10 Foods That Make Great Non-Binary Names

1. Basil

Really any kind of herb is a fantastic substitute for whatever garbage name your mom gave you at birth. Listen to how great these are: Thyme, Sage, Dill, Parsley, Chive, Fennel, Clove, Sesame, Yarrow, and Sorrel. You can’t tell me these don’t make great gender-neutral names. I don’t know why more babies aren’t named after herbs.

2. Ube 

The name of a purple yam, showing everyone that you are the same as everybody else, but still a little different. A lot like the non-binary experience. You can’t help that you’re a little more colorful and delicious. In fact, you can be turned into a delicious dessert with a wonderful lavender color. The cis could never.

3. Miso

Takes forever to dissolve like cis ppl take forever to remember pronouns. It’s also a lot like when a customer is trying to get your attention, and then see the pronoun buttons on your lanyard when you turn around. “Hey, miss-…oh…” sound familiar?

4. Gardein 

Fake meat aka the trans experience. Fake crotch meat and fake chest meat. It’s all fake. Especially the concept of gender.

5. Tahini

A lot of people don’t realize that this, lemon, and garbanzo beans are the basic ingredients for hummus- a queer staple. Use this name if you want to subconsciously enter the minds of the LGBTQ+ community. They will swear they’ve heard of that name before. Yep- on your Sabra label, babe.

6. Thistle

The spike butch cousin of the daisy. These babies are technically edible, though some are not able to find them palatable. It is a perfect non-binary name if you relate to the experience of being totally dateable, but there being transphobes that have bad taste.

7. Elote

It works on so many levels. The suffix “-e” is the non-binary alternative to the feminine suffix “-a” or “-o.” If you are masc, this fits even better with the word “el” which is a masculine pronoun, in front of “ote” which can be a suffix for things being big. So many levels!

8. Jar 

Not a food, but a food container. And you have to admit- it would make a badass non-binary name. It’s the perfect balance of soft, tough, and kinda funny. This is the trifecta every non-binary person is looking to perfect.

9. Mcdonald’s-Happy-Meal

For the gender abolitionists, use a completely arbitrary name that makes them question if this person has ever made a good decision in their life. “Parking-Ticket” is also a great contender for this category of non-binary names.

10. Jello 

We all know the best non-binary names have binary syllables. Brittle, Mango, Table. See?

Bex Nava
Author: Bex Nava
Bex is a UC Davis alumni who started their own standup and improv clubs on campus. They are now on a journey to make comedy more inclusive and accessible. Find them one day running a queer cafe/comedy venue.