Western Baby Names
Names parents in the Mountain West choose far more often than the country as a whole, based on each name’s share of official U.S. birth records from the last decade. Compare meanings, popularity, and history to find regional favorites.
| Save name | Name & meaning | History 1926–2025, yearly counts; individually scaled | Babies 2025 · rank | 5-year rank movement | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
God is gracious | 1,380#221 | Up 43 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Ruby gemstone | 3,554#64 | Up 10 rank positions in five years | 1924 | ||
Hazel tree; light brown colour | 6,318#21 | Up 10 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Light | 6,176#25 | Up 25 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Bald | 2,710#132 | Up 12 rank positions in five years | 1924 | ||
The month of June, associated with Juno | 1,978#150 | Up 32 rank positions in five years | 1925 | ||
My God is an oath, through Elizabeth | 2,236#123 | Up 110 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Famous in battle, through Louis | 736#433 | Up 64 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Lovable | 1,522#201 | Up 227 rank positions in five years | 1915 | ||
Iron or battle, with eager or fiery | 1,381#251 | Up 165 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Short form of Penelope, possibly “duck”; also the English coin word | 368#740 | Down 13 rank positions in five years | 1963 | ||
Mountain range | 476#616 | Down 82 rank positions in five years | 1998 | ||
Short form of Katherine, traditionally associated with “pure” | 576#522 | Down 110 rank positions in five years | 2007 | ||
Familiar form of Rose, associated with the flower | 1,088#283 | Up 188 rank positions in five years | 1927 | ||
Grace; favor | 1,344#227 | Down 20 rank positions in five years | 2007 | ||
The opal gemstone | 740#423 | Up 226 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Olive tree | 1,597#197 | Down 1 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Cleric, scribe | 837#377 | Up 10 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
Gentle strength; other meanings depend on the full name | 3,353#73 | Up 117 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Meaning uncertain; Germanic and Greek histories | 2,974#119 | Up 15 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Son in the surname family; great in the Magnus family | 668#463 | Up 42 rank positions in five years | 1942 | ||
Possibly rich | 2,003#183 | Down 35 rank positions in five years | 2018 | ||
Wealth, fortune | 1,241#277 | Up 112 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Brave counsel | 770#417 | Up 134 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
From Stirling, meaning uncertain; also excellent | 944#346 | Up 54 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Nobility; noble kind | 1,062#289 | Down 17 rank positions in five years | 2016 | ||
White, blessed | 384#725 | Up 98 rank positions in five years | 1959 | ||
Wise person; also the sage herb | 1,853#160 | Up 63 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Life or breathing | 577#519 | Down 49 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
Probably happy or glad | 1,862#194 | Up 159 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Jet aircraft or deep black | 2,167#169 | Up 109 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Help; advantage | 1,183#264 | Up 127 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Aspen tree | 1,179#266 | Down 42 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Greek mythological name; meaning uncertain | 1,012#334 | Down 9 rank positions in five years | 2018 | ||
Oarsman in the French tradition; other origins also occur | 2,023#145 | Down 20 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
A glowing coal or fragment of a dying fire | 1,952#154 | Up 33 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
At the ash tree | 1,357#255 | Down 15 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
Juniper tree | 2,618#100 | Up 71 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Doorkeeper; also a carrier of loads | 531#560 | Down 136 rank positions in five years | 2015 | ||
Black woodland clearing | 1,638#191 | Down 24 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Becca's homestead | 2,185#168 | Up 80 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Crown or wreath | 1,496#203 | Up 202 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Home ruler; also connected with John | 776#413 | Up 70 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Possibly site in the Parish of South Brent | 2,662#136 | Up 351 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Oak clearing | 1,933#156 | Up 128 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Elaboration of Dax | 834#379 | Down 91 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Son of Benedict | 1,214#279 | Up 273 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Enlightenment in Buddhism | 1,301#265 | Up 30 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Wren, the small songbird | 1,331#231 | Up 129 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Frenzied, furious, inspired | 604#502 | Down 171 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Sunny or cheerful | 798#390 | Up 301 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Weir | 1,352#256 | Up 28 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
English surname transferred into given-name use | 393#692 | Down 223 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Serious, grave, through Søren | 665#464 | Up 45 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Possibly aid, assistance + wolf, through Botwulf | 451#620 | Down 26 rank positions in five years | 2014 | ||
Keeper of horses | 2,354#157 | Up 815 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Possibly a ronin | 600#504 | Down 114 rank positions in five years | 2020 | ||
Settlement on the Riming stream | 580#513 | Down 152 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
Flower name: poppy | 1,054#292 | Up 165 rank positions in five years | 2023 | ||
Bridge | 921#356 | Up 84 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Variant of Bodhi | 1,249#275 | Up 337 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Variant of Sloane | 324#840 | Down 175 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
English word name: ridge | 566#530 | Up 99 rank positions in five years | 2023 | ||
Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed | 550#550 | Up 158 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Son of Nick | 206#1,061 | Down 410 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
From the mouth of the Roe | 658#467 | Up 74 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Spring | 944#347 | Up 199 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Friend, companion | 778#411 | Up 178 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
English surname transferred into given-name use | 383#701 | Up 230 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Short form of Scott | 2,228#126 | Up 1,205 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
English surname transferred into given-name use | 1,099#310 | Up 443 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Sea force, fleet, armed forces of the sea | 935#327 | Up 333 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Variant of Oakley | 565#535 | Up 88 rank positions in five years | 2023 | ||
From a place name derived from Quintus, fifth | 335#815 | Up 380 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Diminutive of India | 459#634 | Up 107 rank positions in five years | 2022 |
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How this list is built
For each name we compare its share of babies across the Mountain West — Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada — with its share across the whole country, using U.S. birth birth records from 2016–2025. A name appears here when it is at least 1.6× more common in the region than nationwide, given to enough babies across at least 4 of the region's states that it is a real regional pattern rather than one small state's noise. Because we compare shares, not raw counts, a big state can't crowd the list — the ranking is by the multiple, most region-tied first.
The birth data records how often a name was used, never why, so this is a map of where names cluster, not a claim about the families who choose them. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year aren't published, so a name absent from a state may simply be rare there, not unheard of.