Unisex Names for Girls

One of the designer baby names -- Chanel and Gucci are others -- that have appeared in this era of branding everything from your purse to your offspring.

With its soft sounds, its unisex appeal, and its nature connection, Rowan has been climbing the charts in recent years. The modern spelling twist, Rowen, has trailed behind, about 7 times less popular than the traditional option and not as well-used as Rowyn, but nevertheless, still given to 170 babies in a recent year.

Joining Lennon and Bowie in the realm of gender-neutral, classic rock-inspired names that feel fashionable today is Jovi — as in Bon Jovi. Jovi is a variation of the Latin Jove — another name for the Roman god of the sky, Jupiter.

Out-of-the-way place name (it's an antiquated holiday spot on England's south coast) that might make a brilliant choice. Actor/director Jon Favreau named his daughter Brighton Rose.

Oaklyn is one of the oak-related names moving up the popularity charts, along with more popular sister Oakley and near-identical twin Oaklynn. The Oaklynn spelling used for three times as many baby girls as Oaklyn -- 1800 vs. 600.

A recently popular spiritual name that entered the Top 500 in 2003.

Santana is a saintly name...or Latin rock band. While traditionally masculine, character Santana Lopez on the show Glee showed the name's potential for a girl as well. Sound-wise, it feels like Savannah with a twist.

Has joined Chanel and Armani on the fashionista hit parade of names. The meaning of Dior is uncertain but it may be "gold".

Noel, the French word for Christmas has been given to both boys and girls born on that holiday since the Middle Ages. For girls it's often spelled Noelle.

Some parents, including rapper Ludacris, are literally bestowing good karma on their children; it could just join the new spiritual name congregation.

Walker is an outdoorsy, Old Western-style name that leapt into the US Top 100 for boys back in 2022. Now, like a number of occupational names before it (think Sawyer, Palmer, and Parker), Walker is being used for an increasing number of girls.

One of the sweet simple unisex names balanced enough to stand on its own. Ali can either be used as a shortening of Al- beginning names and is also an Arabic name in its own right.

Berkeley, with an extra E, is the more familiar variation of this name, associated with the California school. But it's the streamlined Berkley that has proven itself to be more popular as a baby name, at least in the US.

The Wylie spelling (with that feminine Y) is much more common among girls than Wiley, but both have been climbing the ranks. Could Wiley be the next Riley?

Though Embry became famous as the name of a boy werewolf in Twilight, we think its Em- beginning and -y ending make it perfectly appropriate for a girl. You might consider it as an alternative to Emma, Emily, or Aubrey. Embry or Embury is an established English surname. 

Tied to the bluesy southern city and to the world heritage cite in Egypt after which it was named, Memphis is a modern choice with ancient history. Currently significantly more popular for boys in the US, as a place name with sounds reminiscent of Paris, Meredith and Emma, it has plenty of potential as a unisex choice.

Ames is that jewel of a name that's simple and familiar while at the same time being unusual and rare. With gender neutral surname names ending in S trending today -- think Brooks, Wells, Oakes -- Ames can make a perfect update on Amy or Amanda.

Though this may be thought of as a short form of the legitimate name Jetta, that one's gone to the cars. This sounds more modern if a bit supersonic. In the Netherlands, it's in the Top 100, originating as a short form of -ette ending names such as Henriette and Mariette.

As a Top 500 name for girls for more than 20 years now, Kamryn has become a widely-accepted version of the original Cameron.