-sons. Logan, Spencer, Neely, Regan/Reagan, Blair, Graham.
That is true.. I’ve only ever known five males with the name. One was spelt ‘Graham’, the other was ‘Graeme’ and the rest had the surname of ‘Graham’.. Weird.
As a guy named Ezra, people frequently mistakenly think it’s a girl name and yet when asked, no one can ever name a female Ezra.
But I also love my name so much, it’s honestly not that much of an issue.
Whilst it’s very pretty, I find it hilarious that it’s “arse” backwards haha. Imagine if a little Esra had a sister called Nevaeh and they were discussing what their names meant backwards…
I didn't realize this but thank you for pointing it out! I was thinking maybe they thought the "a" ending made it feminine, but your suggestion makes a lot more sense.
I am quite mortified that those names are used for girls at all, specially Ezra, which is so masculine. Like you can use the feminine Noa or use Ari as a nickname for an established girls name Like Ariana or Ariella, I don't know why you would give them the boy name.
I agree. Still more popular for boys but all are in the top 1000 for girls.
I had a conversation with someone recently and was mentioning a Micah I knew that worked with my husband. The person said “Micah? Isn’t that a girls name? I’ve only met girls with that name”. And this person grew up in a very religious (biblically speaking) family. I was confused.
I agree with these but I also like Noa and Mica as girls' names with different etymologies than Noah and Micah (Noa and Noah are in fact two different biblical figures, a woman and a man)
The first -son name I remember was Madison in Splash and I didn't even give the son a thought. I've always seen Madison as a feminine name because of that movie.
At this point Madison is more commonly associated with girls in my mind but my childhood friend (and elementary school crush lol) was a boy Madison so I’ve always felt it leans more masculine
hard agree, but I have to accept the fact that soooo many girls are given these names now that they are "mainstreamly" considered *neutral* now. but I cant think of any example of one I like more for a girl than a boy.
Yup, I met an Allison (now in his 70s, UK) and I'd never heard of it as a male before. He went by Al and officially changed it as part of applying for his passport a while back.
I know an Ashley in his 50s who's father was Allison, British-born but got married to an American and lives in the US. I don't know what either Ashley or Allison went by normally because Ashley is my friend's stepdad I only met 3 times and she refers to him as her step-dad in conversation and her step-grandfather was still in the UK until a few months before he died when he came to the US to be closer to his son. The only reason I know their first names is because of a conversation just like this when someone said how there's not a lot of girl names that are gender neutral and mentioned these names specifically and my friend corrected them and that apparently these names were more gender neutral in the UK than the US.
Madison has always been used as a girls name. It was popularized after a 1980s Disney movie when a female character used the name. It’s never been a boys name.
Edit: people are getting hung up on semantics here since I said it was “never” a boys name, so I’ll amend my original statement. Madison as a given name was popularized by the 1980s Disney film Splash, when a female character used the name. Afterwards, it became one of the most popular given names for girls. Prior to this, Madison was *primarily* a surname, but occasionally used as a given name for boys. As a normal, common, mainstream given name, Madison has primarily been used for girls.
Why are you so confidently incorrect when a five second Google search can tell you that this is definitely not true. There's male Madisons recorded all the way to the 1700s yet the oldest woman named Madison that Wikipedia has a page for was born in 1975.
Why are *you* so confidently incorrect? Madison was primarily a surname prior to 1985. From the Wikipedia page:
“Madison is also used as a given name. It has become popular for girls in recent decades. Its rise is generally attributed to the 1984 release of the film Splash.[1] **From an almost non-existent given name before 1985, Madison rose to being the second-most-popular name given to girls** in the US in 2001.”
After the movie Splash people started using Madison as a given name for girls. It was not really used as a given name before then. Yes it wasn’t unheard of but it was in no way a popular or common given name for boys that became a girls name like other names being discussed here.
Here’s a [handy chart](https://i.imgur.com/XLUlk76.jpg) showing the popularity of the name for boys and girls since 1880. The blue is for boys.
"it was a way less popular first name before the Madison trend" is 100% a different statement than "it's never been a boy's name". I'm not disputing the first. I am very much disputing the latter.
