10 gender-neutral baby names popular in the US

If you’ve ever tried naming a baby, you know the mental gymnastics it requires. You think about family traditions, whether your friends have already “taken” a name, what initials will spell, how it will sound yelled across a playground, and on top of all that, you hope your kid will actually like it when they grow up. That’s a lot of pressure packed into a few syllables.

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In the United States, starting around the late 1990s and rolling into the early 2000s, something interesting happened: Gender-neutral names started showing up everywhere. People weren’t only looking for the Johns and Jennifers anymore. Parents wanted names that left doors open, names that didn’t scream boy or girl but instead gave room for a child to grow into whoever they’d become.
Here are ten of the names that really caught on in that era, names that still echo through classrooms and offices today. Some are still trendy, some have cooled off, but all of them represent a shift in how Americans started thinking about identity and flexibility.

Let’s start with one that dominated the 1990s sports scene: Jordan. You can’t separate the name from Michael Jordan, whose face was everywhere on posters, cereal boxes, and video games. Parents weren’t just naming their sons after him; daughters, too.

What worked about Jordan is that it never felt locked in one direction. For boys, it carried the strength of a basketball legend. For girls, it had a crisp, almost modern edge that fit right in with the Y2K vibe. We all might have a classmate named Jordan growing up, either one on the soccer team, or in theater, and the name fit them both without a second thought.

If Jordan was sporty, Taylor was pop-culture cool. The name was already floating around thanks to actor Taylor Lautner and musician Taylor Hanson, but then along came Taylor Swift, and suddenly every school had a handful of Taylors running around.

The roots go back to Old French, literally meaning “tailor.” It started as a last name, then made the leap into first-name territory. By the 2000s, it was so common across genders that roll calls in schools often went: “Taylor M., Taylor S., Taylor R..…”

Morgan is an old one, with Welsh roots tied to the sea. It has this mythical air some people connect it with Morgan le Fay from the Arthurian legend. But in day-to-day America around the 2000s, Morgan was more of a steady, approachable choice.

Morgan Freeman gave it gravitas for boys. For girls, TV shows and movies sprinkled Morgans into casts, usually smart, sporty, or slightly edgy characters. we all imagine a girl who always seemed effortlessly cool with this name. That’s how the name felt classic, but not stuffy.

You really can’t go wrong with Alex. Originally a nickname for Alexander or Alexandra, it broke free as its own thing. By the 2000s, it wasn’t just a short form anymore, it was the full name on birth certificates.

Why? It’s short, sharp, international, and just… works. Alex could be an artist, a quarterback, a software engineer, or a politician. The flexibility of the name matched the flexibility parents were looking for at the time.

Casey has Irish roots and means “vigilant” or “watchful,” but most parents in the 2000s probably weren’t thinking about etymology. They just liked how friendly and down-to-earth it sounded.

Casey worked especially well for families that didn’t want anything too heavy. It was the kind of name you could imagine on a kid riding a skateboard or starring in a sitcom. That easygoing quality gave it staying power, even if its peak moment was around the early 2000s.

Then came Riley, which absolutely exploded. Technically, it has Irish roots, meaning “courageous” or “valiant,” which is lovely, but most parents just liked the bounce of the sound. Riley had energy.

By the mid-2000s, girls named Riley seemed to be everywhere, though plenty of boys had the name too. It was one of those “modern without being weird” choices, the kind that felt both fresh and safe.

Cameron has Scottish origins with a less-than-flattering literal meaning: “crooked nose.” Thankfully, nobody thinks about that anymore. By the late ’90s, Cameron Diaz gave it Hollywood shine for girls, while boys kept the name solid thanks to athletes and actors.

The nickname “Cam” helped. You could formalize it when needed, but shorten it for everyday life. A flexible name for a flexible time.

Before the 2000s, Avery leaned more toward boys. But then something shifted. Suddenly, you heard it for baby girls everywhere, and within a few years, it landed firmly in the unisex zone.

Its meaning, “ruler of the elves,” gives it a whimsical, almost storybook feel. But in practice, Avery sounded clean, modern, and adaptable. It was one of those names that felt equally right on a toddler learning to walk or an adult introducing themselves at a job interview.

Quinn was sleek. Minimalist. Straight to the point. If you wanted something Irish but didn’t want to go the Patrick or Bridget route, Quinn was the ticket.

Pop culture helped push it forward, especially as TV writers started giving the name to edgy female characters. But plenty of boys were Quinns too, keeping the balance intact. It was short, sharp, and carried a sense of confidence.

And finally, Jamie. Once just a nickname for James, Jamie became its own name by the late 20th century. By the 2000s, it was comfortably worn by both boys and girls.

Jamie felt approachable. Warm. Like someone who’d be your best friend or the person you’d call when your car broke down. From Jamie Lee Curtis to Jamie Oliver, the name spanned genders, industries, and vibes.