Cool Unique Unisex Names

Seneca's distinguished heritage as the name of the ancient Roman philosopher-playwright who tutored Nero, and of an Iroquois tribe makes this an interesting choice for either sex.

Though it still swims out of sight below the Top 1000, Lowen jumped more than a thousand places in rank for girls between 2022 and 2023, a mark of a name destined for far greater popularity. Nearly a hundred baby girls were named Lowen in the US last year.

Indiana is one of those place-names (think Camden and Trenton) that sounds cooler than the place that inspired it. Its fashionable -ana ending certainly sounds eminently name-like, and Indie/Indy/Indi is one of the hottest nickname names for girls right now.

Tai, which rhymes with Kai, is a unisex name with a range of international references. It means the equivalent of "too much" in Chinese but is also used as a Maori name meaning "the tide" and in Romanian means "yours." While it's only ever ranked in the U.S. Top 1000 as a girls' name, during the height of the popularity of Olympic skater Tai Babilonia, Tai makes a simple intriguing modern choice for either gender.

Crimson could be a possible competitor for Scarlett's success, though it's lacking that Johansson charm.

Celyn, which starts with the hard K sound and rhymes with Helen, is a Top 100 name in Wales although largely unknown outside that tiny, beautiful country. It is usually a masculine name.

Lovely entry into the tree name genre, joining Maple, Pine, Oak, and Willow.

Quincy is a Presidential surname name that actually sounds both cute and strong when used for a girl. For the first time ever, Quincy joined the Top 1000 roster for girls in 2023, given to over 250 baby girls that year.

Although this is traditionally seen as a female name, via the classical mythological nymph who pined away for Narcissus until all that remained of her was a disembodied voice — it can also be used for boys. Remember that old song, 'Little sir echo, how do you do?'

Music legend David Bowie lends his adopted surname considerable charisma to this stylish Scottish name for girls and boys. Born David Robert Jones, he changed his name to avoid confusion with The Monkees' Davy Jones.

One of the fierce new animal names new to name lists, helped by its strong x-ending.

This undiscovered unisex name has lots of flair. It was first noticed as a girl's name, starting in the 1980's, on the long-running daytime drama Search for Tomorrow, with the character Adair McCleary, who had ahead-of-their-time brothers named brothers Hogan, Cagney and Quinn. But since Adair has yet to find many takers, it would make a fresh and appealing choice.

Puck was Shakespeare's mischievous pixie who'a had a few television incarnations in more recent years. A popular name in The Netherlands but nowhere else, from what we can tell.

This somewhat snobby-sounding surname popped onto the name map when Mariel Hemingway used it for one of her daughters.

Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their daughter's middle--and we wouldn't be surprised to see more girls with this heroic name.

More commonly known as the Mongolian Gazelle, the Zeren is an antelope that lives on the steppes of central Asia.

Dune is a name of several layers. It's a modern nature name, like Ocean, Bay and Reef, although rarer, conjuring up images of breezy sand dunes on summer beach days.

Halo is a glowing word name that's both cosmic and spiritual, and with its shiny imagery and bright sounds, it was one of the fasted rising names in 2023.

Ollie is used less often as a nickname for the mega-popular Olivia or the stylish Olive than Ellie is for Eleanor or Allie for Allison. That may be because Ollie has a much longer use as a nickname for boys.

This ancient name makes an intriguing alternative to River.