Unisex name craziness

[taimatsu]

On a community Im read someone just mentioned the US TV series 'Gossip Girl'. This programme has six lead characters, three boys, three girls. Here's the list of the actors' names:

Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick

Apart from the most-likely-male Ed, which of these are the male and which the female stars? I'm guessing Chace might be female as I would expect 'Chase' for a boy, but other than that I've no clue. Guesses? Answers? Anyone? And isn't it kind of weird that most of those names - Penn, Taylor, Blake, Leighton - are far more common as surnames?

Comments

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Surnames as first names seem to be not uncommon in the USA. I knew a British Leighton once; he was male. But what goes in the UK doesn't necessarily apply to the US (apparently my own name, Michael, is sometimes used for females over there).

[curious-reader.livejournal.com]

Then I always need to ad when I speak to a person from the US that I am talking about my male friend when I say 'Michael'.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Not really; "Michael" is still overwhelmingly a male name there.