# Quick: what's the first evenly unisex name that pops to mind? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141 "2017-10-29T15:10:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/1 "2017-10-29T15:10:24Z")
I’m curious what name(s) are likely to seem non-gender to most folks. By “evenly” unisex I mean names that are perceived to be given for either gender in roughly the same proportion, as opposed to names traditionally given to one gender except for that kid you used to know with the supercool parents and trendy clothes and faux hawk haircut. For example, to me the name Dana is a girl’s name that’s only very occasionally given to boys, but a stranger named Alex is about 50-50. Put another way, if I’m meeting someone to buy, say, a couch off Craigslist and the text says “My name is Dana” I visualize a female but wouldn’t be shocked or surprised at a guy … but if the seller is named Isabella but a cis dude shows up for the sale, I’ll assume there’s been some miscommunication. So for me, out of those examples only Alex “feels” evenly unisex. Does that make sense? tip-tapping away by phone, but why would you care? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/2 "2017-10-29T15:11:37Z")
Chris. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/3 "2017-10-29T15:13:08Z")
Kelly ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/4 "2017-10-29T15:13:42Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Chris. Came to say that Francis/Frances if i only heard the name. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/5 "2017-10-29T15:14:50Z")
Jamie, no idea why it popped into my head. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/6 "2017-10-29T15:18:58Z")
Sam ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/7 "2017-10-29T15:23:22Z")
Terry ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/8 "2017-10-29T15:26:52Z")
Taylor and Tyler. I’ve known about equal amounts of boys/men and girls/women with both names. I agree with Patx2, though, having also met a lot of Jamies of both genders. As for only **hearing** the name, Don/Dawn and Aaron/Erin both present problems in northeastern US accents so I wouldn’t be surprised to then meet a person of either gender when someone says “Hey, I’m going to introduce you to-”. Don and Dawn are pronounced exactly the same, and Aaron and Erin are nearly (but not quite) identical. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/9 "2017-10-29T15:28:49Z")
Leslie. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/10 "2017-10-29T15:30:32Z")
Taylor ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/11 "2017-10-29T15:36:20Z")
Sasha is a unisex name (Sasha Obama, Sacha Baron Cohen). If I was told that I was to meet a Russian named Sasha, I would not be able to guess the gender (it is the Russian version of Alex). To a western ear, almost all Chinese names are unisex. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/12 "2017-10-29T15:39:53Z")
Not quite unisex, but Spanish Cris (which is a woman) and English Chris (which is usually a man) are pronounced the same. I had to learn to treat it as unisex. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/13 "2017-10-29T15:41:39Z")
Alex ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/14 "2017-10-29T15:59:40Z")
Pat. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/15 "2017-10-29T16:04:48Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Chris. I’m not sure that counts as a unisex name. It’s a short form of many names, some of which are masculine and some feminine. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/16 "2017-10-29T16:07:50Z")
Robin … That is my brother’s name, he was born just at the end of the period when it was a man’s name and the beginning of it becoming a woman’s name … ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/17 "2017-10-29T16:14:13Z")
Jalen or Jayden, lots of them in classrooms now, lots of Morgans, Cory (Cori) , Dakota,Houston,Dallas. It is funny but some of the OPs names are names in my family, my youngest has a strictly female name. I once knew a woman named Harry. Danny can be a girls name, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/18 "2017-10-29T16:16:17Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > To a western ear, almost all Chinese names are unisex. And I think a lot of them actually are. Certain characters implying strength, bravery etc tend to be (part of) boys’ given names and beauty and grace (part of) girl’s names, but there’s a huge grey area in the middle. Many of my Chinese friends and colleagues tell me they have a given name that’s often or usually assumed to be the other gender. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/19 "2017-10-29T16:16:42Z")
Terry and Perry were the first names that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141/20 "2017-10-29T16:39:01Z")
Ashley. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-whats-the-first-evenly-unisex-name-that-pops-to-mind/800141.md?page=2)