This one rang off to me. I don’t think it’s particularly “quirky” or even surprising that Hawaiian names would be more common in Hawaii, or that names with Persian and Sanskrit origins would be common in California, which has significant Persian and south Asian populations (in addition to its many other Asian populations).
I didn't interpret their use of "quirky" as in weird, but as in unique to the state. Like you said, many of the names do make a lot of sense for those states because of the populations who live there, but they are still highlighted because they are disproportionately popular in that state (and not meant in a bad way). For instance, Alaska, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine all have Nameberry-favorites listed as their "quirky" choices, so it doesn't seem to mean that they think the names listed are strange names, just a quirk of the state, as in more likely to be from that state than others.
Respectfully, my point is not about what they meant to say. It is about how they did say it and the way they did say it sets Anglo/white names up as the default and everything else as surprising or unusual . Yulissa is not an unpopular or uncommon English name - it’s a popular Spanish one.
I wonder if they could update the description a little better to make it more clear how they got these numbers. This list is all about the quantity of these names being much higher in one state vs the rest of the other states, meaning that these names are unevenly distributed from state to state. They did a list like this last year, and one I remember was that almost half of the babies named Kaladin were born in Utah, which is where the author Brandon Sanderson lives (who created Kaladin in his books). So even though Utahns only make up 1/100th of the country's population, almost half of the babies named Kaladin in 2023 were born in the US. So Kaladin was unevenly distributed across the country, and it was listed for Utah because there was a big spike of the name there vs anywhere else. That's what the names in this list are like for their state too.
Likewise for this 2025 list, the names Cadence, Persephone, Louisa, and Poppy were all much more popular in Alaska than they were in the rest of the US, indicating they are disportionately popular in Alaska and that babies given these names in 2025 were statistically more likely to be born in Alaska than other states. Alaska is one of many states that predominantly had Anglo-Saxon names as names they were more popular in their state than in the other states. More common names are much less likely to have a significant uneven distribution in one particular state, hence why the names on this list are less common. If only non-Anglo-Saxon names were included, I would be more concerned that it was showing a superiority of names, but it thankfully is just looking at which names spike in one state much more than the rest of the states.
I lived in Texas for a few years and worked for WIC where I got exposed to a lot of names of babies and little kids. I saw Brazos quite a bit! There is a prominent river near called the Brazos River. However, it was one of those Spanish words that most non-Hispanic Texans unknowingly used a non-Spanish pronunciation (brazz-iss, kind of like Travis but with a Z in the middle) for both the river and for Brazos as a name. I always wondered what it would be like to be named brazz-iss in Texas since that's not the Spanish pronunciation for a Spanish word
Some of those names seem SO out there, while others do not. Most seem proportionate to their populations. However, what intrigued me was the high number of K names or the hard C (like Cuh rather than soft like an S) sound. I would watch that for a rising sound.
This one rang off to me. I don’t think it’s particularly “quirky” or even surprising that Hawaiian names would be more common in Hawaii, or that names with Persian and Sanskrit origins would be common in California, which has significant Persian and south Asian populations (in addition to its many other Asian populations).
I didn't interpret their use of "quirky" as in weird, but as in unique to the state. Like you said, many of the names do make a lot of sense for those states because of the populations who live there, but they are still highlighted because they are disproportionately popular in that state (and not meant in a bad way). For instance, Alaska, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine all have Nameberry-favorites listed as their "quirky" choices, so it doesn't seem to mean that they think the names listed are strange names, just a quirk of the state, as in more likely to be from that state than others.
But it’s also not “disproportionate” - these names appear in a frequency that is in fact proportionate to the populations that use them.
I think they meant disproportionate to other states.
Respectfully, my point is not about what they meant to say. It is about how they did say it and the way they did say it sets Anglo/white names up as the default and everything else as surprising or unusual . Yulissa is not an unpopular or uncommon English name - it’s a popular Spanish one.
I wonder if they could update the description a little better to make it more clear how they got these numbers. This list is all about the quantity of these names being much higher in one state vs the rest of the other states, meaning that these names are unevenly distributed from state to state. They did a list like this last year, and one I remember was that almost half of the babies named Kaladin were born in Utah, which is where the author Brandon Sanderson lives (who created Kaladin in his books). So even though Utahns only make up 1/100th of the country's population, almost half of the babies named Kaladin in 2023 were born in the US. So Kaladin was unevenly distributed across the country, and it was listed for Utah because there was a big spike of the name there vs anywhere else. That's what the names in this list are like for their state too.
Likewise for this 2025 list, the names Cadence, Persephone, Louisa, and Poppy were all much more popular in Alaska than they were in the rest of the US, indicating they are disportionately popular in Alaska and that babies given these names in 2025 were statistically more likely to be born in Alaska than other states. Alaska is one of many states that predominantly had Anglo-Saxon names as names they were more popular in their state than in the other states. More common names are much less likely to have a significant uneven distribution in one particular state, hence why the names on this list are less common. If only non-Anglo-Saxon names were included, I would be more concerned that it was showing a superiority of names, but it thankfully is just looking at which names spike in one state much more than the rest of the states.
I lived in Texas for a few years and worked for WIC where I got exposed to a lot of names of babies and little kids. I saw Brazos quite a bit! There is a prominent river near called the Brazos River. However, it was one of those Spanish words that most non-Hispanic Texans unknowingly used a non-Spanish pronunciation (brazz-iss, kind of like Travis but with a Z in the middle) for both the river and for Brazos as a name. I always wondered what it would be like to be named brazz-iss in Texas since that's not the Spanish pronunciation for a Spanish word
Vermont and New Hampshire are clear winners imo
Some of those names seem SO out there, while others do not. Most seem proportionate to their populations. However, what intrigued me was the high number of K names or the hard C (like Cuh rather than soft like an S) sound. I would watch that for a rising sound.
I grew up in Idaho, and I do know some people with some of the names!
- Quincy: daughter of my high school best friend
- Brynnlee: ny cousin's daughter; my sister's friend from high school; and a child we knew in Texas whose parents are from Idaho
- McKay: someone I went to middle school with
Tx