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Defined by varied landscapes and a laid-back culture, living on the West Coast is like no other. Give your child a permanent tie to the West by selecting a name that’s prevalent on that side of the country.
In order to identify the names that are most common on the West Coast relative to the rest of the United States, MooseRoots used data from the Social Security Administration to find the top names in California, Oregon and Washington in 2014. We only included names with at least 1,000 occurrences, and compared the frequency of each name on the West Coast with the rest of the U.S. Finally, we compiled a list of names most likely to appear in states on the West Coast, and ranked the list from lowest to highest frequency relative to the rest of the country.
Because of the presence of Hispanic and Latino populations in the region (most notably in California where, according to the American Community Survey, 38.2 percent of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino), you’ll find many names with roots in the Spanish language, like Mateo or Camila.
Note: All values are rounded to the nearest tenth.
#12. Victoria
**Gender**: Female **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 83.2% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 75.2 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 41.0Meaning "victory," the Latin and Romanian name Victoria ranked No. 19 nationally in 2014.
#11. Luis
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 89.0% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 36.1 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 19.1A name of Spanish origin, Luis ranked No. 99 nationally in 2014.
#10. Sofia
**Gender**: Female **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 89.6% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 93.3 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 49.2Sofia, a name of Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese and Swedish origins, ranked highly among female newborns on the West Coast in 2014, and earned the rank of 12 on a national level.
#9. José
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 93.9% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 52.0 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 26.8José, a name of Spanish origin, ranked No. 76 on a national scale in 2014.
#8. Genesis
**Gender**: Female **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 95.5% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 41.8 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 21.4Genesis, a name disproportionately common on the West Coast, ranked No. 68 across the country in 2014.
#7. Melanie
**Gender**: Female **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 110.4% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 40.0 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 19.0Defined as "black" and "dark," Melanie earned the national rank of 79 in 2014.
#6. Santiago
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 110.4% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 35.4 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 16.8Meaning "Saint James," Santiago ranked No. 115 for the U.S. as a whole in 2014.
#5. Jesús
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 125.2% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 38.9 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 17.3Jesús, a name of Spanish and Portuguese origins, ranked No. 111 on a national level in 2014.
#4. Mateo
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 133.6% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 42.6 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 18.2Mateo, a Spanish name, was prevalent among boys on the West Coast in 2014, and ranked No. 106 nationwide.
#3. Diego
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 133.6% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 36.3 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 15.5Though this Spanish name is primarily found on the West Coast, it ranked No. 129 nationally.
#2. Camila
**Gender**: Female **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 142.4% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 64.9 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 26.8A name of Spanish origin, Camila ranked No. 41 in the entire U.S. in 2014.
#1. Damian
**Gender**: Male **Percent More Likely to Be a West Coast Baby**: 152.9% **West Coast Babies per 10,000**: 48.2 **U.S. Babies per 10,000**: 19.0While Damian topped the charts among West Coast boys in 2014, this Greek name only ranked No. 102 nationwide.
