We know what the top names in the country were last year, but what about the top names in each state? Here’s the list, released just yesterday by the SSA. I’ve also included each state’s most popular unique names (i.e., names that only appeared in the data for that particular state).
| State | Top Names (f & m) | Top Unique Names (f & m) |
| Alabama | Ava & William | Crimson & Kendarius, Walton (tie) |
| Alaska | Aurora & Oliver | (none) & Paxson |
| Arizona | Emma & Liam | Sedona & Yadier |
| Arkansas | Ava & Noah | (none) & Timber |
| California | Emma & Noah | Ani & Aram |
| Colorado | Olivia & Liam | Vail & Redding |
| Connecticut | Olivia & Noah | (none) & (none) |
| Delaware | Ava & Liam | (none) & (none) |
| D.C. | Ava & William | (none) & (none) |
| Florida | Isabella & Liam | Abigaelle & Miron |
| Georgia | Ava & William | Kaylei & Taylin |
| Hawaii | Emma & Liam | Mahina & Kaimana |
| Idaho | Olivia & Liam | Quincey & Roczen |
| Illinois | Olivia & Noah | Jamaya & Laron |
| Indiana | Emma & Oliver | Dawt, Elma (tie) & Jamin |
| Iowa | Harper & Oliver | Huxley & Kinnick |
| Kansas | Olivia & Liam | Macklyn & Creighton, Whit (tie) |
| Kentucky | Emma & William | Annlee, Terri (tie) & Jansen |
| Louisiana | Ava & Noah | Jaicee, Jersi (tie) & Colston |
| Maine | Oliver & Charlotte | (none) & (none) |
| Maryland | Ava & Liam | Anjolaoluwa & Adon, Murtaza (tie) |
| Massachusetts | Emma & Benjamin | Vittoria & Henrique |
| Michigan | Olivia & Noah | Layal & Eldon |
| Minnesota | Evelyn & Henry | Maida & Muhsin |
| Mississippi | Ava & John | Swayze & Jadarius |
| Missouri | Olivia & Liam | Charlea & Daxten, Zebulun (tie) |
| Montana | Harper & Liam | (none) & (none) |
| Nebraska | Olivia & Liam | (none) & (none) |
| Nevada | Emma & Liam | (none) & (none) |
| New Hampshire | Olivia & Oliver | (none) & (none) |
| New Jersey | Emma & Liam | Tzipora & Binyomin |
| New Mexico | Isabella & Noah | (none) & (none) |
| New York | Emma & Liam | Gitty & Mendel |
| North Carolina | Ava & Noah | Holden & Nahmir |
| North Dakota | Olivia & Oliver | (none) & (none) |
| Ohio | Ava & Liam | Wilma & Grayden |
| Oklahoma | Emma & Liam | Dim, Jadyn (tie) & Thang |
| Oregon | Emma & Oliver | Runa & (none) |
| Pennsylvania | Emma & Liam | Barbie, Surah (tie) & Joniel |
| Rhode Island | Amelia, Olivia (tie) & Liam | (none) & (none) |
| South Carolina | Ava & William | Emmagrace, Mills (tie) & Drayton, Mills (tie) |
| South Dakota | Harper & Grayson, Henry, Liam (3-way tie) | (none) & Ryken |
| Tennessee | Emma & William | Annaclaire, Caylen, Eulalia, Jakyra, Kamri, Parthenia, Tamari, Tylee (8-way tie) & Neyland |
| Texas | Emma & Liam | Jessi & Eliud |
| Utah | Olivia & Oliver | Mable & Ammon |
| Vermont | Harper & Oliver | (none) & (none) |
| Virginia | Ava & William | Tyasia & Alexi, Javonte, Mckinley (3-way tie) |
| Washington | Olivia & Liam | Callista & Ruvim |
| West Virginia | Emma & Mason | (none) & Bransen |
| Wisconsin | Evelyn & Oliver | (none) & Broxton, Kelby (tie) |
| Wyoming | Amelia, Emma (tie) & Oliver | (none) & (none) |
A few final thoughts…
- I love that Aurora is now #1 in Alaska. :)
- What’s up with Wilma in Ohio? Nine baby girls is nearly a quarter (23%) of the total national usage. Interesting.
- One of the other unique Utah boy names was Kaladin, which comes from a character in the Stormlight Archive book series by Utah-based fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson.
How about you — what are your thoughts/observations?
I love that Liam is so popular. I know it is short for William, but I far and away prefer Liam.
I am curious though, have any boys ever been named Bambie? I mean it was originally a boy’s name. How did it evolve into a, um, female dancer’s name?
Plus the new variations on Jayden. Grayden, Jayton.
Not too surprised at Utah with Ammon, he was a very popular ancient prophet in teh Book of Mormon. But us Mormons go for more unusual names (probably because most have at least 6 kids LOL) Kim, and Lynn for men.
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a male Bambi, even though the name did evolve from “bambino,” which is the masculine form of the word.
Barbie is fairly popular among the Amish in Pennsylvania.
I can’t help but notice how Minnesota and South Dakota have such distinctly different top names from all of the other states.
@Chelsea – Your observation reminded me of a post (Curious Shift in U.S. Baby Naming Correlations) from a few years ago, which included this image:
According to that research, the northern-central U.S. states are kinda doing their own thing in terms of baby names.
I’m surprised Holden and Huxley only charted in one state – they get talked about so much in name lover circles, they probably feel more popular than they really are.
Holden and Huxley only charted as female names in one state. (I’m sorry the chart is confusing!)
Huxley showed up as a male name in 30 states, and Holden charted as a male name in 45 states.