Favorite Names for Wyoming Newborns? Wyatt, Emma

Press Release – Emma and Wyatt were the most popular baby names for Wyoming’s newest and youngest residents in 2016, a year that saw fewer births across the state, according to Vital Statistics Services, part of the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH).

For boys, the name Wyatt jumped up to the top spot followed by Liam, William, Lincoln and a three way tie of Daniel/Jackson/James. Jackson remains a popular name but has several spelling variants so doesn’t always end up in the top five.

Emma again topped the girls’ names in 2016 and has been top ten favorite for more than a decade. Harper, Olivia, Ava and Elizabeth followed Emma in popularity for girls; Ava and Elizabeth were not included in last year’s top five listing.

“Wyoming births and marriages followed the overall population trend for the state and declined over the last year,” said Guy Beaudoin, Vital Statistics Services deputy state registrar with WDH. In 2016, the numbers of Wyoming resident births decreased to 7,384 which is about a 4 percent decrease from 7,716 in 2015.

Beaudoin noted only a handful of counties (Albany, Carbon, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Niobrara and Sheridan) held steady or saw increased resident births. The greatest percentage decrease was seen in Washakie (29 percent loss), Sublette (18 percent), Big Horn (14 percent loss) and Converse (14 percent loss).

Records also showed a slight decline in deaths (4,744 in 2015 to 4,706 in 2016). Marriages in Wyoming went down to 4,145 in 2016 from 4,306 in 2015. Divorces increased slightly from 2,443 in 2015 to 2,461 in 2016.

Vital Statistics Services promotes and protects the health of Wyoming residents by serving as the official custodian of all vital records in the state and by disseminating health information in support of health and social planning efforts.  More state statistics and information about the program can be found online at http://www.health.wyo.gov/admin/vitalstatistics/.