Okay, so the last sentence of my last post got me thinking--I wonder if having the capital of your state be Madison discourages Wisconsinites from naming their baby Madison. And, lo, here--check out the top 5 girls' names of other upper midwestern states:
Iowa: Emma 317 Madison 290 Emily 247 Hannah 229 Abigail 213
North Dakota: Madison 69 Hannah 68 Emily 55 Grace 48 Emma 47
Nebraska: Emma 174 Madison 174 Emily 170 Hannah 148 Grace 126
Michigan: Madison 881 Emily 779 Emma 698 Hannah 697 Olivia 667
Illinois: Emily 1062 Emma 810 Olivia 761 Madison 751 Hannah 736
and yet, as predicted:
Wisconsin: Emily 498 Emma 440 Olivia 376 Abigail 374 Hannah 372
The only thing messing up my theory is that Minnesota doesn't have Madison in its Top 5 either:
Minnesota: Emma 504 Grace 485 Emily 439 Olivia 396 Abigail 391
Perhaps the Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry is so strong that the name is poisoned there as well. Or maybe it's just sampling variability. But wait--we can test that. Let's look at Wisconsin and Minnesota for 2001:
Minnesota: Emily 481 Grace 443 Emma 413 Madison 408 Abigail 398
Wisconsin: Emily 540 Hannah 433 Emma 361 Olivia 353 Megan 344
Aha! So Madison has been on Minnesota's top 5 list, and it has never been on Wisconsin's list. More evidence for a particular Madison-aversion for inhabitants of the Badger state.
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