America's Top Unisex Names of 2023

Updated Wed Jun 12 2024

Want to know the most popular unisex names? We’ve crunched the numbers for you.

Our definition of a unisex name is one that’s used for both girls and boys with a split of at least 90-10. (For the most popular names, there are always a few opposites recorded, like the 17 boys called Emma and six girls called William in 2023. But it’s not particularly accurate or helpful to call them unisex, when the balance is so overwhelmingly towards one gender.)

These gender neutral names cover a range of styles: surnames, place names, nicknames, nature, and virtuous word names. What unites them is that they are (mostly) modern names that have only seen significant use in the last few decades. There are very few grandparents of any gender named Riley, Justice, or Kendall yet. Unlike Emma and William, they don’t have centuries of association with one gender.

Mostly. Some old, established names, like Logan and Rory, have been used enough for the non-traditional gender that they now count as unisex names. Others have different cultural uses, and even different pronunciations, depending on whether they’re a girl or boy name, such as Angel and Azariah.

Read on for our chart of the most popular unisex names in the US in 2023, based on national data. They are listed in order of the total number of children given each name. (With thanks to Sophie Kihm for analyzing the data!)

Top 10 Unisex Names of 2023

Welcome Charlie to the Unisex Top 10! Charlie jumped two spots to Number 9, replacing Ryan, which no longer qualifies as unisex. Rowan, now Number 6, rose three places between 2022 and 2023, and Cameron rose one spot to Number 5.

Angel, now Number 7, and River, now Number 8, fell two and one spots, respectively.

The Top 10 shows us the most common unisex surname names (Parker and Avery), nature names (River and Rowan), and Irish and Scottish names (Logan and Cameron).

Avery, Riley, and Charlie are used more for girls, and the other seven lean more boy. The most gender-neutral name in the Top 10 is Charlie, which is about 52% female in usage. Parker and River are also gender-neutral — both have an approximately 35-65 girl-boy split.

Unisex Name Trends

Looking further down the Top 100 unisex names (listed further below), here are a few trends in sound and meaning that you may notice.

R names rule

R is the most common initial in the Top 100, heading up 13 popular unisex names: Reece, Reese, Reign, Remi, Remington, Remy, Riley, River, Rory, Rowan, Rowen, Royal, and Rylan.

Y and N endings

Over half the Top 100 names end in either an “ee” sound (like Charlie and Emery), or an N (like Sutton and Ocean). These clearly hold sway as gender-neutral endings, whereas the less common end sounds of Harlow and Sterling make them more distinctive.

What parents value

The most popular unisex names give a snapshot into what’s important for the people who chose them.

The most obvious are the English word names, which show we seek connection both with nature (Aspen, Sage, Wren) and with all that is noble, powerful and enduring (Royal, Justice, Reign). Some parents like the cool association with places (Dallas, Memphis), others with luxury brands (Armani, Amiri). There are names with close links to music (Lennon, Lyric), and others with a strong dash of the modern Christian trend (Shiloh, Salem).

Top 100 Unisex Names of 2023

In 2023, Layne, Miller, Monroe, Reece, and Sunny rose into the unisex Top 100. Anderson and Francis also entered the list, because this year they were given to enough girls to make the 90-10 split for unisex names.

These names replaced Asa, Dior, Layne, and Tru. In 2023, Baker, Haven, Koa, and Ryan were not gender-balanced enough to count as unisex names.

The fastest-rising names in the Top 100 were Sunny, which climbed 26 places, followed by Miller, Navy, Reece, Milan, and Onyx. The biggest drops were from Bellamy, Lyric, Skyler, and Legacy.

About the Author

Clare Green

Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at clare@nameberry.com

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