What baby names are unique to Tennessee?

Unborn is the name most distinctive to Tennessee, given about 34 times more often there than in the United States as a whole. Neyland, Nadolyn and Kavious follow.

How is a distinctive name measured?

Each name's share of births in Tennessee 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 Tennessee

The most distinctive Tennessee baby names, 1910–2025

These are the names given far more often in Tennessee than anywhere else in the country, across the whole record from 1910 to 2025. Unborn leads: it is given about 34× more often here than across the United States as a whole.

The multiplier compares each name's share of Tennessee 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	Unborn	39	34×
2	Neyland	379	29×
3	Nadolyn	8	16×
4	Kavious	17	14×
5	Ryman	75	13×
6	Mayford	73	13×
7	Trula	486	12×
8	Kerolos	31	12×
9	Lillard	138	12×
10	Mareco	7	12×
11	Deadrick	55	12×
12	Hendon	22	11×
13	Karas	165	11×
14	Martavious	294	10×
15	Cordarius	207	9×
16	Marico	87	9×
17	Dimple	387	8×
18	Holston	60	8×
19	Hassie	160	7×
20	Tennie	267	7×
21	Buford	1,449	7×
22	Martavius	129	7×
23	Lassie	115	7×
24	Graple	5	6×
25	Mcneva	5	6×
26	Rubye	789	6×
27	Ladarius	586	6×
28	Beecher	132	6×
29	Bettye	2,580	6×
30	Dorris	1,001	6×
31	Finis	240	6×
32	Ewing	139	5×
33	Reba	3,616	5×
34	Nelle	356	5×
35	Lashundra	122	5×
36	Ova	174	5×
37	Keosha	219	5×
38	Hobert	575	5×
39	Mossie	89	5×
40	Briley	819	5×

Right now, in 2025

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

Name	Births	vs national
Neyland	28	21×
Holston	9	14×
Hutson	7	10×
Neely	6	8×
Winslie	6	8×
Mallie	8	6×
Karas	7	6×
Hutton	10	6×
Oakes	7	6×
Briley	10	5×

Decade by decade

The single most distinctive name of each decade.

Decade	Name	vs national
1910s	Mai	25×
1920s	Mai	24×
1930s	Mai	20×
1940s	Lebron	9×
1950s	Lebron	23×
1960s	Jama	7×
1970s	Unborn	35×
1980s	Deadrick	15×
1990s	Deadrick	21×
2000s	Kavious	19×
2010s	Neyland	32×
2020s	Neyland	27×

Explore further

See Tennessee 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