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    [OC] Most "Overused" Baby Names in Each State (2024)
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    [OC] Most “Overused” Baby Names in Each State (2024)

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    1. MurphGH on

      **TL;DR:** These aren’t the most popular names overall. They are the names that appear in a specific state significantly more often than the national average.

      **Data source:** U.S. Social Security Administration (2024)
      **Tools:** Python / SQL / Hex

      I wanted to explore state-specific naming quirks, but the most popular names in most states are the same as the top 10 most popular names nationwide. Instead, I calculated the z-score for every name in every state. That allowed me to identify which names were used significantly more than expected and how extreme the overuse actual is.

      You can read the whole write-up in [a blog post here](https://medium.com/@three-things/three-southern-states-really-hate-the-name-leo-9c97a093022a).

      **⚠️ Note on “Overuse”:** This is not meant to be a value judgment or a claim that there are “too many” of a given name. It’s just stating that the name is statistically used at a much higher rate, which defines each state’s unique naming “thumbprint” relative to the national average.

    12. grudginglyadmitted on

      I wonder if New York’s Abraham and Sarah are because of the relatively high Jewish population in NYC.

      Regardless I like that they fit together like a pair (like Utah’s Indy and Jones)

    14. Overlordz88 on

      So Jayson makes sense for MA based on Jayson Tatum.
      And I’m guessing this accounts for alt spellings, so Jason isn’t overused but Jayson is, which is kinda interesting.

      Edit: I get it now. Jason is used more universally so it’s not overused in MA. Jayson is only popular in MA. Makes sense now.

    16. vivaelteclado on

      What is Reem (Michigan)? And the unfortunate jokes that will be associated with that name…..

    17. Shambhala87 on

      West Virginia boys named “Coal – son” like how people were named for the family business , “Miller, Smith, Shitshoveler …”

    21. handymanny131003 on

      Washington has a *significantly* larger South Asian popular than I thought for Anika and Arjun to be their “overused” names

    23. IJustWorkHere000c on

      Live in Louisiana. Have no less than 4 friends with daughters named Camille.

    27. RASGAS23 on

      Kashton and Blaze 🤦🏻‍♂️ add it to the reasons I can’t stand the south

    29. Dempseylicious23 on

      Interesting how three Great Lakes states combine to nearly create both names of former boxing heavyweight champion of the world Cassius Clay, aka, Muhammad Ali (albeit with a slightly different spelling).

    30. jostler57 on

      Is there a lot of Muslim population in Minnesota?

      Imran and Safa are both Arabic names.

    32. Isgortio on

      Who tf looks at a baby human and thinks “I’ll call them Fisher”? Unless their surname is Price, and then the kid will think there’s an entire toy brand named after them.

    35. DuneChild on

      Pennsylvania, what are we doing here?

      It’s going to be funny in 18 years when a bunch of Oklahoma boys meet Georgia girls at college though.

    36. TheLink106 on

      I live in Indiana, born and raised. Been here almost all my life. I’ve never met a man, woman, or anyone in between named Cassius, let alone Cassius being the most overused name lmao.

      Edit: I just saw OP’s comment about these not actually being the most popular names, my bad XD

    38. Efficient_Tonight_40 on

      Interesting how this is basically a map of overrepresentation of certain minority groups by state. Hispanics in Texas California and Arizona, Indians in Washington, Muslims in Michigan and Minnesota, Jews in New York, African Americans in the south.

      The one thing I’m confused by is “Milan” in Florida. I expected it to be a Cuban or maybe Haitian name but that’s a slavic one. Why?

    42. Cabbages24ADollar on

      I love that I went with traditional names for my kids and they’re the outliers, now. Thank you to all the parents trying to be different in exactly the same way.