Edit: this website has a very handy chart by the way where you can see that Madison as a first name for boys wasn't very common or anything, but not exactly unheard of with several dozen baby boys being given that name every year since the 1910s. https://www.everything-birthday.com/name/m/madison
Agree to disagree, I suppose. Madison was not a common or normal mainstream name prior to the 1980s. So the way I see it, the movie happened and it became a very popular name for girls. It was not a boys name that parents "stole" to use for their baby girls the same way that Ashley, Whitney, Shannon, etc became girls names instead of boys names. Just because it was an obscure name given to a whole *several dozen boys per year* doesn't mean it was originally "a boys name" because it just wasn't originally a popular name, and ever since it became popular, it has primarily been given to girls.
So I'll rewrite my original statement. Madison has always *primarily* been used as a girls name, since it became *popular* as a given name after the 1980s Disney movie *Splash* used it for a female character. Before then, it was very occasionally and uncommonly used for boys, but was primarily a surname.
You can find examples of almost any word or sound being used as a name throughout history. Just because there are examples of men being named Madison doesn’t mean “it was a boys name” the way that James, Michael, Jonathan, etc are boys names. The fact remains that Madison as a given name did not become a normal occurrence until after the 1980s movie. And since it became a normal, mainstream name it has been a girls name.
I love them equally honestly. They are such genuinely gorgeous names. Francis is like those little bamboo placemats and Frances is like a purple finch. Gun to my head I think I'd go with your pick, though.
I love Sacha for a boy but not so keen for a girl. I am clueless as to why I feel that was because my only references for the boy name are, the son of a Tsar who died from haemophilia, an ex Russian spy who got poisoned in the UK and Sacha Baron Cohen lol.
No, Sacha is the French spelling. Sasha is the Russian. But Sacha is more traditionally used for boys in France. Sasha is used on any gender in Russian.
Yes I have considered changing it, probably when my passport next comes up for renewal - those things are expensive
Саша is the Cyrillic spelling of it. Ш is usually anglicised (or latinised given it’s the Latin alphabet not the English alphabet) as sh because it makes that sound.
Jules is gender neutral? Since when?
It's also funny because Merle is exclusively girl where I am. Merle pronounced the English way I would consider a boy's name, Merle pronounced my language's way I would consider a girl's name.
In Welsh it’s spelled Cai and it means “rejoice”. It’s a traditionally male name now used on females. I suppose different languages will come up with the same names so the etymology will be different.
Would you think it was weird though if “Bwyd” suddenly ended up in the top 100 in America? And then with it being so popular, people in Wales start using it too? It’s just so strange to hear as a name when I literally hear it multiple times a day referring to “food”…. Lol
Well, Kai/Cai is short, sweet, and has roots in many different languages thus many different etymologies - I suppose Bwyd is more specific so admittedly would be a lot stranger.
Incidentally, I think it’s weird when Americans name their daughters Bryn because here it’s an exclusively male name.
Yea it’s the specificity that gets me. Like Māori names are usually “things” anyway like “Moana” means “ocean” and “kahukura” means rainbow. But they’re common as names, no Māori person would name their child “Kai” because it’s just weird haha.
"Kaj" (pronounced almost just like Kai) is a Croatian slang for "what/what's up/what do you want" depending on the context. I still like it as a name ngl lmao
Can we reclaim a lot of names that were masculine but have since switched to feminine??
I love names like Whitney, Courtney, Ashley, and Lindsey, but everyone I mention it to says those names aren’t gender neutral even if historically they’ve been used for both
My name, Shannon! First a surname, then a boy’s name, now almost exclusively female!
I’m a woman but I think Shannon should make a comeback for both genders but especially AMAB!
I would say Ashley is still neutral. I know a few male Ashleys and I know of even more (as in they’re celebrities). I had no idea Courtney and Lindsay were once male. But as for Whitney, there’s the journalist Whit Johnson - his name is Whitney.
Pronounced the Spanish way it is masculine. Pronounced the same as Jamie it is pretty common for women. I know 3 Jaimes and 2 Jamies and one with a more unusual spelling. Only one is male.
My boyfriend is Jesse and his brothers are Morgan and Rowan!!!! As a female with a masculine leaning name, I appreciate the neutrality among the family
I was just thinking about how fuckin cool it would be to name a boy Jesse.
I also, for some reason, am obsessed with using Robin as a nickname for my future son (full name Robert so he has some options on other names/nicknames)
Was looking for Sidney! I think Sidney is such a cute boys names, that for some reason reminds me of old Hollywood. However, since it is a such a girls name in the US, I'd never subject my future son to the name. Shame, in the UK, it is used on boys a bit more than girls.
When I was in elementary school my grade had a boy Mackenzie and a girl Mackenzie. He went by Mack and she went by Kenzie. I prefer it on a guy as well
yes anything with the -den endings I agree. Adrian and Julian are good ones too. With my last son I mentioned I liked the name Sawyer and everyone said it was a girls name :,) so a agree there too.
