What names are truly androgynous, so far as you can tell?

In My Humble Opinion
1

For most people, even supposedly androgynous names belong to one gender or another on first hearing. Robin, for example, is gender neutral, but with no other information or context I’d think of it as a girl’s name.

Quinn is another one – despite the mighty Quinn the eskimo, these days, I hear Quinn and I think girl.

Some names, though, don’t tilt one way or another for me:

Kelly. I’ve known both boys and girls with this name, enough so that it doesn’t ping either way.

Lee. One of the rare boy’s names co-opted by girls that remains popular for boys anyway. If I see it, I tend to think boy, but if I hear it, it’s ambiguous, given that it includes Leigh and (some) Leah, as well.

What names do you consider truly androgynous?

2

Sam. And I’d agree with Robin.

(I’ve never knowingly met a Quinn, and Lee is still universally-male in the UK, while Kelly is almost totally female)

3

Pat and Jamie are the first that come to mind.

4

Two more: Billy and Alex

5

i second this motion
when i think “quinn”, i think “really hot female”. i’ve never encountered a male quinn, and if i did, i’d call him by his middle name…or last name…or even “hey you” if i had to

6

There have be male and female Taylors and Dylans at my kids’ schools.

I’m not sure I’d know who I was dealing with if I heard from a Terry or a Pat

7

Chris. At one point I think I knew 3 or 4 Chris’s, of both genders.

8

Bo
Terry
Jan
Dana
Jean
Jamie
Lee is my middle name. My first name also happens to be a boys name co-opted by girls that remains popular for boys.

I’m sure it will be mentioned in this thread. I happen to know more males than females with my name.

I once asked friends if they would assume male or female by seeing my name alone. The majority said female. I don’t know if the fact that they know I am a female played any part in that. I wouldn’t be able to choose a gender if I were to see it on paper. I’d be about 50/50 since it’s so androgynous. To me anyway.

9

Dana? I’m surprised. I’d have put this down as a fully-female one, without question. Good call on Terry, though.

10

Evelyn

11

Jamie’s a good one, although spelling can sometimes be a gender-tipper. Jayme? My brain says girl. Jamie? No preference.

And I can’t believe I didn’t think of Pat and Chris.

12

Leslie

13

Chris I would dispute. This is assuming we aren’t including ‘Chrissy’ etc.

14

Nah. That’s a girl. Any self-respecting bloke is called Les :stuck_out_tongue:

15

Joyce

16

Yea spelling does make a difference.

Like Jean, I’d lean towards female, Gene, definitely male right? But by sound alone you have no way of knowing.

Sidney/Sydney M/F?

Taylor?
Kendall?

17

Francis

18

Toni/Tony I tend to think F/M
Jesse/Jessie M/F

Jackie?
Drew?

19

I think of Kelly as exclusively female, I’d be very surprised to meet a boy with that name. Lee is a good one; that’s my sister’s middle name but with that spelling it could really be either. Although when I hear of a boy with that name I automatically think he’s named after Robert E. Lee, I don’t have the same reaction to females with the name.

Drew is pretty gender-neutral. I’d be pretty confused at that one. Sure, Drew Barrymore is popular but Andrew is still one of the top twenty names for boys. And of course, Taylor and Dakota and all those other trendy names are pretty neutral.

When not spelled out, I don’t “ping” the name Adrian/ne as either male or female, I’ve known equal proportions (about two) of each. It has a gender variant spelling though. Same with Julian/ne.

What about Loren? I think “girl” but many other people think boy. (One of my cousins has a girl with that name and gets the wrong gender a lot.)

20

If I heard it, I’d assume ‘Lauren’ and female. I don’t think I’ve encountered any other spelling first-hand, nor a boy or man by that name.