By Linda Rosenkrantz

　　So we’ve parsed the new Social Security national list from almost every conceivable angle. When, a few days after its release, we got to see which names were most popular in which states in 2014, it’s allowing us to delve into more regional patterns.

　　It turns out that top national names Noah and Emma were far from the most popular in every state: Emma was Number 1 in 22 of them, Noah at the top in only 9! It’s also interesting to note such idiosyncrasies in the Top 5 as Aurora Number 4 in Alaska, Brooklyn Number 2 in Wyoming, and Lincoln Number 2 in South Dakota.

　　It wasn’t unusual to see names spilling over into neighboring states, as in the case of Harper being the top name for girls in both North and South Dakota—and nowhere else. Other unique Number 1s were Elizabeth and Alexander in DC, Isabella in Florida, Mia in New Mexico, Henry in Minnesota, Benjamin in Massachusetts (and also well used all across New England), Michael in NJ, Henry in Minnesota, and Jackson in Wyoming.

　　Moving further down the Top 5, some of the other more noteworthy localized choices were Zoe at Number 5 in DC, Aria 4 in Hawaii, Lucy 4 in Utah and Avery Number 5 in Ohio. On the boys’ side, in addition to Lincoln, there was Gabriel in fifth place in Alaska and Hunter at Number 4 in West Virginia, where Colton came in fifth. Plus quite a few Elijahs, Henrys, Owens and Olivers ranking that high.

　　It’s also interesting to see how some districts have minds of their own and swim against the tide, such as Wahington DC, the Dakotas, Utah and Hawaii. (Trivia tidbit: Brayden, Aiden, Ayden and Jayden were all in the top dozen boy names in Mississippi.)

　　Some striking outliers among the popular girls, with their national numbers in parens:

　　Anna (34)—8 in Washington DC

　　Camila (41)–10 in California

　　Caroline (58)—12 in North Carolina

　　Khloe (88)—16 in Hawaii

　　Genesis (68)—6 in Washington DC

　　Hadley (99)—9 in South Dakota

　　Hazel (107)—19 in Utah

　　Leah (35)—12 in New York

　　Maya (74)—10 in Washington DC

　　Nora (49)—8 in South Dakota

　　Paisley (53)—12 in Montana and Oklahoma

　　Ruby (90)—6 in Utah

　　And in the blue column:

　　Adrian (59)–17 in Nevada

　　Bentley (89)—10 in West Virginia

　　Caleb (35)—8 in Delaware

　　Cameron (53)—13 in NH

　　Easton (83)—6 in ND

　　Ezekiel (181)—10 in Hawaii

　　Hudson (80)—7 in ND, 12 in SD

　　Jack (41)—13 in Nebraska

　　Jaxon (46)—7 in Oklahoma, 11 in Arkansas

　　Julian (47)—13 in California, 14 in Nevada

　　Levi (45)—9 in West Virginia

　　Oakley (657)—18 in Wyoming

　　Ryker (151)-12 in Wyoming, 14 in Nebraska

　　And here’s some more intriguing data, thanks to the research of Megan McCleery.

　　How many names do you think were in the Top 100 in all fifty states?

　　For girls, it was 25, from Abigail to Zoey

　　For boys, there were 34 names, from Aiden to Wyatt.

　　What I found even more interesting were some of the names found in the Top 100 in only one state, among which were these surprising examples:

　　GIRLS

　　Adelaide

　　Arya

　　Beatrice

　　Eloise

　　Emerson

　　Maeve

　　Marley

　　Olive

　　Phoebe

　　Willa

　　BOYS

　　Aidan

　　Cash

　　Edward

　　Gideon

　　Griffin

　　Maximus

　　Milo

　　Oscar

　　Spencer

　　Zane

　　Any surprises in your own state?

　　You can check out all the stats at the Social Security website.