Which baby names are the most disproportionately popular in each U.S. state?
Name blog Republic of Names has your answer — a bunch of cool lists of the most distinctive baby names by state. Here are some highlights for about half of the states.
In Alabama:
- Crimson – Crimson Tide is the University of Alabama football team.
- Krimson
In Alaska:
- Aurora
- Denali – Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska is North America’s highest peak.
- McKinley
In Arizona:
- Ariza
- Helios
- Nizhoni – Nizhóní is a Navajo word meaning “it/he/she is pretty/beautiful.”
- Sedona – Sedona is a city in Arizona.
In California:
- Eztli – Eztli is a Nahuatl (Aztec) word meaning “blood.”
- Sissi
In Colorado:
- Matix
- Story
- Trindon – Trindon Holliday played professional football in Colorado.
- Zeppelin
In Florida:
- Kervens
- Woodley
In Idaho:
- Ammon
- Brigham
- Hyrum
In Indiana:
- Jolisa
In Iowa:
- Kinnick – Kinnick Stadium is where the Iowa Hawkeyes football team plays.
In Kansas:
- Creighton
- Ignatius
In Louisiana:
- Beaux
- Jacques
- Marigny – Foubourg Marigny is a New Orleans neighborhood.
- Montreal
In Maine:
- Baxter – Baxter is a state park in Maine.
- Libby
In Mississippi:
- Swayze
In Missouri:
- Chancellor
- Messiah
In Montana:
- Tuff
In Nevada:
- Berenice
- Halo
- Love
In North Carolina:
- Chatham
In North Dakota:
- Briggs
- McCoy
In Oklahoma:
- Gentry
- Jentri
- Jentry
- Kutter
- Tuck
- Tuff
In Oregon:
- Alder
- Autzen – Autzen Stadium is where the Oregon Ducks football team plays.
- Avenir – Avenir is a French word meaning “future.” It’s also on the Washington state list below. In fact, nearly two-thirds of last year’s Avenirs were born on the west coast: 10 in Washington, 7 in California, 5 in Oregon. Anyone know why?
- Cedar
- Forest
- Maple
- Opal
- Pepper
- Sequoia
- Sol
In Tennessee:
- Bray
- Mabry – Joseph Alexander Mabry is a Tennessee folk figure.
- Parthenia
In Texas:
- Brazos – Brazos is a Spanish word meaning “arms.” The Brazos River in Texas was originally called Rio de los Brazos de Dios, or “River of the Arms of God.”
In Utah:
- Korver – Kyle Korver played professional basketball in Utah.
- Lesieli
- Navy
- Parley
- Viliami
In Vermont:
- Arlo
- Juniper
In Washington, D.C.:
- Egypt
- Harlem
In Washington (state):
- Avenir – see Oregon
- Rio
- Valkyrie
- Zephyr
In West Virginia:
- Remington
In Wisconsin:
- Charisma
- Croix
- Ruthann
In Wyoming:
- Temperance
See the original post for the rest. You might also be interested in checking out the “most regional” baby names in the US.
Update, 5/31/2018: Figured out Avenir!
The Oregon list makes me giggle. I guess some of those tree-hugging sterotypes are true. I also noticed a few years ago that Aurora was very high on the Alaska list–into the top 20. They must love their Northern Lights. And of course, the Mormon names in Utah are not a surprising. Very interesting info.
That Oregon list cracked me up too! I didn’t want to include too many names per state, but with Oregon I couldn’t help myself. :)
Not too surprising that Minnesota’s list is a list of Somali names… we do have the largest population of Somalis in North America.
Interesting! Didn’t know that about Minnesota.
And I was surprised about the Tongan names in Utah when I first noticed them. But I looked it up, and it turns out that Utah has a relatively large Tongan population — also something I never knew.
From an article about baby names uniquely popular in Alabama:
Source: Crimson tops list of baby names uniquely popular in Alabama for both boys and girls
The baby name Kinnick is “a new trend at the Genesis BirthCenter in Davenport [Iowa],” according to the article Baby Kinnick, one of 6 born this year, published in late 2015.