Unisex Names--SSA (2016)

Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny that unisex (or "unisex") names are a big part of baby-naming in the US right now. It's been a couple years since I analyzed the unisex names in the SSA data, and I'm interested to see what names have shifted.

To start off with, the most popular names given to both genders in 2016, with their gender ratios.
(Only the most common spelling for each gender is given, but all spellings [as best as I could figure] were counted.)

1. Jackson / Jaxyn, ≈242 boys per girl
2. Aiden / Ayden, ≈120 boys per girl
3. Noah / Noa, ≈36 boys per girl
4. Mason, ≈44 boys per girl
5. Riley, ≈6 girls per boy
6. Kayden, ≈25 boys per girl
7. Jayden, ≈16 boys per girl
8. Grayson / Gracyn, ≈19 boys per girl
9. James, ≈185 boys per girl
10. Michael, ≈316 boys per girl
11. Elijah / Alijah, ≈160 boys per girl
12. Carter, ≈11 boys per girl
13. Avery, ≈5 girls per boy
14. Cameron / Kamryn, ≈4 boys per girl
15. Logan, ≈12 boys per girl
16. Dylan, ≈11 boys per girl
17. Evelyn, ≈1473 girls per boy
18. Aubrey, ≈76 girls per boy
19. Madison, ≈192 girls per boy
20. Harper, ≈37 girls per boy

Now, just because these names are used on both genders, doesn't mean they're exactly common for both genders!

Here are the most unisex names in the Top 2000 for both genders, given to about an equal % of boys and girls:

1. Layton / Leighton
2. Khari / Kari
3. Hollis
4. Briar
5. Payson
6. Nikita
7. Storm
8. Ridley
9. Harlan / Harlyn
10. Armani
11. Justice
12. Scotty / Scottie
13. Sonny / Sunny
14. Lonnie / Lani
15. Indiana
16. Murphy
17. Britton
18. Finley
19. Frankie
20. Francis / Frances

Many of those are still pretty darned uncommon (Scotty / Scottie, for instance, was given to 63 boys and 72 girls). So, here are the most unisex names in both the girls' and boys' Top 1000:

1. Layton / Leighton
2. Khari / Kari
3. Briar
4. Harlan / Harlyn
5. Armani
6. Justice
7. Sonny / Sunny
8. Finley
9. Frankie
10. Francis / Frances
11. Rhys / Reese
12. Rene / Renee
13. Lennon
14. Rory
15. Rylan
16. Lennox
17. Dakota
18. Royal
19. Oakley
20. Corey / Kori

And just to completely overload everyone with lists, here are all the unisex names in both the boys' and girls' Top 1000, from most --> least masculine:
(if you wish to browse the entire list of unisex names, you can find it here)

