English naming has always allowed names to shift between the sexes. Beverly, Courtney, and Hilary were all primarily male in the 19th century and are now primarily female. Leslie, Kim, and Robin have moved in both directions depending on the decade. But something specific has happened since the 1990s: a large cluster of names has moved from almost exclusively male to predominantly or entirely female, and it has happened unusually fast.
Here's the data on the most significant gender shifts in American naming since 1984.
Names that moved from boys to girls (with data)
The following names were predominantly or exclusively male in 1984. All are now majority female in 2024.
Kennedy — 87% male → 97% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 13% | 68 total |
| 1994 | 18% | 412 |
| 2004 | 61% | 1,808 |
| 2014 | 83% | 4,261 |
| 2024 | 97% | 2,976 |
Kennedy is the most dramatic gender shift in the data. It was a clearly masculine presidential surname in 1984; by 2024 it's 97% female and #89 on the girls' chart. The mechanism seems to be the same that affected Ashley, Courtney, and Jordan: a name that sounds gender-neutral or slightly masculine gets adopted by girls, reaches critical mass, and then parents stop using it for boys entirely.
Riley — 92% male → 75% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 8% | 274 total |
| 1994 | 10% | 645 |
| 2004 | 40% | 5,193 |
| 2014 | 68% | 9,009 |
| 2024 | 75% | 6,211 |
Riley may be the most surprising case: it was nearly exclusively male in 1984 (274 boys, 24 girls) and is now #34 on the girls' chart. The total count peaked in the mid-2010s and has been declining since — which may mean it's following the pattern of Ashley (once top 5 for girls, now declining as it becomes "dated").
Avery — 76% male → 81% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 24% | 276 total |
| 1994 | 24% | 1,007 |
| 2004 | 51% | 7,116 |
| 2014 | 76% | 9,993 |
| 2024 | 81% | 6,980 |
Avery had more early female use than most names on this list (24% in 1984), but the shift was still dramatic. By 2004 it had crossed to majority female; by 2024 it's 81% female. Still #31 on the girls' chart.
Quinn — 64% male → 81% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 36% | 280 total |
| 1994 | 35% | 566 |
| 2004 | 40% | 1,508 |
| 2014 | 67% | 4,756 |
| 2024 | 81% | 3,304 |
Quinn had the most female use of any name on this list in its "masculine" era — 36% in 1984. Yet it has still shifted dramatically. Glee's Quinn Fabray (2009–2015) likely accelerated the female adoption. Now top 60 for girls.
Peyton — 67% male → 81% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 33% | 75 total |
| 1994 | 28% | 1,266 |
| 2004 | 49% | 5,055 |
| 2014 | 71% | 5,079 |
| 2024 | 81% | 2,229 |
Peyton peaked for both sexes in the early 2000s (partly through Peyton Manning's rise to fame as an NFL quarterback, which might have been expected to keep it masculine). Instead it crossed to majority female by 2004. The spelling Payton is also in use, predominantly female.
Emery — 80% male → 91% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 20% | 85 total |
| 1994 | 18% | 121 |
| 2004 | 41% | 421 |
| 2014 | 78% | 3,267 |
| 2024 | 91% | 3,499 |
Emery (the abrasive mineral) was clearly a male surname-as-first-name in 1984. It crossed to majority female around 2007 and is now 91% female, top 100 on the girls' chart.
Skylar — 88% male → 95% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 12% | 166 total |
| 2000 | 38% | 2,024 |
| 2010 | 76% | 4,082 |
| 2024 | 95% | 2,299 |
Skylar (and its variant Skyler) were essentially male names before 2000. The shift happened rapidly; by 2010, Skylar was 76% female. Breaking Bad's Skyler White (2008–2013) may have accelerated the feminine association.
Blake — 98% male → 53% female
| Year | % Female | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 2% | 2,805 total |
| 2004 | 10% | 3,616 |
| 2014 | 30% | 4,117 |
| 2024 | 53% | 2,768 |
Blake is in the middle of its transition — now majority female for the first time in 2024, but only barely. Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) has driven much of the female adoption. This is what a gender shift looks like in real time.
Parker — 96% male → 59% male (still mostly boys)
| Year | % Male | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 96% | 255 |
| 2004 | 73% | 2,580 |
| 2014 | 58% | 7,103 |
| 2024 | 59% male | 6,122 |
Parker appears to have stabilized around 60/40 male rather than continuing the female shift. This is different from Riley and Kennedy, which kept going until near-exclusively feminine.
The mechanics of gender shift
Girls adopt first, boys abandon last. In nearly every case, girls begin using a name first while it's still predominantly male. When the female percentage crosses about 40%, boys' parents start avoiding it. By 70% female, the name is effectively feminine. This process takes about 15–25 years.
Sound matters more than meaning. Kennedy means "helmeted head" (Irish Ó Cinnéide). Avery means "ruler of elves" (Old English). Neither meaning implies femininity. The shift is driven by how the name sounds in the context of other popular names, not by any inherent gender quality in the word.
Surname-style names are most vulnerable. The names that have shifted most dramatically — Kennedy, Riley, Avery, Emery, Parker, Quinn, Peyton — are all surname-style names with no obvious gender marker. Names with hard-coded masculine or feminine endings (-son, -bert vs. -ella, -ina) are more resistant to shifting.
What's next? Watching the current data, names like Rory (currently 41% female, up from 6% in 1984), Ari (41% female), and Charlie (50% female) appear to be in the middle of their shifts. Remington (34% female) is earlier in the process. These are the names that today's parents might want to consider if they're choosing a name specifically for one sex.
Names that moved toward male
The reverse shift — from female to male — is much rarer in modern American naming. The few cases in the data:
Alexis was 87% female in 1984 (driven by Dynasty's Alexis Carrington) and is now 49% female — approaching gender parity. The soap opera-era feminine association has faded, and boys named Alexis represent a different cultural tradition (it's used for boys in Hispanic communities and Eastern European naming).
Tatum was 90% female in 1984 (Tatum O'Neal) and is now 45% female — again, approaching parity.
Elisha was 80% female in 1984 and is now 25% female in 2024 — a genuine reversal. This may reflect the Hebrew/Old Testament Elisha (the prophet) being reclaimed by parents doing Old Testament naming.
The asymmetry is striking: many names moved from boys to girls, almost none moved the other direction. In English naming, the direction of cultural gender travel has been predominantly toward the feminine in the past four decades.
Data: SSA US release, 1984 and 2024. Gender percentages calculated from count-weighted averages.