Unisex Names for Babies Born in Pennsylvania 1990–2010

Abstract

Most first names are exclusively popular for females or males. A minority of first names are unisex, defined as being given with substantial frequency to both genders in the same population in the same year. First-name frequencies for births in Pennsylvania in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 provided information on babies given unisex names. Children of a White mother were compared with children of a Black mother. The unisex names were divided into two types of gender preference or consistency, from 1990 to 2010. Change usually was from a small majority of males to a large majority of females. Consistency generally was a preference for males. Females more often than males therefore were given a name that was consistently more popular for the opposite gender. Great diversity of names given in Pennsylvania contributed to the occurrence of unisex names.

Keywords:

• first names
• unisex names
• name frequencies
• gender
• race
• USA
• name diversity

The authors thank Jerry Orris, who provided the first name frequencies for births in Pennsylvania, 1990, 1995, and 2000, and Thomas McCleaf and Sean Gilfillan, who provided the first name frequencies for births in an improved electronic format for the same years and also for 2005 and 2010.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Herbert Barry III

Herbert Barry III, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh since 2001, was a member of the American Name Society Executive Council 2000–2003. In addition to his research with Aylene S. Harper, he has published articles on names of fictional characters in novels and on several other social science topics.

Aylene S. Harper

Aylene S. Harper, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Community College of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Topics of her publications with Herbert Barry III include unisex first names, 1982, and differences between frequent first names of males and females.

Correspondence to: Herbert Barry III, 552 North Neville St,. Apt. 83, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2850, USA. Email: [email protected]