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The Ultra-Literal Name Map of the United States

September 29, 2020 laurawattenberg 3 Comments

The Ultra-Literal Name Map of the United States

September 29, 2020 LauraWattenberg 3 Comments

Is it a state, or is it a baby?

Let’s start off easy. Connecticut is a state. Emily is a baby. Georgia we’ll have to score for both sides. Now, how about Kansas? Before you answer, you might want to talk to the 30 American families that named babies Kansas last year. (Any guess at the gender ratio?)

State names aren’t a new style. The 1900 U.S. Census counted over 9000 women named Missouri and 4000 named Tennessee. But individual states move in and out of fashion. Florida, for instance, has vanished from the modern name pool. See where your state stands in this literal-minded name map of the USA. Full stats are below.

US map shaded to show how many babies are given the name of each state

NameGirls BornBoys BornTotal
Alabama1010
Alaska4646
Arizona1255130
California1313
Carolina749749
Dakota12649592223
Georgia14671467
Indiana10483187
Jersey15750207
Kansas25530
Louisiana66
Missouri66
Montana120110230
Nevada21728
Tennessee321749
Texas1111
Utah77
Virginia567567
Washington1010
York99

LauraWattenberg
LauraWattenberg

Namerology founder and "Baby Name Wizard" author Laura Wattenberg is a globally recognized name expert, known for her scientific approach to understanding name trends and culture.

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3 Comments

  • Laurens September 29, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    Any data on how many of these babies were born in the same state vs out of state? If I had to guess, I’d say the big ones (200+) are more likely out of state.

  • Ira Sass October 9, 2020 at 1:18 am

    When I was a kid I went to a camp called Camp Virginia (it was in Massachusetts) and there was a kid named Virginia there. She mostly went by Ginny, but I still thought that was Extremely Cool.

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