California vs Texas: Two Giant States, Two Different Tastes

Nov 6, 2026 Abigail Adams, Editorial writer

Start with the scale. In the 2025 data, California recorded about 337,000 babies and Texas about 336,000 — near-twins, and together home to roughly one American baby in four. Whatever these two states name their children eventually becomes the national chart. So it's worth asking: do they agree?

On the boys' side, at the very top, yes: Liam is #1 in both (2,624 babies in California, 2,688 in Texas), with Noah #2 in both. On the girls' side they don't even agree on the winner. California crowns Olivia (1,796); Texas crowns Emma (1,707). Emma is only #5 in California, and Olivia is #2 in Texas — the same cast, a different podium.

The girls: 12 shared names, two different charts

CA rank	California	TX rank	Texas	National rank
1	Olivia (1,796)	1	Emma (1,707)	1 / 3
2	Mia (1,788)	2	Olivia (1,580)	6 / 1
3	Sophia (1,685)	3	Isabella (1,559)	5 / 7
4	Camila (1,682)	4	Mia (1,483)	19 / 6
5	Emma (1,641)	5	Sophia (1,359)	3 / 5
12	Charlotte (1,037)	11	Charlotte (1,140)	2 / 2

Both top-15s are built from nearly the same names — 12 of 15 are shared — but read the national-rank column and the local taste shows. Camila is #4 in California and #6 in Texas, but only #19 in America. Valentina is top-12 in both states and #35 nationally. Ailany, #14 in the country, sits at #11 in California and #10 in Texas.

And then there's Charlotte. She is the #2 name in America — and #12 in California, #11 in Texas. The national runner-up is an also-ran in both giants. Her national silver medal is assembled in the other 48 states.

The differences at the edge are just as telling. California's top 15 has room for Luna (#13) and Gianna (#14); Texas's has Evelyn (#13 — she's only #17 in California) and Elena (#15). Same language of names, different dialect.

The boys: the Mateo effect

CA rank	California	TX rank	Texas	National rank
1	Liam (2,624)	1	Liam (2,688)	1
3	Mateo (2,239)	3	Mateo (2,081)	8
4	Santiago (1,991)	4	Santiago (1,829)	26
5	Sebastian (1,954)	5	Sebastian (1,498)	16
13	Theodore (1,211)	26	Theodore (865)	4
—	—	15	Jose (991)	95

Mateo is #3 in both states — and that is almost the whole story of Mateo. His national total is 11,045 babies, good for #8 in America; California and Texas alone supplied 4,320 of them, 39%. The national top 10 has a big-state accent.

Below him the two states speak Spanish more fluently than America does. Santiago is #4 in both states and #26 nationally. Sebastian is #5 in both and #16 nationally. Texas goes one step further and puts Jose in its top 15 (991 babies) — a name that ranks #95 in the country as a whole.

The mirror image is Theodore, America's #4 boys' name. California ranks him #13. Texas ranks him #26 — the national top five cannot crack the Texas top 25. If you want a single number that proves "national rank" is a fiction at the local level, it's that one.

What this means if you live in one of them

Neither state is "ahead" of the other; they're two different answers to the same year. California leans a touch more toward the soft, vowel-forward girls' list (Mia at #2, Camila at #4). Texas keeps a classic in the boys' money (James at #12, where California doesn't rank him in its top 15 at all) and gives Jose his only big-state stage.

Our advice: if you live in California or Texas, ignore the national chart and read your state's. In states this big, the state chart is the classroom chart — and as Theodore's Texas #26 proves, the two can tell opposite stories about the same name.

See both charts in full: girl baby names by state, boy baby names by state, and the big-state engine himself: Mateo.