But what about "next generation" unisex names -- the names that are currently being given to both baby boys and baby girls?
Below is a list of today's most popular unisex names. All of them ranked among the top 500 girl and boy names in 2006.
Alexis
Angel
Ariel
Avery
Cameron
Casey
Dakota
Hayden
Jaden
Jaiden
Jayden
Jordan
Logan
Morgan
Payton
Peyton
Reese
Riley
Ryan
Skylar
Skyler
Taylor
While all of the above are unisex names, most are more popular for one gender than for the other, relatively speaking. For instance, Skylar and Reese are more popular for girls than for boys, while Angel and Jordan are more popular for boys than for girls.
In terms of looking for patterns and similarities, it's notable that exactly half of the names above end with the letter N. It's also interesting to see just how many of these names are "top 50" names: Alexis, Morgan and Taylor ranked within the top 50 for girls last year, while Angel, Jayden, Jordan, Logan and Ryan ranked within the top 50 for boys. (Perhaps their popularity for one gender is what's fueling their attractiveness for the other gender?)
There are other (albeit less-popular) unisex names outside of the top 500 as well. The names below all ranked among the top 1,000 girl names and boy names last year:
Addison
Amari
Bailey
Charlie
Dominique
Dylan
Emerson
Guadalupe
Harley
Jadyn
Jamie
Jaylin
Jessie
Justice
Kasey
Kendall
Micah
Parker
Quinn
Reagan
Rylee
Sage
Shannon
Sidney
Tyler
Because of the larger range, some of these names ranked very high for one gender and much lower for the other. For example, Addison ranked 27th for girls but 562nd for boys, and Tyler ranked 18th for boys but 741st for girls. In the coming years (depending on whether these gaps shrink or grow) these names may either become more strongly unisex or cease being dual-gender names altogether.