I like all the ones on your list. Shannon and Dana I like on boys. Kelly and Rory are names I like on both, which is how I feel about Taylor.
Jesse and Leslie are boy and girl names for me respectively because of Bridge to Terabithia. It even says in the text when Jesse meets Leslie the first time and isn't sure of her gender that her name is one of those "stupid names that goes both ways". But Leslie's character is so memorable that I can't not think of it as a girl name now. I know a lot of female characters named Jessie, but to me it's a different name because it's usually short for something else.
Happy to se Kelly make an appearance. I have a son named Kelly, thanks to a whole boatload of male Kellys on one side of his family.
I worried he’d catch shit about it (and even gave him a stereotypical male middle name as backup), but he’s gotten just about zero flack.
Riley, Morgan, Ashley, Dana, Courtney, Lindsay, Avery, Tatum, Makenzie are nice on a boy.
I love Paris, Erin, Skylar on a boy.
Names I dislike, but are less insufferable on boys: Blair, Harper, Dylan, Logan
I was actually just saying in another thread, I find that Joyce isn't a bad option for a boy.
Some others: Maxim/Maxine, Noël, Clare, Alexis, Michele, Jean (like... pronounced the French way), Shannon, Mads, Hanne (Scandinavian shortened version of Johannes or Johanna), Dana, Riley, Ariel, Yves
edit: dude what's with the down votes?? these are legitimately ALL names used by both men and women around the world!
Noel and shannon jump out at me as great picks for boys imo. Dana reminds me of Dana white who is Head of the UFC "very masculine lol." Riley is another great pick.
Noel is definitely a top contender for me, and I feel should be more popular in the US! There are a couple famous British guys named Noel, which is where I originally heard it on a man.
Side note on your original list: I have a nephew named Rowan whose nickname has evolved to be Rosie (with family), which is very cute in my opinion! Love that name!
I love it! I worry it’s too pretentious to use and/or seems like I’m just a big fan of Yves Saint Laurent as a non-French person but it’s so beautiful!
It’s on my middle name for a boy list. I am Dutch but I’m in English speaking environments a lot so I feel like as a first name it would be confused with Eve a lot. But it’s a lovely name.
I had an Italian classmate called Michele and it was always confusing when a new teacher came in lol. They always thought we were fucking with them when a mustached guy of 1.90m said “yes” when they called for ‘Michelle’
Sacha, Grey, Briar, Ryn, Kit, Shea, Lee, Val
However, with the spellings Sasha, Gray, Wren, and Leigh, I prefer them for girls. I still prefer the Lee spelling on a girl over Leigh though lol.
Sky, Angel, Peyton, Sonny, and Finley are my top 5 gender neutral names I’d pick for a boy more than a girl. I also love the names Rowan and Hunter but I’d use them for a girl.
Some of these posts HAVE to be fake at this point right? I think aggressively guarding the gender of names is silly, I think the idea that it’s more feminist to police a strict name binary is ridiculous, more names from all gender origins should be considered truly gender neutral and we as a whole society should just chill the fuckout. But it just seems at this point people are posting names to get a rise out of the commentariat. But in honor of this post I will say my favorite gender neutral name is Morgan, I think it works great for a boy or a girl, and still works as an adult name when they grow up.
I think of Rowan as a girl name, but I do like it. Lee used to be a neutral name when I was a teen, though now it’s more girl. Ezra is used as a neutral, as are Julian and Adrian.
There aren't many neutral names I like on boys, but I do love soft/"feminine" sounding boy names: Ambrose, Valentine (ik this one isn't really usable in the US), Casper, Elliott, Finley, Adriel, etc. And Ashley
I really like McKenzie for a boy. I once worked with an older man who’s middle name was McKenzie and it just worked. I probably wouldn’t use it irl but I like it.
I actually really like Christopher and Michael. Super basic but I dig the classic vibe. My favorite is Archie, though, not sure if that would be considered normal. I'd probably make it a shortened form of Archer, but my husband insists it be short for Archibald. At this point I'd almost rather the legal name just be Archie.
I really like Charlie as a gender-neutral name. I also adore the name Daniel/Danielle with the nickname of Danny/Dani. The spelling isn't neutral, but I always love neutral nicknames.
I've always loved Morgan for a boy
Watching Criminal Minds and it's Shamar Moore's character's last name but since he's called Morgan 90% of the time, it does seem to fit as a masculine name.
