Gender-neutral baby names have been on the rise in 2015. They’re all the rage. Celebrities have been on the forefront of this movement. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard named their baby girl Lincoln while power couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, who sport gender-neutral names themselves, named their daughter James. Mila Kunis and beau Ashton Kutcher recently named their daughter Wyatt. Typical “boy” names are more often given to girls than vice versa. This trend could reflect a larger cultural shift, as millennials are more open-minded and accepting than other generations and more women are taking over the work force.
Although gendered names such as Emma and Noah still top the baby names list, gender-neutral names including Karter, Quinn and Reese are bopping their way to the top.
If you’re a millennial with a gender-neutral name, consider your parents “hipsters” of this movement. They named you a gender-neutral name before it was cool. Wow our parents did something cool! My siblings and I are Rae (female), Bryce (male), Brogan (female) and Emerson (female). According to our mom, she named her daughters gender-neutral names to give us every possible edge in the working world. In a world where men dominated the work force, it was important to my mom that girly names wouldn’t hinder her daughters. Today, gender-neutral names are the hot new topic.
If you have a gender-neutral name (hello all Sam’s, Alex’s, Skylar’s, Casey’s, Jamie’s, Morgan's, Cameron's, Riley's, Austin's, Chase's, Peyton's, Charlie's, Haydon's, Blake's, Logan's, Stuart's, Devon's, Ryan's and Tyler’s), these scenarios are all too true for you:
1. The keychain problem
If you have a unique name or spelling, you've given up all hope of finding a personalized keychain. If you happen to find a keychain donning your name, it's for the opposite sex.
2. On paper, you get mistaken for the opposite sex
Whether you're a female receiving multiple emails about viagra or a male whom the teacher mistakes for a female while reading role on the first day of school, you often get mistaken for the opposite gender. During my tennis season, the opposing team thought my name had been mistakenly written in the girl's slot instead of the boy's slot.
3. The baby gift dilemma.
When my sisters were born they received multiple "boy" toys such as giant ride-on "little boy" cars we had to put together because we didn't have the heart to inform anyone that our twin babies were, in fact, girls with "boy's" names.
4. Mail
Sometimes your mail is addressed to the wrong pronoun. The last time I checked, I was "Ms." Rae, not "Mr." Rae.
5. Meeting someone of the opposite sex with the same name.
Awkward.
6. Meeting someone of the same sex with the same name
Naturally, you already know they're cool.
7. You love your name
I love having a gender-neutral name. Thanks mom and dad! My daughters will have gender-neutral names and they'll have the coolest names on the block.
P.S. Just because you're a female with a "boy" name doesn't mean you can't be the girliest girl out there and just because you're a male with a "girl" name doesn't mean you can't be the manliest man out there.
