Oregon’s Open Data website includes several tables of baby name data from 2012.
The most interesting thing about this data? It goes all the way down to names given to just three babies per year. (All the SSA baby name lists, on the other hand, have a five-baby cut-off.)
So here are some of the baby names that were bestowed in Oregon just three or four times in 2012:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| Amberly Andromeda Arianny Damaris Diem Ellingon Fern Gaia Io Isela Jubilee Kahlan Linnea Lois Lumen Magali Rue Sahasra Sanvi Sayuri Seven Sinai Siri Sonora Sparrow Timber Twyla Van Yara | Achilles Alvin Atlas Atreyu Bear Briar Calder Carver Clive Dutch Forest Huck Hyrum Isley Kainoa Kincaid Koa Larry Loki Montgomery Riot Rogue Summit Tavish Tiberius Tor Trapper Van Zephyr |
The name Diem caught my eye. Diem has been in the SSA data since the ’80s, but a lot of the recent usage was probably inspired by Danielle Michelle “Diem” Brown, who appeared on various MTV reality TV shows from 2006 to 2015. (She passed away in 2014 from ovarian cancer.) In her case, “Diem” was a nickname based on the initials “D.M.,” making this yet another name that can be spelled with the names of letters.
Update, 8/2023: Unfortunately, the state’s Open Data site no longer includes information on baby names, and I couldn’t find copies of the state’s 2012 baby name data anywhere else online (like at the Internet Archive).
While I was searching, though, I did find a couple of baby name-related quiz questions in a mid-2008 issue of CD Summary [pdf], which is a newsletter put out by Oregon Health Authority.
Which was the most frequently used baby name for boys in 2007?
(a) Anthony; (b) Pirate; (c) Jacob; (d) Elvis
The answer: (c) Jacob. “In 2007, 257 babies were named Jacob. Anthony was the tenth most frequently used boy’s name (184 babies). Four babies were named Elvis and only one, Pirate.”
The following were all baby names for girls in 2007 except?
(a) Chevy; (b) ESPN; (c) Logger; (d) God
The answer: (c) Logger. “No baby in Oregon has ever been named Logger. The name Chevy has been chosen for females seven times during the past 46 years, ESPN and God only once.”
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