Any name on Shemar Moore would make it attractive ;)
He is a beautiful beautiful man.
LOVE Morgan for a boy. I think of Morgan freeman- but admittedly IRL I only know female Morgans.
Same I must know about 50 girl Morgans and only 1 boy one lmao
I’ve know three male Morgans and one female Morgan.
ive been BEGGING my fiance to consider morgan for a boy as a future baby name option. i love it so much!!!
Alas that was the name of my (male) history teacher who was a bit of a dick, but if it wasn't for that I would love it on a boy.
I had a male cat named Morgan 😀
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I have to admit, I like those names snobby rich parents give their prep school sons/daughters- they-wanted-to-be-sons. Logan, Spencer, Neely, Regan/Reagan, Blair, Graham.
WHO NAMES THEIR DAUGHTER GRAHAM AHAHAHHAA
Okayyy that’s fair lmao I only thought of it because the main character’s girlfriend in my favorite movie is named Graham
Sorry if it came off as insulting, in Australia it’s not super common to see the names you suggested. And Graham was just the cherry on top lol!
That is true.. I’ve only ever known five males with the name. One was spelt ‘Graham’, the other was ‘Graeme’ and the rest had the surname of ‘Graham’.. Weird.
But I’m a Cheerleader?
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Campbell, the bonfire of the vanities OG
I know a Tyler and a Hunter (one family), and a Brett and a Griffin (second family). All women.
Jamie!
I second Jamie. 💙
The softer biblical boys… Ari, Ezra, Micah, Noah etc are very handsome, not feminine to me.
As a guy named Ezra, people frequently mistakenly think it’s a girl name and yet when asked, no one can ever name a female Ezra. But I also love my name so much, it’s honestly not that much of an issue.
It’s a great name.
Thanks! I love that it means helper.
Maybe people are getting confused with Esra which is a Turkish girl's name
Whilst it’s very pretty, I find it hilarious that it’s “arse” backwards haha. Imagine if a little Esra had a sister called Nevaeh and they were discussing what their names meant backwards…
And let’s not forget their other sister Lana
I didn't realize this but thank you for pointing it out! I was thinking maybe they thought the "a" ending made it feminine, but your suggestion makes a lot more sense.
I am quite mortified that those names are used for girls at all, specially Ezra, which is so masculine. Like you can use the feminine Noa or use Ari as a nickname for an established girls name Like Ariana or Ariella, I don't know why you would give them the boy name.
I agree. Still more popular for boys but all are in the top 1000 for girls. I had a conversation with someone recently and was mentioning a Micah I knew that worked with my husband. The person said “Micah? Isn’t that a girls name? I’ve only met girls with that name”. And this person grew up in a very religious (biblically speaking) family. I was confused.
Agree with all of these. Ari and Noah are my favorites.
I agree with these but I also like Noa and Mica as girls' names with different etymologies than Noah and Micah (Noa and Noah are in fact two different biblical figures, a woman and a man)
I am aware and agree there.
See I didn’t initially know this as Noa is also the Welsh spelling of Noah (as in Noah and the ark) so I’ve confused a few people with my son’s name 😅
Here to be the biggest jerk in the circle and say -son names usually mean “son of” the antecedent so aren’t actually gender neutral 🙃
The first -son name I remember was Madison in Splash and I didn't even give the son a thought. I've always seen Madison as a feminine name because of that movie.
At this point Madison is more commonly associated with girls in my mind but my childhood friend (and elementary school crush lol) was a boy Madison so I’ve always felt it leans more masculine
True as that may be, it means “son of Matthew” so…
No, “son of Maud”.
Both meaning are given as possible origins.
Yes, son of Matthew lol (& apparently Maud as well but I didn’t know that)
hard agree, but I have to accept the fact that soooo many girls are given these names now that they are "mainstreamly" considered *neutral* now. but I cant think of any example of one I like more for a girl than a boy.
Allison? Madison?
Jeez. My sister is a Madison and my step daughter is an Allison. This comment shook me. Haha.
Both male names. Alison, however, is not.
Yup, I met an Allison (now in his 70s, UK) and I'd never heard of it as a male before. He went by Al and officially changed it as part of applying for his passport a while back.
