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the name Blake
Saturday, November 2nd, 2024 02:16 pmI was surprised to see "Blake" in this list, with an exactly even male/female ratio, as I hadn't heard of any women or girls by that name:
Truly Gender-Neutral Names: The Most Balanced of Them All
Wikipedia mentions this for the name "Blake":
The article references the Surname Database, which has more details on the name's origin.
The name data I downloaded from the Social Security Administration site (ssa.gov) earlier this year does indeed show a fairly close split; 1346 female-assigned and 1366 male-assigned babies given the name in 2023.
The name may have gained popularity for girls due to actress Blake Lively, whom I am not familiar with. She starred in a 2005 movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which I am also not familiar with. She also starred in Gossip Girl, which I've at least heard of.
The SSA data shows the name Blake has gained in popularity for girls since around 2007, while it's been dropping in popularity (from a high of 6046) for boys since 2012. So it might end up being one of those names which changes over time from being highly gendered one way to the opposite.
Truly Gender-Neutral Names: The Most Balanced of Them All
Wikipedia mentions this for the name "Blake":
Blake is a primarily male given name which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin.
The article references the Surname Database, which has more details on the name's origin.
The name data I downloaded from the Social Security Administration site (ssa.gov) earlier this year does indeed show a fairly close split; 1346 female-assigned and 1366 male-assigned babies given the name in 2023.
The name may have gained popularity for girls due to actress Blake Lively, whom I am not familiar with. She starred in a 2005 movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which I am also not familiar with. She also starred in Gossip Girl, which I've at least heard of.
The SSA data shows the name Blake has gained in popularity for girls since around 2007, while it's been dropping in popularity (from a high of 6046) for boys since 2012. So it might end up being one of those names which changes over time from being highly gendered one way to the opposite.