Are Utah Baby Names Actually Unique?

I wrote an article about unique baby names trending in the country from Utah. Some of you were curious if Utah actually has different names or if that was just a myth like the idea that Utah eats more ice cream than the rest of the country.

Well, Utah Baby Namer did some research to see.

First, there are some qualifiers. We need to see that a name in Utah was popular. I mean anyone could search a state's birth records and find a unique name. The key to our question is if the name was embraced by the beehive state.

The second was to see if it stood out in its uniqueness to the rest of the country. We will need to see if Utah as a populace accepted the new name and if so, how much more was it embraced than the rest of the United States.

With these two curricula, we can flush out not just the their names, but unique names that have been accepted as Utah mainstream.

Here is a list of Utah-specific baby names and their popularity in Utah as opposed to the rest of the United States.

The list is ordered from the most unique to the least.

McKell (Girl) - 131 times more popular in Utah

McCall (Girl) - 105 times more popular in Utah

McKay (Boy) - 98 times more popular in Utah

Taylee (Girl) - 86 times more popular in Utah

Hyrum (Boy) - 79 times more popular in Utah

Dallin (Boy) - 67 times more popular in Utah

Ammon (Boy) - 67 times more popular in Utah

Carma (Girl) - 64 times more popular in Utah

Afton (Girl) - 60 times more popular in Utah

Bridger (Boy) - 55 times more popular in Utah

So yes, it seems there is a set of Utah-specific names that are accepted and used specifically by the state.  As you look across the list what strikes you about the names that we are willing to accept throughout the years?

By the way, do you know how to catch a baby with a unique name? You neak up on them.

Dad joke delivered.