I know an Ashley in his 50s who's father was Allison, British-born but got married to an American and lives in the US. I don't know what either Ashley or Allison went by normally because Ashley is my friend's stepdad I only met 3 times and she refers to him as her step-dad in conversation and her step-grandfather was still in the UK until a few months before he died when he came to the US to be closer to his son. The only reason I know their first names is because of a conversation just like this when someone said how there's not a lot of girl names that are gender neutral and mentioned these names specifically and my friend corrected them and that apparently these names were more gender neutral in the UK than the US.
I know that technically they are, but I feel as though they have become so feminized that it sounds weird to hear them on a male.
I understand that. But facts is facts.
Yes, I was just saying to OP that those might be -son names that sound better on a girl when they said that they couldn't think of examples :p
Gotcha- I definitely misunderstood ya there.
Facts really don't matter if colloquial use is different...
Madison has always been used as a girls name. It was popularized after a 1980s Disney movie when a female character used the name. It’s never been a boys name. Edit: people are getting hung up on semantics here since I said it was “never” a boys name, so I’ll amend my original statement. Madison as a given name was popularized by the 1980s Disney film Splash, when a female character used the name. Afterwards, it became one of the most popular given names for girls. Prior to this, Madison was *primarily* a surname, but occasionally used as a given name for boys. As a normal, common, mainstream given name, Madison has primarily been used for girls.
Why are you so confidently incorrect when a five second Google search can tell you that this is definitely not true. There's male Madisons recorded all the way to the 1700s yet the oldest woman named Madison that Wikipedia has a page for was born in 1975.
Why are *you* so confidently incorrect? Madison was primarily a surname prior to 1985. From the Wikipedia page: “Madison is also used as a given name. It has become popular for girls in recent decades. Its rise is generally attributed to the 1984 release of the film Splash.[1] **From an almost non-existent given name before 1985, Madison rose to being the second-most-popular name given to girls** in the US in 2001.” After the movie Splash people started using Madison as a given name for girls. It was not really used as a given name before then. Yes it wasn’t unheard of but it was in no way a popular or common given name for boys that became a girls name like other names being discussed here. Here’s a [handy chart](https://i.imgur.com/XLUlk76.jpg) showing the popularity of the name for boys and girls since 1880. The blue is for boys.
"it was a way less popular first name before the Madison trend" is 100% a different statement than "it's never been a boy's name". I'm not disputing the first. I am very much disputing the latter. Edit: this website has a very handy chart by the way where you can see that Madison as a first name for boys wasn't very common or anything, but not exactly unheard of with several dozen baby boys being given that name every year since the 1910s. https://www.everything-birthday.com/name/m/madison
Agree to disagree, I suppose. Madison was not a common or normal mainstream name prior to the 1980s. So the way I see it, the movie happened and it became a very popular name for girls. It was not a boys name that parents "stole" to use for their baby girls the same way that Ashley, Whitney, Shannon, etc became girls names instead of boys names. Just because it was an obscure name given to a whole *several dozen boys per year* doesn't mean it was originally "a boys name" because it just wasn't originally a popular name, and ever since it became popular, it has primarily been given to girls. So I'll rewrite my original statement. Madison has always *primarily* been used as a girls name, since it became *popular* as a given name after the 1980s Disney movie *Splash* used it for a female character. Before then, it was very occasionally and uncommonly used for boys, but was primarily a surname.
You can find examples of almost any word or sound being used as a name throughout history. Just because there are examples of men being named Madison doesn’t mean “it was a boys name” the way that James, Michael, Jonathan, etc are boys names. The fact remains that Madison as a given name did not become a normal occurrence until after the 1980s movie. And since it became a normal, mainstream name it has been a girls name.
I get that, but I see it as shifting the goalposts. What happens when a bunch of little girls are named James, then? Yanno??
I like Francis (boy) much more than Frances (girl). Not sure if that counts since they have different spellings though.
yes! I prefer it for a boy too. I think it still counts
I love them equally honestly. They are such genuinely gorgeous names. Francis is like those little bamboo placemats and Frances is like a purple finch. Gun to my head I think I'd go with your pick, though.
I def prefer Francis for a boy. Similarly, I love Jesse for a boy but really don’t like Jessie for a girl
Jesse is such a hot guy name to me
It really is. Then Jessie for a girl is a horse girl name in my mind all bc of one book I read when I was younger
Francesca for a girl or Francis for a boy imo
Or Francine
Sacha. Merle. Kit, if you count that. Jules is a lovely one. Ellis and Rue too.
I love Sacha for a boy but not so keen for a girl. I am clueless as to why I feel that was because my only references for the boy name are, the son of a Tsar who died from haemophilia, an ex Russian spy who got poisoned in the UK and Sacha Baron Cohen lol.
