Every year the American Social Security Administration releases data about baby names from the previous year. The 2014 data was released last week and showed that the most popular names for girls were Emma, Olivia and Sophia. The most popular names for boys were Noah, Liam and Mason.
That’s the United States as a whole. They also break down the most popular baby names by state. A lot of states follow the crowd, but there are a few that stray from the beaten path.
Olivia was the number one girls’ name in 19 different states. Included are four states that border Idaho: Washington, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
Emma was the top name in 18 states, including Idaho and our remaining border states, Montana and Nevada. Interestingly, Emma was also number one in both Alaska and Hawaii. I’m not sure what I expected for Alaska and Hawaii, but it wasn’t Emma.
Sophia was number one in five states, Ava in three and Harper in two, which interestingly were North and South Dakota.
States in a class by themselves were Florida (Isabella) and New Mexico (Mia). And the top name in Washington, DC was Elizabeth.
The top boys’ name in 16 states was Liam, which is an Irish variation of William. Liam was tops in Idaho and neighbors Oregon and Washington.
William was number one in 12 states, including Montana and Utah.
Noah finished first in nine states. Those include Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California, the bulk of the southwest, where it’s known for being dry.
Mason was the top boys’ name in seven states, and Jacob in two.
States with a unique winner were Massachusetts (Benjamin), Minnesota (Henry), New Jersey (Michael) and Wyoming (Jackson). And tops in Washington, DC was Alexander.
It’s interesting, I think, that people in DC don’t have much in common with the people who live elsewhere. I should have expected that.
The biggest surprise of the whole report to me was that Jackson was the number one boys’ name in Wyoming. Jackson is one of Wyoming’s most famous winter resort towns. If that trend continues, Jackson’s roommates in college someday might be Sun Valley, Park City, Taos, Big Bear and Sugarbush. We can only hope.
