The Most Nonbinary Names in Every State

Updated Sat Aug 21 2021

Want to know the most gender-neutral nonbinary baby names? Depending where you live, they could be anything from Amani to Zen.

The most nonbinary names in the US are different from the most popular unisex names (which usually lean male or female). Here we’re talking about names that strike a perfect balance, used for equal numbers of girls and boys.

In the whole USA in 2020, the most popular gender-neutral name was Wisdom, given to 41 girls and 41 boys. Fast riser Bellamy was just a whisker away, with 337 girls and 335 boys.

Dive into the popular names by state, and you'll find a huge range of local favorites — as we’d expect from something that hinges on just one baby being given a name, or not.

Some are closely in line with the rest of the nation: Bellamy is exactly gender-neutral in Alabama, Illinois and Tennessee.

Other names are strongly male or female nationally, but nonbinary in certain states. Brecken in Kansas, Angel in Hawaii and Michigan, Noel in Tennessee, Kaidyn in Texas, and Spencer in Colorado and Kansas, are used equally for girls and boys, but are over 80% male in the US overall. Amani in Washington and Kapri in Florida are neutral, but are over 80% female at national level.

Top Trends in Nonbinary Names

Although the lineup of nonbinary names in each state changes from year to year, this year’s list has some definite style categories, all of them big trends in unisex names:

Multicultural -i endings like Amari, Amiri, Amani, Armoni, Khari… and Ari itself.

Nicknames like Charlie, Drew, Jamie, and Ollie.

Word names from nature (Onyx, River — and also Rivers in Mississippi), virtues (Justice, Honor), and royal, grandiose words (Majesty, Reign).

Surnames like Kingsley, Quincy and Sawyer.

Place names like Dakota, Denver, Harlem, Indiana and Milan.

Alternative spellings like Camdyn, Everette and Finnley.

Celebrity baby names like Rumi and True.

Popular Gender-Neutral Names

Below are all the gender neutral names with an even girl-boy split in at least one US state in 2020.

Some balance the scales in just one state, others in several. Amari, Drew and Oakley are gender-neutral in four states each, and Bellamy, Blake, Charlie, Finnley, Hayden, Landry, Murphy, River and Rory in three states each.

The genders in this list reflect the way they lean overall in the USA.

Most Gender-Balanced Name in Every US State

Here are all the baby names with a 50-50 girl-boy split (or as near as possible) in every state in the USA, in 2020.

The numbers are the girl:boy ratio. For example, in Alaska, 41% of babies named River were girls, and 59% were boys.

Alaska: River (41:59)

Alabama: Bellamy, Drew, Ocean (50:50)

Arkansas: Taylor (53:47)

Arizona: Drew, Frankie (50:50)

California: An, Bowie, Camdyn, Jaycee, Kasey, Kodi, Layne, Rana, Shai, Storm, Wynn, Yuri (50:50)

Colorado: Spencer (50:50)

Connecticut: Dior (47:53)

District of Columbia: Parker (50:50)

Delaware: Amari (53:47)

Florida: Arie, Campbell, Indiana, Kapri (50:50)

Georgia: Armoni, Jael, Milan, Ollie (50:50)

Hawaii: Angel (46:54), Blake (54:46)

Iowa: Blake, Denver, Landry, Oakley (50:50)

Idaho: Dakota (50:50)

Illinois: Azariah, Bellamy, Ellison, Gentry, Harlem, Landry, Murphy, Oakley (50:50)

Indiana: Carsyn, Karsyn (50:50)

Kansas: Amari, Brecken, Hayden, Phoenix, Spencer (50:50)

Kentucky: Amari, Jamie (50:50)

Louisiana: Gianni, Karsyn, Kasey, Murphy, Rylen (50:50)

Massachusetts: Dior, Milan (50:50)

Maryland: Zen (50:50)

Maine: Charlie (50:50)

Michigan: Angel, Linden (50:50)

Minnesota: Amari, Landry, Oakley (50:50)

Missouri: Ari, Finnley, Khari (50:50)

Mississippi: Drew, Lennox, Peyton, Rivers (50:50)

Montana: Charlie (46:64)

North Carolina: Amiri, Azariah, Jaylin, Laine, Laken, Tatum (50:50)

North Dakota: Blake, Hayden, Taylor (50:50)

Nebraska: Dakota (50:50)

New Hampshire: Charlie, River (50:50)

New Jersey: Sidney (50:50)

New Mexico: Sage (53:47)

Nevada: Lyric (50:50)

New York: Campbell, Cedar, Majesty, Rumi, True (50:50)

Ohio: Carsyn, Kelly, Sidney (50:50)

Oklahoma: Ari, Drew, Quincy (50:50)

Oregon: Lennox, Rogue, Scout (50:50)

Pennsylvania: Arden, Aries, Honor, Oakley, Rian (50:50)

Rhode Island: Rory (44:56)

South Carolina: Shiloh (50:50)

South Dakota: River (55:45)

Tennessee: Bellamy, Kingsley, Murphy, Noel, Ocean, Robin, Rory (50:50)

Texas: Amarii, Austen, Ayomide, Camdyn, Everette, Finnley, Iman, Kaidyn, Lyrik, Shai (50:50)

Utah: Finnley, Jamie, Miller, Reign, Shiloh (50:50)

Virginia: Everest, Ira, Justice, Onyx, Robin (50:50)

Vermont: Hayden (50:50)

Washington: Amani, Echo, Justice, Lyric (50:50)

Wisconsin: Laken, Phoenix (50:50)

West Virginia: Rory (50:50)

Wyoming: Sawyer (38:62)

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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