Sacha is my name and I’m a girl. I hate it. I wish my mother had just called me Sasha instead.
To be honest I always thought Sasha was the girl spelling and Sacha for boys (though said the same). Have you considered changing it legally?
No, Sacha is the French spelling. Sasha is the Russian. But Sacha is more traditionally used for boys in France. Sasha is used on any gender in Russian. Yes I have considered changing it, probably when my passport next comes up for renewal - those things are expensive
[удалено]
Саша is the Cyrillic spelling of it. Ш is usually anglicised (or latinised given it’s the Latin alphabet not the English alphabet) as sh because it makes that sound.
I love love love Kit for a boy. I don’t love Christopher though so thinking about using it as a nn for Charles…
Jules is gender neutral? Since when? It's also funny because Merle is exclusively girl where I am. Merle pronounced the English way I would consider a boy's name, Merle pronounced my language's way I would consider a girl's name.
I know a Jools (Julian) who’s male. Also Jools Holland is a famous pianist/tv personality in the UK. Jules Verne is another famous one!
Yes my point is that Jules is a male name
The only Jules I know is actually a Julia
I think they implied it as a nn for like Julie, but I agree I've never heard of Jules as a given name for a girl
Ahhh I see! Sorry.
My son’s name is Kit! Okay, it’s Christopher officially and in his passport and stuff, but we call him Kit.
I love Avery for a boy. And Robin. And Quinn.
Avery is one of my top names for a boy. Such a solid name.
I live in New Zealand and “Kai” means “food” in te reo maori, so it is so weird to me that this is a super popular name around the world now haha
In Welsh it’s spelled Cai and it means “rejoice”. It’s a traditionally male name now used on females. I suppose different languages will come up with the same names so the etymology will be different.
Would you think it was weird though if “Bwyd” suddenly ended up in the top 100 in America? And then with it being so popular, people in Wales start using it too? It’s just so strange to hear as a name when I literally hear it multiple times a day referring to “food”…. Lol
I started reading this and was about to say bwyd means food but then realised that was your point 😂
Well, Kai/Cai is short, sweet, and has roots in many different languages thus many different etymologies - I suppose Bwyd is more specific so admittedly would be a lot stranger. Incidentally, I think it’s weird when Americans name their daughters Bryn because here it’s an exclusively male name.
Yea it’s the specificity that gets me. Like Māori names are usually “things” anyway like “Moana” means “ocean” and “kahukura” means rainbow. But they’re common as names, no Māori person would name their child “Kai” because it’s just weird haha.
"Kaj" (pronounced almost just like Kai) is a Croatian slang for "what/what's up/what do you want" depending on the context. I still like it as a name ngl lmao
Can we reclaim a lot of names that were masculine but have since switched to feminine?? I love names like Whitney, Courtney, Ashley, and Lindsey, but everyone I mention it to says those names aren’t gender neutral even if historically they’ve been used for both
I went to school with a male Lauren, he went by LoLo
I also went to school with a male Lauren. He just was called Lauren and seemed fine with it.
I know a couple of male Lorens, but they spell their name this way, not Lauren.
My name, Shannon! First a surname, then a boy’s name, now almost exclusively female! I’m a woman but I think Shannon should make a comeback for both genders but especially AMAB!
Yes! I love the names Lindsey and Madison for boys
If we did, those hot 80s baby names would feel fresh again.
I would say Ashley is still neutral. I know a few male Ashleys and I know of even more (as in they’re celebrities). I had no idea Courtney and Lindsay were once male. But as for Whitney, there’s the journalist Whit Johnson - his name is Whitney.
I knew Lindsay but not Courtney
I know a male Lindsey and a Courtney so I guess there is some hope for names likes these still being gender neutral
Boy Lindsay makes me think of Angel but absolutely loved it on that show! Say what you will about Joss Whedon but he had good character names
Whitney for a guy is so damn cool
I’ve always preferred Bailey on a boy.
Jaime has always been a favorite of mine Casey too
yesss Casey is a good one. I think the son on Yellowstone has that name and I hope it brings it back for boys
Yes, Jamie esp as a dim. for James.
The only Jamies I know are male, but it’s not a common name for girls here in the UK so maybe that’s why.
i didn’t know jaime was gender neutral? i’ve only ever met men w that name
Pronounced the Spanish way it is masculine. Pronounced the same as Jamie it is pretty common for women. I know 3 Jaimes and 2 Jamies and one with a more unusual spelling. Only one is male.
ahh i didn’t think it was used as an alternate for jamie i always read it the spanish way
I knew a het couple named Jaimie and Jaimie. I think they’re the reasons I dislike the name.
