The South has maintained a regional flair and identity that sets it apart from the rest of the United States. Its distinct culture is evident in everything from its rich cuisine to inimitable contributions to music and literature. Giving your baby boy or girl a name that’s widespread in this part of the country can carry that same uniqueness.
In order to identify the names that are most common in the South relative to the rest of the country, MooseRoots used data from the Social Security Administration to find the top names in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia (states designated as Southern states by the U.S. Census Bureau) in 2015.
We only included names that are present in all the Southern states, and compared the frequency of each name in the South with the rest of the U.S. Finally, we compiled a list of names most likely to appear in this region, and ranked the list in the visualization below from highest to lowest frequency relative to the rest of the country.
While Biblical names in this deeply religious region such as Nehemiah and Josiah may come as no surprise, the list reveals a strong preference for names that have origins in the U.S., such as Trenton, Bryson and Raelyn. These names are indicative of the Southern tradition of blending various elements to create something entirely original.