When I was seven years old I swore that I would name my first daughter Sarah. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I would give birth to a boy named John and a girl named Sarah. Of course, my future husband would happily agree to the chosen names because, you know… he loved me… and who wouldn’t want a son named John and a daughter named Sarah?
Oh, and the huz would commute daily to his job on Wall Street from our home in Greenwich, Connecticut, while John, Sarah and I baked cookies from scratch.
Ah, sweet, innocent seven.
Fast forward about 30 years, and I have the daughter I always dreamed of, but her name is not Sarah. In fact, her chosen moniker is much closer to John than it is to Sarah.
Yeah, my daughter’s got a boy’s name.
Ahem.
Okay, it’s not 100 percent boy.
According to the “experts,” my daughter is one of about 60 million or so kids in the U.S. under the age of 18 with a unisex name.
Insert your “Pat” joke here.
A recent report by the Social Security Administration shows that there are now more baby names in the top 1000 that appear on both the male and female lists than a decade ago.
So, why are more and more parents these days bestowing names that were traditionally used for boys on their newborn daughters? And why is it not the other way around?
According to BabyNamesGarden.com, unisex names are trendier than ever. In fact, the website recently posted the Top 20 unisex baby names of 2009:
1. Riley
2. Peyton
3. Jordan
4. Jayden
5. Alexis
6. Angel
7. Hayden
8. Avery
9. Taylor
10. Payton
11. Cameron
12. Logan
13. Morgan
14. Dakota
15. Kayden
16. Dylan
17. Parker
18. Ryan
19. Reese
20. London
My daughter’s name made the Top 10.
Is your child’s name on the list?
Related Articles:
Baby Names–How Many is Too Many?
Cracking Down on Bizarre Baby Names