What Are Your State’s Quirky Favorite Baby Names?
States have official songs and sandwiches. So how about quirky favorite baby names?
It turns out that certain boy and girl names, rare in the US, are over-represented in certain states. Our intrepid researcher looked at every name given to at least 100 babies in 2015. Then he calculated the percentage of babies with that name born in every state. When ranked, the results revealed the rare names most concentrated in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Some of these are easily explained. A hundred baby boys were named Brigham in 2015, 23 of them in Utah. Less than 1 percent of all Americans live in Utah, so that’s 23 times higher than you might expect. But, of course, Brigham Young was an early leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, headquartered in Utah, so it’s not a surprise.
Yiddish names Shimon and Faigy are the quirky favorites in New York, where there’s the largest concentration of Hasidic Jews, while Spanish names Santana and Estevan are favored in New Mexico and Hawaiian names Kalea and Keanu are popular in, boom!, Hawaii.
And it does make sense that nature names Wren and Wilder are the Quirky Favorites of rural Vermont, while nouveau names Oakleigh and Bridger are well-liked in Red State Montana, consistent with our analysis that found Red Staters prefer gender-neutral invented names while Blue State baby names are more likely to pick names that are ethnic and traditional.
Other stands-outs are harder to explain. Why is Ophelia so prominent in Alaska? Or Brecken in Iowa? If you have the secret to why these names are the favorites in your state, please share with the class!
Here are all the quirky favorites by state:
AK
Torin
Ophelia
AL
Dewayne
Lynlee
AR
Payton
Kynslee
AZ
Hiram
Arleth
CA
Arman
Jaylene
CO
Amias
Aspen
CT
Andreas
Alessia
DC
Zyaire
Egypt
DE
Makai
Devyn
FL
Jahmir
Martina
GA
Jarvis
Ansley
HI
Keanu
Kalea
IA
Brecken
Kinzlee
ID
Krew
Oakley
IL
Umar
Jaylani
IN
Ross
Lucinda
KS
Brogan
Camdyn
KY
Leeland
Kenleigh
LA
Tylan
Jolie
MA
Javian
Maeve
MD
Chaz
Rhyan
ME
Eliot
Quincy
MI
Hussein
Yasmeen
MN
Abdirahman
Sumaya
MO
Kelly
Braylynn
MS
Jakobe
Deasia
MT
Bridger
Oakleigh
NC
Juelz
Ivey
ND
Teagan
Aspyn
NE
Coy
Juana
NH
Davin
Penny
NJ
Yaakov
Nechama
NM
Estevan
Santana
NV
Kenji
Laylani
NY
Shimon
Faigy
OH
Jaron
Bexley
OK
Hagen
Gentry
OR
Cedar
Zinnia
PA
Yasir
Maura
RI
Domenic
Amalia
SC
Banks
Hollis
SD
Sutton
Haddie
TN
Courtney
Briley
TX
Mauro
Renata
UT
Brigham
Oaklee
VA
Aubrey
Iman
VT
Wilder
Wren
WA
Ransom
Roslyn
WI
Jordy
Etta
WV
Bryer
Cambrie
WY
Trace
Taya