2022 Names Used NEARLY EQUAL for M and F

One of the best-known African names in the Western World because of the Somali-born model and wife of the late David Bowie.

A worthy update for Imani.

In the ancient Hindu religion, Indra is the warrior god of sky and rain, though in modern America, this might make a better girls' than boys' name. You can spell it Indre, like the French river, if you prefer.

Ira is one of the shortest, non-biblical sounding Old Testament names, belonging to one of King David's thirty 'mighty warriors.' It was widely used in the US from the 1880s to the early 1930s (it was Number 57 on the Social Security list in 1881), but fell off completely in 1993. Although Ira is also a retirement-account acronym, it's back on the table for those seeking a short biblical name for their sons, and reentered the US Top 1000 in 2016. A musical namesake is lyricist Ira Gershwin (born Israel), a literary one is Ira Levin, and there are two prominent Iras hosting NPR radio shows.

Isa is an Arabic variation of Jesus found throughout the world, popular among Muslim parents. Other spellings include Issa, Esa, Eissa.

Itzae is an ancient Mayan name showing signs of revival in our modern world.

Jackie Kennedy gave this name a lot of style, but it doesn't seem destined for a comeback the way brother name Jack has. Jackie and Jacqueline both peaked in 1961.

For girls, the most popular form of a very popular name. See also Jaidyn, Jaiden, and Jaden.

This attractive Old Testament option is the name of a place in northern Israel.

The cool form of James in the 1970s and '80s for both sexes. Still a more stylish short form than Jimmy, though many parents will want to call James by his entire, not-very-long name.

This name of the ten-year-old boy in the much loved and acclaimed modern classic To Kill a Mockingbird could find favor along with that of the character's sister, Scout.

See GEMINI.

Writer Jerzy Kosinski put this foreign variation on the U. S. name map.