Active discussions

Best Amazon Prime Day deals: Mumsnet favourites

Best Amazon Prime Day deals:
Mumsnet favourites

Shop now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Gender neutral names/nicknames

107 replies

CheesyMother · 02/10/2019 12:11

I’m just wondering if anyone has some ideas of names that can be used for both girls and boys, or where the usual nickname is one that can be for both boys and girls.

So names like Leslie, Evelyn etc but also names like Charles/Charlotte which would both be Charlie, Henry/Harriet which would both be Harry.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
BertrandRussell · 02/10/2019 23:10

No such thing as a gender neutral name- except perhaps Francis/es. All the others are just boys names girls are allowed to borrow.

drspouse · 02/10/2019 23:16

I'm not sure that's true Bertrand
A friend of mine did some stats and there are a few names that are almost 50/50 and not originally one or the other (Rowan, Lesley/ie, Kim, Kit). Some have been captured by girls (Evelyn) and some are culture dependent (Robin).

Joeybee · 02/10/2019 23:25

Gender neutral names I like are:

Remi/Remy
Riley
Jordan
Elliot
Sam (Samantha/Samuel)
Max (Maxwell/Maxine)
Charlie (Charles/Charlotte)
Theo (Theodore/Theodora)
Parker
Robin/Robyn
Sidney/Sydney
River
Alex (Alexander/Alexandra)
Taylor
Aubrey
Blair/Blaire
Sky/Skye

BertrandRussell · 02/10/2019 23:32

“A friend of mine did some stats and there are a few names that are almost 50/50 and not originally one or the other (Rowan, Lesley/ie, Kim, Kit).”
Rowland is still a hugely predominantly a boy’s name. The others are so uncommon that you can’t really draw any conclusions from the 3 or 4 uses..

LadyGAgain · 02/10/2019 23:32

Bobby/Bobbi
Alex
Sam

drspouse · 03/10/2019 07:07

Rowan not Rowland. I know some of each (though a few are adults).

CocoLoco87 · 03/10/2019 07:13

Noa/ Noah
River
Brooke
Phoenix
Taylor
Luca

5zeds · 03/10/2019 07:19

I would imagine almost ANY name could be made into a nickname to disguise which sex you are. I can’t imagine why you’d want to do that, and wouldn’t be teaching my daughters to “pass as Male” on paper.

Fifteenthnamechange · 03/10/2019 07:34

Bailey

BertrandRussell · 03/10/2019 07:57

Annabel
Violet

ObtuseTriangle · 03/10/2019 08:13

Billie / Billy
Peyton

Lemonchorizo · 04/10/2019 03:47

Kim - heard of a few older men 50s ish called this obvs Kimberley is the female version. It is not a popular name at the moment though.

Sparklypurpleunicornsaremyfav · 04/10/2019 07:50

But what names do you like? It's all very well looking for gender neutral names but its worthless if you don't like any of them unless you call your daughter one of them just for the sake of it

VenusClapTrap · 04/10/2019 09:35

Sasha

SuchAToDo · 04/10/2019 09:39

usefulenglish.ru/vocabulary/unisex-names

Plenty on here op

DirtyWindow · 04/10/2019 09:48

Ali (Alice, Alistair)
Leo (Leo, Leonora)
Bertie (Albert, Alberta)
Stevie (Stephanie, Stephen)
Jody (unisex)
Loren (male, but v similar to Lauren)
Jo

daisypond · 04/10/2019 09:54

Names like Simone - which is male in Italian or female in English. Or Laurence- which is female in French but male in English. A name like Laurie could be either.

LadyCarolinePooterVonThigh · 04/10/2019 10:00

My Mum was baptised Elizabeth but when she was a child was always called Kitty. As an adult she was called Kit. Being also short for Christopher, it seems it could do for either?

SoftBlocks · 04/10/2019 10:01

Alex

MarshaBradyo · 04/10/2019 10:04

Bertie for Elizabeth

BertrandRussell · 04/10/2019 10:10

Serena and Poppy are lovely for boys.

FishCanFly · 04/10/2019 12:32

my favourites are Kim and Kelly

Original poster
CheesyMother · 04/10/2019 13:16

@Sparklypurpleunicornsaremyfav - that’s exactly why I posted. To see if anyone had a suggestion that I liked!

And I’m not going to be encouraging my daughter to “pass” as male (or that men are inherently better) @5zeds. I just want her to have the opportunity to avoid some of the unconscious bias that exists. Interesting that you clearly see all these names as inherently male...

@BertrandRussell - I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. Some names are clearly not gendered in the same way that others are. And some names are one gender in one culture and different in other cultures. The example you give of a gender neutral name isn’t - the spellings are different!

OP posts:
Original poster
CheesyMother · 04/10/2019 13:20

@drspouse - was this something that your friend looked into out of interest or something they published somewhere? I do find the evolution of names and what we think about them (or rather, the people who have been given them) fascinating.

OP posts:
TheDarkRoom · 04/10/2019 13:25

I like gender neutral names and I think they do exist actually. Especially when you include nicknames.

Leo (Leonora / Leonard / Leonie)
Lou (Louisa/ Lewis / Louise)
Nat (Nathaniel / Natalia)
Roo (Rupert / Rufus / Ruby / Ruth)
Kim
Sacha (could be short for Alexander but I know a boy with just Sacha on its own)
Rowan
Robin / Robyn
Bertie (Robert / Roberta)
Jazz (Jasmine / Jasper)
Pat (Patrick / Patricia)

Also letters as a shortening for the first and middle name. AJ, RJ, CJ, CT, CB etc. You get the picture!