While the diversification of the Young Actor categories began in 2010 with a split created between Lead and Supporting Roles each category was unisex until the following year. So aside from semantical changes there have been quite literal changes to this category through the years. This post chronicles the years in which there was only one category where young leads, regardless of gender, could hope to get in. To view the nominees you can follow the hyperlinks in each individual year.

2010 Kodi Smit-McPhee Let Me In

2009 Bill Milner Is Anybody There?

2008 Will Poulter Son of Rambow

2007 Freddie Highmore August Rush

2006 Abigail Breslin Little Miss Sunshine

2005 Dakota Fanning War of the Worlds

2004 Ivan Dobronravov The Return

2003 Jeremy Sumpter Peter Pan

2002 Haley Joel Osment Edges of the Lord

2001 Haley Joel Osment Artificial Intelligence: A.I.

2000 Haley Joel Osment Pay it Forward

1999 Haley Joel Osment The Sixth Sense

1998 Vinicius de Oliveira Central Station (Central do Brasil)

1997 Jena Malone Bastard Out of Carolina

1996 Michelle Trachtenberg Harriet the Spy