Common First Names

FIRST NAMES, FEMALE		FIRST NAMES, MALE
Abigail	Kris (male or female)	Alex (male or female)	Nicholas, Nick
Alex (male or female)	Laura, Lauren	Anthony	Paul
Alison	Lee (male or female)	Andrew	Peter, Pete
Anna, Anne, Ann	Madeline	Bill	Robert, Rob
Arlene	Madison	Bob	Ron, Ronald
Ashley	Marcia	Brandon	Ryan
Brenda	Mary, Maria	Carl	Sam
Carol, Caroline	Martha	Carlos	Stephen, Steven, Steve
Cathy	Marty (male or female)	Chris (male or female)	Thomas, Tom
Chris (male or female)	Megan	Christopher	Tristan
Christina	Melanie	Daniel, Dan	Tyler
Diana, Diane	Nicole, Nicky	Edward, Ed	William, Will
Elizabeth	Olivia	Francis (male or female)	Zachary, Zach
Emily	Patty, Patricia	Fred, Frederick
Emma	Pat (male or female)	George
Frances	Rachel	Jacob, Jake
Francis (male or female)	Sarah, Sara	James, Jim
Fredericka	Stacy	John, Jonathan
Hannah, Hanna	Susan, Sue	Jose
Hillary	Theresa	Joseph, Joe
Jennifer	Tracy	Joshua, Josh
Jessica	Victoria, Vicky	Justin
Jill		Kris (male or female)
Judy		Lee (male or female)
Julia, Julie		Mark, Marc
Kaitlyn, Caitie		Martin
Karen		Marty (male or female)
Katherine, Kathy, Kate		Matthew, Matt
Kay, Kayla		Maxwell, Max
Kim (male or female)		Michael, Mike

Correspondence Rules:

• Refer to the person the way they refer to themselves in any written correspondence (Sincerely, Pete OR Best Regards, Kara Winters)
• If they haven’t referred to themselves but you know their full name, then don’t use an honorific (Mr., Ms., Miss). Simply use their first and last name ( “Dear Susan Smith”)
• When in doubt, use the businessperson’s “generic pronouns” – they, their, them. For instance, call and say “Hi, I’d like to speak to Cal Walters, please. I’m just returning their call.” While this sounds grammatically awkward, in spoken English, it goes by fast and people will normally not be fazed by the incorrect use of the plural pronoun for an individual.