In today’s day and age, everything is political — even baby names. A study by Nameberry dives into red state and blue state baby names, and the results have caused quite a stir online. Although the study was originally published in August 2024, it’s getting widespread traction all over the internet recently. While many people probably assume that parents in red states choose more traditional names and parents in blue states choose more unique names, it turns out the opposite is actually true.
The data, which was collected from 2023 social security card applications and the 2020 US presidential election, was analyzed by Nameberry, and the findings are fascinating. The analysis looks at which of the Top 500 baby names in the US were chosen in predominantly red or blue states. It’s not just the top names in each state — instead, it’s about the names with the highest disparity in red states versus blue states.
Nameberry creator Pamela Redmond said, “Our findings show an America deeply divided on baby names in ways that point to larger and more profound conflicts in American culture and ideals.”
Here are the main takeaways from the study:
- The reddest baby names shun traditional naming conventions around gender, spelling, and first/last names.
- The reddest names “set forth an American ideal deeply rooted in the land and family heritage.”
- The bluest baby names “celebrate America as a melting pot while also honoring tradition.” Many of these names reflect the diverse population of blue states.
- The bluest names tend to be traditional first names that draw inspiration from historical, religious, and international sources.
The Bluest Baby Names
Here’s a quick explanation of how to read these charts, using Fiona as an example: 77.7% of baby girls named Fiona in the US in 2023 were born in blue states, while 21.3% of baby girls named Fiona were born in red states.
Other baby girl names that are much more popular in blue states than red states include: Brooke (70.5%), Rachel (70.5%), Celine (70.3%), Adelina (69.9%), Maia (69.6%), Maya (69.3%), Viviana (69.3%), Esme (68.6%), Fatima (68.6%), Kaia (68.2%), Colette (68.2%), Anya (68%), Maeve (67.9%), and Sienna (67.8%).
Other baby boy names that are much more popular in blue states than red states include: Colin (72%), Francis (71.8%), Angelo (70%), Remy (69.6%), Desmond (68.4%), Felix (68%), Frank (68%), Zayn (67.9%), Gianni (67.9%), Hugo (67.8%), Sean (67.8%), Rhys (67.8%), Rory (67.5%), Kian (67.3%), and Connor (67%).
Takeaways:
The name disparities in blue states can primarily be explained by ethnic differences — and 70% of the bluest baby names have theological ties. Many of the bluest names are rooted in Jewish (like Moshe and Miriam), Muslim (like Muhammad, Yusuf, Ibrahim, Maryam, Ali, and Aisha), Italian (like Santino, Viviana, and Nico), and Irish (like Maeve and Rory) culture — and 84% of these names come from non-English languages.
The Reddest Baby Names
Other baby girl names that are much more popular in red states than blue states include: Palmer (60%), Haisley (59%), Armani (58.5%), Sutton (58.5%), Marlee (58.4%), Charlee (58.4%), Brynlee (58.2%), Remington (58.1%), Hallie (58%), Evelynn (57.4%), Paisley (56.4%), Navy (56.1%), Emory (56%), Macie (55.4%), and Allie (55.3%).
Other baby boy names that are much more popular in red states than blue states include: Jensen (60.9%), Lawson (60.7%), Hayes (60%), Colter (59.7%), Waylon (59.4%), Shepherd (59%), Banks (58.9%), Karson (58.3%), Kayson (58.3%), Beckham (58.2%), Knox (58.2%), Daxton (57.8%), Tucker (57.6%), Kashton (57.4%), and Dallas (57.3%).
Takeaways:
Some of the biggest trends among the reddest names are last names as first names (like Collins, Cohen/Kohen, Baker, and anything ending in -son), romanticized rural imagery (like Stetson, Paisley, Shepherd, and Colter), nature motifs (like all of the Oak- varieties, Palmer, and Banks), and military/gun-themed (like Gunner, Knox, Remington, Navy, and Saylor). Spelling is also up for interpretation with many of the reddest names, which is why we see so many different versions of Oakley/Oakleigh/Oaklee.
Public Reactions
People have had a variety of reactions to the name data — some find it fascinating, others find it funny, and still others are upset that even names have become “politicized.”
One woman wrote, “Why are we making baby names political? It’s hard enough without the ‘red name, blue name’ thing.”
Since the information started going viral recently, there have been even more reactions. One recent tweet that referenced the data said, “We have actual American White ethnic names now. It took 250 years but it happened.”
“I must be getting older,” one person tweeted. “All these names read like a Hunger Games character list.”
The data even reached other countries, where people were baffled by some of the red state names. One man wrote, “It’s interesting, too, because they’re genuinely AMERICAN white ethnic names — I have never met or heard of a single child called any of them here in NZ. Or in any other country I’ve been to. Kind of mind-blowing.”
