You know, I really meant to get around to this much sooner.
I did a statistical analysis of "
southern names" long ago in 2015, followed by a "western names" post a year or so later. It became quickly apparent that "western" was quite wide range, so I split them up, focusing on
'Pacific' Western (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA--aka: "surfer") initially, and intending to follow up with 'Mountain' Western (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY--aka: "cowboy") shortly after. Oops!
Better late than never, here are the "most Mountain Western" names (by % of babies given that name) in the Mountain states' combined Top 1000:
Boys:
- Hyrum
- Mckay
- Tyrann
- Bridger
- Taft
- Stockton
- Talmage
- Kimball
- Ammon
- Brigham
- Colter
- Dallin
- Cache
- Tevita
- Tayson
- Mckoy
- Taysom
- Taggart
- Krew
- Sione
I was expecting all the surnames. I was not expecting
Tyrann &
Cache. Wonder if there's some sort of local inspiration for
Tyrann.
Girls:
- Ariza
- Brexlee
- Annalicia
- Navy
- Afton
- Oakley
- Oaklee
- Indie
- Aspen
- Bostyn
- Taylee
- Quincy
- Holland
- Taya
- Capri
- Cosette
- Scout
- Opal
- Chevelle
- Juniper
More surnames! The nature-names are a nice surprise.
Some of those names are still pretty uncommon, so here are the most Mountain names from the states' Top 500:
Boys:
- Hyrum
- Bridger
- Brigham
- Colter
- Ridge
- Nixon
- Stetson
- Crew
- Brixton
- Daxton
- Brecken
- Boston
- Benson
- Porter
- Cruz
- Talon
- Ryker
- Orion
- Beckham
- Adriel
Adriel, how did you get there?
Girls:
- Navy
- Oakley
- Oaklee
- Indie
- Aspen
- Holland
- Taya
- Juniper
- Gwen
- Penny
- Jane
- Tatum
- Yareli
- Faye
- Daleyza
- Sage
- Ember
- Mae
- Dalary
- Yaretzi
Surnames, nature, and a bit of Spanish. That sounds about right! Surprised by the short & sweet "old lady" names, though. <3
Phew, finally down to the most common names. Here are the most Mountain names from the states' Top 100:
Boys:
- Ryker
- Jesus
- Santiago
- Damian
- Ezra
- Ezekiel
- Emmett
- Lincoln
- Axel
- Jose
- Ryder
- Luis
- Elias
- Weston
- Cooper
- Mateo
- Asher
- Angel
- Oliver
- Dominic
Girls:
- Ximena
- Athena
- Ruby
- Lyla
- Hazel
- Ivy
- Emery
- Aurora
- Lucy
- Liliana
- Quinn
- Luna
- Cora
- Rylee
- Clara
- Everly
- Alice
- Brielle
- Ellie
- Brooklyn
I definitely get more a 'cowboy' vibe from the boys' list than from the girls', but both lists are pretty great!
For comparison, here are the Mountain states' Top 10, alongside the National Top 10:
|
Mountain
|
National
|
1.
|
Liam
|
Noah
|
2.
|
Noah
|
Liam
|
3.
|
Oliver
|
William
|
4.
|
William
|
Mason
|
5.
|
Benjamin
|
James
|
6.
|
James
|
Benjamin
|
7.
|
Mason
|
Jacob
|
8.
|
Alexander
|
Michael
|
9.
|
Daniel
|
Elijah
|
10.
|
Michael
|
Ethan
|
|
Mountain
|
National
|
1.
|
Emma
|
Emma
|
2.
|
Olivia
|
Olivia
|
3.
|
Sophia
|
Ava
|
4.
|
Mia
|
Sophia
|
5.
|
Isabella
|
Isabella
|
6.
|
Ava
|
Mia
|
7.
|
Charlotte
|
Charlotte
|
8.
|
Abigail
|
Abigail
|
9.
|
Harper
|
Emily
|
10.
|
Evelyn
|
Harper
|
Wow, there's really not much of a difference, is there, esp. with the girls! If you wish to see the entire Mountain Top 1000, it is
here, on Google Sheets.
I then went looking for the most representative names of each state, that is, the names that are disproportionately common in that state compared to the entire country.
(in order to keep rare names from mucking up the stats, I did limit my analysis in this section to the top 2/5 or so of each state's list)
AZ:
Rene, Guillermo, Alvaro, Jesus, Ismael (boys);
Ariza, Meilani, Tatum, Romina, Scarlette (girls)
CO:
Brecken, Augustine, Soren, Orion, Cassius (boys);
Aspen, Emmaline, Juniper, Khaleesi, Sloan (girls)
ID:
Bridger, Ridge, Stetson, Boston, Hank (boys);
Oaklee, Oakley, Kimber, Aspen, Remington (girls)
MT:
Bridger, Sterling, Colt, Rory, Arlo (boys);
Oakley, Aspen, Ember, Finley, Sage (girls)
NV:
Romeo, Royal, Angelo, Orion, Nikolai (boys);
Roselyn, Zaniyah, Kenia, Chanel, Haylee (girls)
NM:
Luciano, Uriah, Zachariah, Marcos, Emilio (boys);
Zia, Estrella, Amaris, Avianna, Julissa (girls)
UT:
Mckay, Hyrum, Stockton, Ammon, Dallin (boys);
Navy, Afton, Bostyn, Oaklee, Indie (girls)
WY:
Bridger, Corbin, Holden, Ryker, Jasper (boys);
Oakley, Aspen, Sawyer, Brynlee, Piper (girls)
It's interesting; in the previous regional analyses it was pretty easy to tell what style of names are
not fashionable, but here it just seems random! Among the least "Mountain Western" names are
Darius, Braylen, Chris, Maurice, Kyleigh, Jaliyah, Lara, &
Eileen. I guess the Mountain states are just much more eclectic in their tastes than the
Southern and
Pacific states. :)