McKay and Quincy take the spot as the most "Utah" baby names of 2024
McKay and Quincy were the most distinctly Utah baby names of 2024 — and they're very Utahn.
Why it matters: It turns out our reputation for unusual baby names is supported by the data.
How it works: Axios analyzed the Social Security Administration's annual list of top baby names to find the most distinctive names in each state — that is, names that are far more popular in one state than the others.
They may not be the most popular Utah names, but they are the most "Utah" names.
By the numbers: In most states, the 10 most distinctive names are two or three times as popular as they are in the U.S. overall.
Here it's a factor of at least five.
Case in point: McKay was almost 53 times as popular in the Beehive State as it was nationally. In the 48 contiguous states, only Nebraska had a more state-distinctive name: Bergen.
Zoom in: McKay was adapted as a given name from a surname that's been prominent in Utah since the mid-19th century in a variety of spellings.
David O. McKay was the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1951 to 1970.
Meanwhile, Quincy — the most "Utah" girl name — was more than nine times as popular here as elsewhere.
The origin of the name is less clear, but we envy all who get to write a capital letter "Q" on a regular basis.
Caveat: We aren't the only state with unique names. Many of Hawaii's most distinctive names were 70 to 100 times as common there as in the rest of the country.
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