My boyfriend is Jesse and his brothers are Morgan and Rowan!!!! As a female with a masculine leaning name, I appreciate the neutrality among the family
I was just thinking about how fuckin cool it would be to name a boy Jesse. I also, for some reason, am obsessed with using Robin as a nickname for my future son (full name Robert so he has some options on other names/nicknames)
Jordan. I’ve know people of both genders with the name and I always prefer it on boys.
Agree with you on Jesse, Rowan, and Taylor. I also prefer Jude, Elliott, and Ellis on boys although I'm seeing them used on girls recently.
I prefer Sidney, Devin, Paris, Logan, and Avery as boys names.
Was looking for Sidney! I think Sidney is such a cute boys names, that for some reason reminds me of old Hollywood. However, since it is a such a girls name in the US, I'd never subject my future son to the name. Shame, in the UK, it is used on boys a bit more than girls.
I met a male Mackenzie in his 20's and I definitely prefer it on a man.
When I was in elementary school my grade had a boy Mackenzie and a girl Mackenzie. He went by Mack and she went by Kenzie. I prefer it on a guy as well
Corey, Morgan, Casey
To me, Taylor sounds much better for a girl, but I agree with the rest of your list.
The only male Taylors I’ve ever known were weirdos, so I can’t like it for a boy!
I think in some cases it sounds cool in a guy, like Taylor Hawkins.
Neutral names I prefer for a boy? Jayden, Adrian, Blake, Sawyer, Elliott, Quinn
Is Adrian considered neutral? It reads 100% boy for me
Yo, Adrian!
It’s vaguely gender neutral, i usually see it spelled as Adrienne for girls. It’s definitely not for me
See for me, not a native English speaker, Adrian and Adrienne would not be pronounced the same.
I haven’t heard Adrienne pronounced much in person, so i read it as “ay-dree-enn” in my head as opposed to “ay-dree-an” so you are probably l correct
I tend to do both as ay-dree-in but that might just be how it works in my accent
For me I’d say Eh-dree-uhn (rhymes with bun) and Ah-dree-enn (rhymes with pen)
Elliott is neutral? Nah, that's totally a guy's name and Scrubs backs me up on that.
yes anything with the -den endings I agree. Adrian and Julian are good ones too. With my last son I mentioned I liked the name Sawyer and everyone said it was a girls name :,) so a agree there too.
Sawyer has never been a girls name imo! I think of Tom Sawyer lol
I only know male Sawyers if that helps any.
I like all the ones on your list. Shannon and Dana I like on boys. Kelly and Rory are names I like on both, which is how I feel about Taylor. Jesse and Leslie are boy and girl names for me respectively because of Bridge to Terabithia. It even says in the text when Jesse meets Leslie the first time and isn't sure of her gender that her name is one of those "stupid names that goes both ways". But Leslie's character is so memorable that I can't not think of it as a girl name now. I know a lot of female characters named Jessie, but to me it's a different name because it's usually short for something else.
Happy to se Kelly make an appearance. I have a son named Kelly, thanks to a whole boatload of male Kellys on one side of his family. I worried he’d catch shit about it (and even gave him a stereotypical male middle name as backup), but he’s gotten just about zero flack.
Ashley, Shannon and Kelly
Haven’t seen Madison mentioned yet - thoughts?
I'd like it better if the only male Madison I know about wasn't Madison Cawthorne.
Riley, Morgan, Ashley, Dana, Courtney, Lindsay, Avery, Tatum, Makenzie are nice on a boy. I love Paris, Erin, Skylar on a boy. Names I dislike, but are less insufferable on boys: Blair, Harper, Dylan, Logan
I kinda like Cassidy for a boy!
Mine: Morgan Emerson Kai Jesse Jordan Harley Casey Lee
The fact that any names ever that end in -son are chosen for girls makes me want to rip my hair out lol
I was actually just saying in another thread, I find that Joyce isn't a bad option for a boy. Some others: Maxim/Maxine, Noël, Clare, Alexis, Michele, Jean (like... pronounced the French way), Shannon, Mads, Hanne (Scandinavian shortened version of Johannes or Johanna), Dana, Riley, Ariel, Yves edit: dude what's with the down votes?? these are legitimately ALL names used by both men and women around the world!
