Popular and unique baby names in each U.S. state in 2024

11 thoughts on “Popular and unique baby names in each U.S. state in 2024”

1. > Do you have thoughts/theories about any of these single-state names?

   1. Man, there’s a lot of Ultra-Orthodox in NY and NJ.

   2. Texas is perhaps the most quintessentially Texan name there could possibly be.

2. It’s interesting to see the names favored by different cultural groups. I think that’s reflected in the overall data. Writers are struggling to explain the popularity of names like Ailany because they aren’t plugged in to the pop culture influences of Spanish speakers. I can look at a lot of these names and make an educated guess about the background of the parents, simply because of what names are most popular with different groups.

   As far as specific states, Minnesota has a large Somali population and a history of Scandinavian immigrants. Abdullahi, Muad, Mubarak, Munasar, Sabir, Mohamedamin, Jabir, Maher, Masud, Mazin, Mubashir, Muzamil, Sajid and Suhaib for boys and Maryama, Nawal, Manal, Anzal, Ahlaam, Hamdi, Hikma, Salwa, Ikhlas, Manaal, Nada, and Yemariam are likely used by Somali or other Muslim families. I think there are likely some Indian or Pakistani families also included in the numbers.

   The strong Scandinavian influence is seen in the Minnesota data with Nels and Ole for boys and Britta, Freja, Solveig, and Svea for girls. All are old Nordic names and the children are quite possibly named after great-grandparents.

   Minnesota also has a large population of Hmong families. Paw for girls is probably a Hmong name, as is Eh for boys.

   I’m less clear on the origins of Sabrin, but I’ve seen it and variant Sabryn before in the Upper Midwest. It may just be a created variant of Sabrina that people saw and used again.

3. In the Wisconsin data, Sigrid is another old Nordic name that reflects the Scandinavian influence in the region.

   Lorene very well might be a name used by an Amish or Mennonite family. There are Amish and Mennonite groups in the Upper Midwest whom I’ve seen selling produce at farmer’s markets and who are well known for the wooden furniture they make and sell. Lorene is also a name that has been in use in other families in the region. I knew a Lorene in college who was not Amish or Mennonite. She had a Norwegian surname,

4. In the Pennsylvania data, I would guess that Roseanna and Verna for girls and possibly Boyd for boys are also Amish or Mennonite children.

   The Amish tend to use family names and other names that wouldn’t have been out of place in rural families in the late 1800s or early 1900s but aren’t necessarily Biblical or the names of religious leaders. Roseanna or Rosanna in particular seems to pop up regularly as an Amish favorite.

5. The New York and New Jersey data always have a lot of Yiddish names that reflect the Chasidic communities that live there. I think the majority of unique names on both lists are Yiddish.

   Illinois appears to have some recent Polish and Ukrainian immigration, reflected in Alicja, Maja, Sofiia and Sofija for girls and Nikodem, Kacper, Andrej, Tadei, Lukyan, Jozef, and Maksym for boys.

   Jouri is an interesting name that seems to have close to a dozen spellings in English. It means “damask rose” and is particularly popular with Palestinians and In Jordan.

6. (NJ) – Tzipora/Tzipporah, Tzivia, Deena/Dena, Reena, Rus, Temima, Nili, Yechezkel, Michoel, Elchonon, Shaul, Avigdor, Nosson, Naftoli, Shimshon, Mordy, Nochum, Nechemia, Refoel, and Shua are all Hebrew (or nicknames for Hebrew names). Leba, Ettel, and Perri are Yiddish. Temi could be a nickname for either a Yiddish or Hebrew name.

   (NY) – Rivky, Sury, Chany, Esty, Yides, Shevy, Brucha, Ayelet, Bina, Chani, Penina, Rivkah, Sari, Chumy, Usher, Yechiel, Elimelech/Meilech, Yossi, Avrumy, Lazer, Motty, Shloma, Pinchas/Pinchus, Duvid, Mordche, Yida, Burech/Boruch, Sruly, Nuchem, Yona, Nachman, Tovia, Menashe, and Noach are all Hebrew (or nicknames for Hebrew names – some of them very, very Yiddishized). Gitty, Faigy, Hindy, Goldy, Hinda, Faiga, Henny, Perel, Etty, Frady, Yenty, Frimet, Shaindel, Mushka, Frimmy, Zlaty, Mirel, Reizel, Toba, Ratzy, Frimy, Yittel, Baily, Henchy, Hershy, Mendy, Hersh, Hershel, Leiby, and Mechel are all Yiddish (or nicknames for Yiddish names). Shraga is Aramaic (it means “flame”) and Mali could be a nickname for either a Yiddish or Hebrew name.

   The non-Hasidic exodus to New Jersey continues. I’m pretty surprised to see the modern Hebrew Ayelet on New York’s list!

7. Another name I’m curious about is Solomiya in Washington state and Saloma in Missouri. Solomiya is currently very popular with Ukrainians, but I know that Oregon and possibly Washington have communities of Russian immigrants who were members of the Russian Orthodox Old Believers sect. I wonder if one group or both is using Solomiya. Saloma, on the other hand, is more typical of Slovak and Croatian and Kashubian. Maybe this is a name that is becoming popular in general and it might increase elsewhere in the U.S. Salome has also been in occasional use by Amish families, though I don’t see it in Pennsylvania data.

   I wonder if Susannah in the Illinois data is also a reflection of Polish culture. Zuzanna is currently very popular in Poland.

8. @CB – I thought Penn in Pennsylvania was interesting as well. :)

   @Andrea – Thank you for all of your thoughts!

   @Rachel – I remember you mentioning Hebrew vs. Yiddish names a few years ago — thank you for teaching us about this!

9. This is so interesting! Some of these names are so… “regular” to be only used in a single state. Am I interpreting this correctly that not a single Carley or Susannah was born in this country outside of Illinois??

10. Ephrata is a small town in Pennsylvania, near Lancaster. It’s the original name for Bethlehem, and it’s mentioned briefly as a woman’s name in the Old Testament. I’ve never really thought of it as a given name, but I think it could grow on me …

11. @Bryan – Excellent question, I’m sorry I didn’t explain this in the post.

    The names above are “unique” to certain states in that only showed up in the data for a single state.

    But the SSA’s state-by-state data doesn’t include baby names bestowed fewer than 5 times. So, while we know that all of the names above were used at least 5 times in a single state, they could have been used up to 4 times in any other state.

    And this is indeed the case for most of them:

    • Carley showed up in the Illinois data with 6 babies. But it was bestowed 53 times nationally. So the other 47 were born in various other states.
    • Susannah showed up in the Illinois data with 5 babies. But it was given to 63 babies across the country. So the other 58 were born elsewhere.

    That said, a handful of the names above were bestowed entirely within a single state. All 26 of the U.S. baby boys named Shloma last year were born in New York, for instance.

    I will make a note to include an explanation like this in next year’s post. Thank you for asking about it. :)

    @Abby – Thanks for that background!

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