What baby names are unique to Oklahoma?

Watie is the name most distinctive to Oklahoma, given about 28 times more often there than in the United States as a whole. Wendyl, Wynema and Lahoma follow.

How is a distinctive name measured?

Each name's share of births in Oklahoma is compared with its share nationally. The multiplier shown is the conservative low end of that ratio, so a name carried by a handful of births cannot outrank one carried by hundreds.

Name Legacy

Names unique to Oklahoma

The most distinctive Oklahoma baby names, 1910–2025

These are the names given far more often in Oklahoma than anywhere else in the country, across the whole record from 1910 to 2025. Watie leads: it is given about 28× more often here than across the United States as a whole.

The multiplier compares each name's share of Oklahoma births with its share nationally, and reports the conservative low end of that comparison — so a name carried by a handful of births cannot outrank one carried by hundreds.

Across the whole record, 1910–2025

#	Name	Births	vs national
1	Watie	11	28×
2	Wendyl	10	28×
3	Wynema	243	23×
4	Lahoma	393	22×
5	Rowrenia	7	21×
6	Cing	159	17×
7	Oleta	1,119	16×
8	Haskell	557	12×
9	Billye	520	11×
10	Cleta	550	11×
11	Cubia	5	10×
12	Oteka	5	10×
13	Vanteen	5	10×
14	Niang	56	10×
15	Wynona	505	10×
16	Oneta	181	9×
17	Laveta	190	9×
18	Thang	106	9×
19	Dortha	732	8×
20	Ima	642	8×
21	Vinita	135	8×
22	Gayla	1,049	7×
23	Jaunita	636	7×
24	Loyd	1,935	7×
25	Lavada	388	7×
26	Neoma	288	7×
27	Dorotha	423	7×
28	Dovie	568	7×
29	Leota	723	6×
30	Florene	388	6×
31	Opal	5,310	6×
32	Orvil	174	6×
33	Rowdy	438	6×
34	Ladonna	1,739	6×
35	Imogene	2,117	6×
36	Clendon	11	6×
37	Doyle	2,349	6×
38	Olen	582	6×
39	Lorene	2,822	6×
40	Oletha	104	6×

Right now, in 2025

A different list from the one above, and not a contradiction: these are the names distinctive to Oklahoma in a single recent year rather than across the whole record.

Name	Births	vs national
Niang	7	22×
Takoda	7	22×
Cing	9	18×
Timber	6	17×
Kambree	8	15×
Cutter	11	15×
Kambri	7	13×
Ellyson	5	11×
Jimma	5	11×
Kashlynn	5	11×

Decade by decade

The single most distinctive name of each decade.

Decade	Name	vs national
1910s	Lahoma	25×
1920s	Lahoma	19×
1930s	Wynema	20×
1940s	Lahoma	17×
1950s	Rowrenia	22×
1960s	Ladonna	9×
1970s	Gayla	9×
1980s	Rowdy	8×
1990s	Cherokee	10×
2000s	Rowdy	11×
2010s	Cing	19×
2020s	Cing	19×

Explore further

See Oklahoma on the interactive map

Names unique to other states

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. State records begin in 1910. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org