In 2024, close to 2,700 names appeared in the U.S. baby name data both as girl names and as boy names.
Which of these names were the most gender-neutral overall?
To create a useful set of rankings, I focused on names given to at least 150 babies in total. I sorted these names by how evenly they were given to babies of both genders, and the following came out on top:
| Female usage | Male usage | |
| 1. Charlie | 50.3% (2,109 girls) | 49.7% (2,084 boys) |
| 2. Arden | 49.5% (237 girls) | 50.5% (242 boys) |
| 3. Justice | 50.6% (206 girls) | 49.4% (201 boys) |
| 4. Akari | 50.7% (107 girls) | 49.3% (104 boys) |
| 5. Kit | 50.8% (188 girls) | 49.2% (182 boys) |
| 6. Huntley | 51.0% (102 girls) | 49.0% (98 boys) |
| 7. Alexis | 48.7% (604 girls) | 51.3% (636 boys) |
| 8. Kacey | 51.6% (225 girls) | 48.4% (211 boys) |
| 9. Divine | 48.3% (97 girls) | 51.7% (104 boys) |
| 10. Jael | 51.7% (148 girls) | 48.3% (138 boys) |
| 11. Jelani | 48.1% (87 girls) | 51.9% (94 boys) |
| 12. Ashtyn | 47.9% (81 girls) | 52.1% (88 boys) |
| 13. Jules | 47.9% (81 girls) | 52.1% (88 boys) |
| 14. Campbell | 52.1% (273 girls) | 47.9% (251 boys) |
| 15. Iman | 52.3% (92 girls) | 47.7% (84 boys) |
| 16. Dakota | 52.3% (1,155 girls) | 47.7% (1,053 boys) |
| 17. Hollis | 47.5% (188 girls) | 52.5% (208 boys) |
| 18. True | 47.5% (206 girls) | 52.5% (228 boys) |
| 19. Blake | 52.6% (1,457 girls) | 47.4% (1,311 boys) |
| 20. Brighton | 53.0% (88 girls) | 47.0% (78 boys) |
| 21. Robin | 53.1% (351 girls) | 46.9% (310 boys) |
| 22. Jamie | 46.3% (391 girls) | 53.7% (453 boys) |
| 23. Joan | 46.1% (188 girls) | 53.9% (220 boys) |
| 24. Sidney | 46.1% (117 girls) | 53.9% (137 boys) |
| 25. Chandler | 46.0% (297 girls) | 54.0% (348 boys) |
More than half of the above appeared on the 2023 list as well.
None of last year’s fifty-fifty splits were popular enough to make the cut, but Lou — given to 70 girls and 70 boys — came close.
Source: SSA
Image: Adapted from Gallery 1 by Sarah Howells under CC BY-SA 3.0.
