Parents draw baby name inspiration from a variety of sources ― family history, pop culture, literature and even food. For many, geography offers meaningful ideas.
But American parents aren’t just turning to glamorous international locales like Paris and London for baby name fodder. Many of them are sticking closer to home and picking the names of U.S. states and capital cities.
States such as Alabama, Alaska, Missouri and Utah have found new life in the form of baby names, according to the Social Security Administration. We scoured the latest SSA data ― which includes names given to five or more babies born in 2019 ― to identify which of the 50 states and capital cities have made the leap from maps to birth certificates.
Without further ado, here are 43 U.S. state and capital city names American parents gave their babies in 2019. (While Carolina and Dakota aren’t full state names, it’s likely that a fair number of parents chose them as a nod to North or South Carolina and North or South Dakota. The same goes for some of the other names below.)
States
Alabama (10 girls)
Alaska (46 girls)
Arizona (125 girls, five boys)
California (13 girls)
Carolina (749 girls)
Dakota (1,264 girls, 959 boys)
Georgia (1,467 girls)
Indiana (104 girls, 83 boys)
Kansas (25 girls, five boys)
Louisiana (six girls)
Missouri (six girls)
Montana (120 girls, 110 boys)
Nevada (21 girls, seven boys)
Tennessee (32 girls, 17 boys)
Texas (11 boys)
Utah (seven boys)
Virginia (567 girls)
Washington (10 boys)
Capitals
Montgomery (24 girls, 183 boys)
Juneau (14 girls, 10 boys)
Phoenix (1,017 girls, 1,399 boys)
Denver (300 girls, 419 boys)
Hartford (seven boys)
Atlanta (five boys)
Augusta (49 girls, seven boys)
Boston (52 girls, 448 boys)
Jackson (26 girls, 10,102 boys)
Helena (651 girls)
Lincoln (182 girls, 7,432 boys)
Trenton (512 boys)
Albany (15 girls)
Raleigh (160 girls, 99 boys)
Columbus (seven boys)
Salem (372 girls, 235 boys)
Providence (10 girls)
Pierre (183 boys)
Nashville (five boys)
Austin (160 girls, 4,369 boys)
Richmond (20 boys)
Olympia (71 girls)
Charleston (88 girls, 69 boys)
Madison (6,269 girls, 31 boys)
Cheyenne (624 girls, 11 boys)
