Thought I might post this here in case anyone has suggestions or whatever. I am looking for a gender neutral name to use somewhere. I was thinking about how Jane / John Doe is the name for someone unidentified, which is pretty cool. But considering that Jane and John are basically “girl” and “boy” - the names, it’s a pity that there isn’t a third neutral equivalent of those names.

Digging around I saw a suggestion of “Jay” elsewhere but I’m not sure if that feels right to me. Would that strike you as a gender neutral name if you came across it in the wild? Maybe I’ve just known too many Johns and Jasons.

Or does anyone maybe have any other cool suggestions if you feel so inclined? The problem I find personally with a lot of “gender neutral names lists” that I come across, is that a lot of the names seem a bit too Gen Z to feel right for me, personally. Names like Kai or River are pretty cool but also sound like names some of my friends might have named their kids.

Anyone know any cool gender neutral names that are maybe a bit more born in the late '80s millennial?

Edit: Just found an interesting one (for me). The Dutch for both Jane and John seems to be Jan, and is listed as a gender neutral name. Definitely a name I’ve heard for both men and women (although pronounced differently where I’m from).

Edit 2: I think my shortlist is now Jan, Jean and for an attractive outside of the John / Jane thing, I’m kinda liking Alex.

  • owenfromcanada@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    If it’s verbal, Jean/Gene works. Otherwise, depending on where you live…

    Alex
    Ali
    Chris
    Drew
    Jordan
    Kelly
    Linden
    Taylor
    Vick

    • Zero22xxOP
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      3 days ago

      Hadn’t thought of looking for a verbal match. Great idea for a place for me to look for ideas. Both Jean or Gene could even work actually. I’ll be using it in text form but the rules can be bent. I also do like Alex, which someone else here also suggested. Thanks for the ideas.

    • Dr. Bob@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      I’ve never seen Linden as a woman’s name. Interesting to me because the feminine form Linda is so common…so much so that there is a back formation of Lindo for the masculine form.