• Mason, ≈44 boys per girl
• Noah / Noa, ≈36 boys per girl
• Kayden, ≈25 boys per girl
• Hunter, ≈23 boys per girl
• Tyler, ≈20 boys per girl
• Grayson / Gracyn, ≈19 boys per girl
• Ezra, ≈18 boys per girl
• Bentley, ≈17 boys per girl
• Jayden, ≈16 boys per girl
• Alex, ≈13 boys per girl
• Austin / Austyn, ≈12 boys per girl
• Adrian / Adrienne, ≈12 boys per girl
• Logan, ≈12 boys per girl
• Carter, ≈11 boys per girl
• Camden, ≈11 boys per girl
• Dylan, ≈11 boys per girl
• August, ≈9 boys per girl
• Kai, ≈9 boys per girl
• Ashton, ≈8 boys per girl
• Cody / Kodi, ≈8 boys per girl
• Kyrie, ≈7 boys per girl
• Lane / Laine, ≈6 boys per girl
• Carson / Karsyn, ≈6 boys per girl
• Zion, ≈6 boys per girl
• Aaron / Erin, ≈6 boys per girl
• Spencer, ≈6 boys per girl
• Ryan, ≈5 boys per girl
• Angel, ≈5 boys per girl
• Micah, ≈5 boys per girl
• Devin / Devyn, ≈5 boys per girl
• Jesse / Jessie, ≈4 boys per girl
• Cameron / Kamryn, ≈4 boys per girl
• Elliot, ≈4 boys per girl
• Drew, ≈3 boys per girl
• Sawyer, ≈3 boys per girl
• Parker, ≈3 boys per girl
• Ellis, ≈3 boys per girl
• Blake, ≈3 boys per girl
• Quincy, ≈2 boys per girl
• Chandler, ≈2 boys per girl
• Colby / Colbie, ≈2 boys per girl
• Dallas, ≈2 boys per girl
• Danny / Dani, ≈2 boys per girl
• Remington, ≈2 boys per girl
• Andy / Andi, ≈2 boys per girl
• Milan, ≈2 boys per girl
• Daylen / Dailyn, ≈2 boys per girl
• Kamari, ≈2 boys per girl
• Jordan / Jordyn, ≈2 boys per girl
• Phoenix, ≈2 boys per girl
• Joey, ≈2 boys per girl
• Baylor, ≈2 boys per girl
• River, ≈2 boys per girl
• Amari, ≈2 boys per girl
• Rowan, ≈2 boys per girl
• Hayden, ≈2 boys per girl
• Corey / Kori, about equal
• Royal, about equal
• Lennox, about equal
• Rylan, about equal
• Rory, about equal
• Sonny / Sunny, about equal
• Justice, about equal
• Harlan / Harlyn, about equal
• Layton / Leighton, about equal
• Khari / Kari, about equal
• Briar, about equal
• Armani, about equal
• Finley, about equal
• Frankie, about equal
• Francis / Frances, about equal
• Rhys / Reese, about equal
• Rene / Renee, about equal
• Lennon, about equal
• Dakota, ≈2 girls per boy
• Oakley, ≈2 girls per boy
• Sutton, ≈2 girls per boy
• Remy / Remi, ≈2 girls per boy
• Landry, ≈2 girls per boy
• Shiloh, ≈2 girls per boy
• Tatum, ≈2 girls per boy
• Taylen / Taelyn, ≈2 girls per boy
• Shea, ≈2 girls per boy
• Azariah, ≈2 girls per boy
• Casey, ≈2 girls per boy
• Sage, ≈3 girls per boy
• Charlie, ≈3 girls per boy
• Emerson, ≈3 girls per boy
• Robin / Robyn, ≈3 girls per boy
• Alexis, ≈3 girls per boy
• Jamie, ≈3 girls per boy
• Ren / Wren, ≈3 girls per boy
• Eden, ≈3 girls per boy
• Reign, ≈3 girls per boy
• Quinn, ≈3 girls per boy
• Peyton, ≈4 girls per boy
• Lyric, ≈5 girls per boy
• Avery, ≈5 girls per boy
• Taylor, ≈5 girls per boy
• Skyler / Skylar, ≈5 girls per boy
• Morgan, ≈6 girls per boy
• Emery, ≈6 girls per boy
• Ariel, ≈6 girls per boy
• Teagan, ≈6 girls per boy
• Riley, ≈6 girls per boy
• Kendall, ≈7 girls per boy
• Marley, ≈11 girls per boy
• Cadence, ≈11 girls per boy
• London, ≈11 girls per boy
• Sidney / Sydney, ≈12 girls per boy
• Nova, ≈13 girls per boy
• Reagan, ≈17 girls per boy
• Harper, ≈37 girls per boy

Now, with all these 'unisex' names you might be wondering 'holy crap, are there no gender-specific names left??' Of course! Here are the most common names given to at most 4 babies of the opposite gender (because the SSA doesn't publish the names given to fewer than 5 babies) :)

Liam	Sophia
William	Olivia
Jacob	Emma
Lucas	Adeline
Benjamin	Ava
Alexander	Isabella
Ethan	Mia
Matthew	Amelia
Oliver	Charlotte
Daniel	Emily
David	Zoey
Joseph	Abigail
Isaac	Madelyn
Samuel	Aria
Sebastian	Layla
Caleb	Chloe
John	Ariana
Henry	Elizabeth
Luke	Aaliyah
Anthony	Lily

(And again, if you want the whole list of "gender-specific" names, you can look here.)

Interestingly, more boys have "unisex" names than girls--49% of boys vs. 24% of girls. This is likely because parents are more likely to consider popular/traditional boys' names for their daughters than popular/traditional girls' names for their sons. For the most part, once a name gets common for girls, parents of boys drop it. :/
That's not to say that tons of parents are choosing masculine names for their daughters--only about 4% of girls last year got names that are currently more common on boys. However, only about 2% of boys got names that are more common on girls (and I'm willing to bet most of those are recently unisex names, like Riley, Avery, & Charlie).