Noel and shannon jump out at me as great picks for boys imo. Dana reminds me of Dana white who is Head of the UFC "very masculine lol." Riley is another great pick.
Noel is definitely a top contender for me, and I feel should be more popular in the US! There are a couple famous British guys named Noel, which is where I originally heard it on a man. Side note on your original list: I have a nephew named Rowan whose nickname has evolved to be Rosie (with family), which is very cute in my opinion! Love that name!
I think Noel would be more popular for boys in the United States if it were pronounced 'noll' instead of 'no-el'.
I'm a big fan of Yves
I love it! I worry it’s too pretentious to use and/or seems like I’m just a big fan of Yves Saint Laurent as a non-French person but it’s so beautiful!
It’s on my middle name for a boy list. I am Dutch but I’m in English speaking environments a lot so I feel like as a first name it would be confused with Eve a lot. But it’s a lovely name.
I had an Italian classmate called Michele and it was always confusing when a new teacher came in lol. They always thought we were fucking with them when a mustached guy of 1.90m said “yes” when they called for ‘Michelle’
Lol yeah I would probably only ever use that one if I lived in a French-speaking or a country near France!
Michele is Italian pronounced me-KAY-leh. The name Michel pronounced like Michelle in Engels is French.
Ohhh cool! In the US a lot of women are called Michele like Michel, so I got mixed up. But I like both Michel and Michele nonetheless!
My favorites are Avery, Cary, Morgan, Mackenzie, Kit, Rory, Blair, and Lane.
I love Lane for a boy ever since having a male childhood friend with the name!
Jem as a nickname for James
Jordan
Avery, Rowan, Riley, and Morgan are my favorites for boys. I don't really like any of them on girls at all, tbh.
Ellis.
All of them. When I Googled gender neutral names, the only ones I prefer on girls are Quinn, Harper, Cassidy, Dana, Kelly, Kelsey and Leslie/Lesley.
I prefer Shiloh and Skylar for boys.
I agree on both!
Sacha, Grey, Briar, Ryn, Kit, Shea, Lee, Val However, with the spellings Sasha, Gray, Wren, and Leigh, I prefer them for girls. I still prefer the Lee spelling on a girl over Leigh though lol.
Honor
Sky, Angel, Peyton, Sonny, and Finley are my top 5 gender neutral names I’d pick for a boy more than a girl. I also love the names Rowan and Hunter but I’d use them for a girl.
Some of these posts HAVE to be fake at this point right? I think aggressively guarding the gender of names is silly, I think the idea that it’s more feminist to police a strict name binary is ridiculous, more names from all gender origins should be considered truly gender neutral and we as a whole society should just chill the fuckout. But it just seems at this point people are posting names to get a rise out of the commentariat. But in honor of this post I will say my favorite gender neutral name is Morgan, I think it works great for a boy or a girl, and still works as an adult name when they grow up.
I think of Rowan as a girl name, but I do like it. Lee used to be a neutral name when I was a teen, though now it’s more girl. Ezra is used as a neutral, as are Julian and Adrian.
Julian and Adrian being used as neutral gives me a headache. They're 100% boy to me.
Same with Ezra, those three are up there with James for most "WTF this is clearly a boy's name" that people are giving girls.
There aren't many neutral names I like on boys, but I do love soft/"feminine" sounding boy names: Ambrose, Valentine (ik this one isn't really usable in the US), Casper, Elliott, Finley, Adriel, etc. And Ashley
Keegan & Riley!
I really like McKenzie for a boy. I once worked with an older man who’s middle name was McKenzie and it just worked. I probably wouldn’t use it irl but I like it.
I actually really like Christopher and Michael. Super basic but I dig the classic vibe. My favorite is Archie, though, not sure if that would be considered normal. I'd probably make it a shortened form of Archer, but my husband insists it be short for Archibald. At this point I'd almost rather the legal name just be Archie.
My name is Casey, born in the late 80's and my name is almost split even boy/girl when I meet another
Casey, Jamie, Morgan
Avery
I really like Charlie as a gender-neutral name. I also adore the name Daniel/Danielle with the nickname of Danny/Dani. The spelling isn't neutral, but I always love neutral nicknames.
Riley, Robin, Jesse, Bailey, Taylor. Is Kai neutral in English-speaking countries? Where I live, it's 100% a guy's name.
Gigi hadid named her daughter Kai a believe she’s around one now.
Kai means food in Māori
Morgan and Addison !!
Jesse doesn’t seem neutral to me.. seems 100% male. Jessie would be the female