Coconino County in Arizona is the second-largest county in the continental United States. If it were a U.S. state, it would rank between West Virginia (#41) and Maryland (#42) in terms of total area.
Coconino contains a number of nationally protected places, including part of the Grand Canyon, but relatively few residents. Last year, it welcomed just 1,314 babies — less than 2% of all the babies born in Arizona.
What were the most popular names among these Coconino babies? Juniper and Liam.
Here are the county’s top 5 girl names and top 5+ boy names of 2022:
Girl Names
- Juniper
- Sophia
- Hailey
- Hazel
- Olivia
Boy Names
- Liam
- Oliver
- Asher, Kai, Logan, Mason, and Theodore (5-way tie)
I’m pleasantly surprised that Juniper happened to be the #1 girl name in the region. (No doubt the names at the top of these rankings were only separated by a baby or two, though.)
I wonder how many of the parents who opted for Juniper were inspired by the Utah Juniper, which is a small, wind-twisted tree native to the Southwest. The NPS describes junipers as having “a mystical quality. Each tree is like a fine work of art that one might find in a museum.”
Nationally, the name Juniper has been bounding up the charts over the last few years. In 2021, it was the 138th most popular girl name in the country, but a top-50 name in the following six states:
- Wyoming (where Juniper ranked 14th)
- Oregon (17th)
- Montana (18th)
- Vermont (18th)
- Alaska (25th)
- Idaho (32nd)
Speaking of states…
The Arizona Department of Health Services reports that these were top baby names state-wide in 2022:
| Girl Names, Ariz. | Boy Names, Ariz. |
| 1. Olivia, 382 baby girls 2. Emma, 338 3. Isabella, 309 4. Sophia, 304 5. Luna, 269 6. Mia, 248 7. Camila, 224 8. Amelia, 220 9. Ava, 209 10. Charlotte, 206 | 1. Liam, 433 baby boys 2. Noah, 410 3. Mateo, 372 4. Oliver, 330 5. Santiago, 298 6. Sebastian, 257 7. Elijah, 244 8. Ezra, 235 9. Ezekiel, 230 10. Julian, 224 |
Notably, Juniper and Hailey — the 1st and 3rd most popular girl names in Coconino County — only managed to rank 93rd and 99th across all of Arizona.
Sources:
- Kessler, Abigail. “Juniper, Liam most popular baby names in Coconino County for 2022.” Arizona Daily Sun 22 Jan. 2023.
- Coconino County, Arizona – Wikipedia
- The Indomitable Juniper – Canyonlands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
- Popular Names by State – SSA
- Various Health Statistics – Arizona Department of Health Services
Images:
- Adapted from Flag of Arizona (public domain)
- Adapted from Juniper in new Grand View Overlook by Kevin R. Foote under CC BY-SA 3.0.
