Gender Neutral Middle Names

Carlisle may be a male name in Twilight (he's vampire hero Edward's adoptive father), but in the real baby naming world, it's used about a quarter of the time for girls. Unusual now, we think Carlisle (or Carlyle) has the potential to be the next Carter.

Most things Jul-related – from the month of July to popular modern names Julia and Julian – originate with Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and the month name July is no exception. Fifteen girls and seven boys were named July in 2013, putting this month name into the class of gender neutral names.

Edgy German capital with definite possibilities as a baby name.

Brother for Heaven or Nevaeh.

An established place name, associated with a sunny island in the English Channel, the Garden State in the US, knitted pullovers, reality TV, and a Broadway musical. It peaked in the late 2000s and though it is now in decline, 130 girls and nearly 50 boys received the name in 2023.

-ey meaning "island". Alternative theories suggest it comes from jarl ,meaning "earl" or hjǫr meaning "sword".

Place names like Memphis, Harlem, Cairo, Vienna, Milan, and Astoria are right on trend at the moment, and Egypt could fit in, thanks to its similarity in sound to the likes of Edith and Eden. Alicia Keys used the name for her son back in 2010, but before that, it was used as a stage name for three famous belly dancers.

Swayze is an Anglicization of the German surname Schweiz or Schweizer, referring to a Swiss person. It's most commonly associated with late actor Patrick Swayze, of Dirty Dancing fame. Interestingly, it's overwhelmingly feminine, with over 83% of babies born with the name girls.

This geographic name has lots of Gallic elan. France Nuyen is a French-Vietnamese actress who starred in the Broadway hit The World of Suzie Wong.

If you want a nature name with surname style that speaks to your love of basketball, we suggest Laker.

Diamond sparkled all through the nineties--reaching as high as Number 150 in 1999. Although its shine has diminished quite a bit, it remains in use.

Y is often used to feminize a variant spelling of a name, though of course there's nothing intrinsically gendered about it. The Karsyn spelling is slightly off its peak for girls, but rising for boys.

More common -- when it was common -- with the Meyer spelling.

Timber as a name is given to slightly more girls than boys each year. It's actually got a cute sound, ala Kimber(ly) and may be an original tree choice for a girl. Timberly and Timberlee are also found (but not encouraged).

Familiar as the most common form of greeting in Hebrew, but also associated with top female model Shalom Harlow.

Athens is one of the newer place names, used for both baby boys and girls. The Greek city got its name from Athena, goddess of wisdom and courage.

Huntley was best known as Brinkley's news partner several decades ago. With the new genre of girls' names that are unusual surnames ending with the lee sound -- think Mosley, Yardley -- Huntley or Huntlea or Huntleigh might rise for girls.

The Latin word for love. Amor has strong potential for the middle name position.

Surname-sounding unisex cousin of Peyton is gaining in popularity, especially for girls.