Every U.S. State's Most Popular Name by Generation

Why don’t Virginians have names like Ironmonger Major or Mourning Hay anymore?

Times change. Places change. Today’s Virginians are most likely to be named Liam or Olivia, which are the most popular boy and girl names for Gen Alpha kids in 27 states each.

But that’s not to say that the culture has been completely flattened. In the olden days, folk named their kids after a small set of biblical figures. Today, we have an expanding set of celebrities and fictional characters to choose from, and whether you’re named after Bowie, Zendaya or the—um—title character of Grandaddy’s 2000 single “He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot” may depend on where you were born and your parent’s generation.

To see how names have changed from state to state and across time, Word.tips ranked the top baby names in every state for every generation from X to Alpha.

What We Did

We used Social Security Administration data to find the 100 most popular baby names for each U.S. state every year since 1965, breaking down our findings across different generations, including Gen Alpha (2013–2023), Generation Z or Zoomers (1997–2012), Millennials (1981–1996) and Generation X (1965–1980).

Key Insights

• Liam is the most popular boy name among Gen Alpha in 27 states.
• Madison and Emily are each the most popular girl names among Zoomers in 20 states.
• Among millennials, Jessica is top in 42 states and Michael in 38.
• Michael is the only name among the ten most popular for all four generations since Generation X.

The Most Popular Gen Alpha Name in Every U.S. State

Liam is the most popular boy name among Alpha kids in 27 states. Its longer form, William, takes another ten states. Along with Olivia, Liam has been the most popular name in America for the past five years.

While Liam comes more directly from the Irish version of William (Ulliam), the name has spread to the West Coast and even takes the title in Alaska. Generation Alpha begins around the same time (2013) as the Liam Hemsworth-starring Hunger Games movies (2012-2023) and the peak of English-Irish One Direction’s (and Liam Payne’s) success.

Olivia is the top Alpha name in New York, Colorado and Hawaii, among many others. The name seems to transcend time, first becoming popular in Shakespeare’s time but staying in fashion while other names came and went. This might change if its present dominance ‘dates’ it as an Alpha name, making it seem old-fashioned to future generations. Florida is the only state with a unique top female name: Isabella.

The Most Popular Gen Z Name in Every U.S. State

The first generation of digital natives are apparently unkeen to have kids due to the burdens of student debt, climate change and extended adolescence. Their Gen X parents, however, were at it from the get-go. Jacob is the most popular male name for their Zoomer kids in 28 states from Arizona to Wyoming, although perhaps the most celebrated Gen Z Jacob—Mr. Elordi—was born in Australia. Later, Gen Z Jacobs may have been named for Twilight’s Jacob Black, who first appeared in 2005; Jacob is the leading male Gen Z name in the character’s home state, Washington.

Emily and Madison are tied for the most popular female name among Generation Z. They are top in 20 states each, with Madison states clustered in the south east and Emilys all over.

Madison peaked in the early 2000s due to the ‘80s revival and the coming-of-age of kids who fell in love with/wanted to be Madison, the mermaid from Ron Howard’s Splash (1984). Whether they saw their Gen Z baby as a mythical sea creature or a power suit-wearing glass ceiling smasher, parents in Indiana, Montana and many other states opted for Madison.

The Most Popular Millennial Name in Every U.S. State

If you were born between 1981 and 1996, chances are most of your friends are called Michael and Jessica. In 1982, an astounding 3% of American babies were named Michael, and 2.3% were named Jessica. Michael is the most common millennial name in 38 states, with Nameberry suggesting it was “the perfect bridge between the Old School male names like Robert and Richard borne by the fathers of Millennials and the new names from Milo to Maverick used for boys today.” Throughout the 1980s, Michaels Jordan, J. Fox, Caine and Jackson ensured that there was a Mike-themed role model for everybody.

Jessica is the most popular female millennial name in 42 states, inheriting the top girl name title from the similar Jennifer (see Gen X, below). Jessica is widely tipped to become the “Karen” of its generation due to its ubiquitous and, therefore, amorphous application to the daughters of the ‘80s. But before the name loses its shine, take a moment to reflect on some of the great millennial Jessicas who grace the States: Alba (California), Biel (Minnesota) and Jessie James (born in Italy but raised in Iowa, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia).

The Most Popular Gen X Name in Every U.S. State

The Michael craze that took America’s baby population by storm in the 1980s was already well underway during the Gen X period. Between 1965 and 1980, Michael was the most common male baby name in every state except for Mississippi and South Carolina.

In those two states, James was the most popular baby name. James Earl Jones was a local lad who may have inspired his fellow Mississippians to name their kids James; he became a famous Shakespearean actor during the 1960s and attained mainstream fame through the 1970s, culminating in his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy.

The feminine form of Michael—Michelle—was the most popular female name among Gen X babies in a handful of states, including Arizona, Hawaii and Montana. Angela was most popular in ten states and Kimberly in five.

But it was a Jennifer nation back then, with inspiration from glamorous stars such as Jennifers O'Neill and Jones. Gen X Jennifers ruled 22 states, including California, Massachusetts and Nevada. Jennifer Aniston is among famous Californians born in this period, while child star and Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis was born in Nevada in 1976.

The 10 Most Popular Names from Each Generation in the United States

Finally, we traced the popularity of the most common names in the U.S. across generations. Only one name makes it into the top ten for all four generations, from Gen X to Gen Alpha. Michael was number one through the X and millennial years, dropped into second place among Zoomer babies and has plummeted to ninth place among kids born since 2013. “I’m looking at some of these names now, and I don’t know where these mothers get them,” says NFL legend Mike Ditka, whose father and son are also Michaels.

However, Michaels should think themselves lucky: Brians fell out of the top ten after Gen X, and John hasn’t been a contender since parents were naming millennials. In fact, seven of the top ten male Alpha names are new entrants to the Hall of Name Fame.

No female name has lasted in the top ten throughout these four generations. Elizabeth gave it a good go, featuring in the Gen X, millennial and Zoomer top ten. Jessica has the unusual pattern of being the number one name for millennials but not appearing among the top ten for any other generation—making it likely to be associated with the generation born between 1981 and 1996.

Emma is the current top baby name among Alphas, having climbed into the top ten as the third most popular among Zoomers. At the same time, Emily has dropped out of the top ten after appearing for two consecutive generations. One study found that parents may choose names that are similar but different to names they perceive as popular, “wanting to fit in and wanting to stand out at the same time,” according to Russell Golman, associate professor in Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon.

Generation Who?

Over the past three decades, the internet has made parents more aware of the power of a name-surname combo as a unique identifier. But it was the “Baby Boomers [who] were the first parents who wanted to be cool, and who wanted their children to be cool as well,” says Pamela Redmond, author of Beyond Jennifer & Jason. Since what parents deem cool is rarely agreed with by their kids, the most popular names are likely to grow ever more diverse in years to come—whatever state you’re born in.

Methodology

We compiled a list of the 100 most popular baby names for each U.S. state by year going back to 1965, with data from the Social Security Administration. The data consisted of name, gender and the number of males or females born per year with that name.

We assigned generations using the corresponding year brackets:

• Gen Alpha: 2013–2023
• Generation Z: 1997–2012
• Millennials: 1981–1996
• Generation X: 1965–1980
  

This allowed us to calculate the most popular names by generation in each state and across the United States. 

This study was completed at the end of May 2024.