Illinois
DAILY DIRT: Most popular baby names in Illinois? Noah and Olivia lead the way – Muddy River News
Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 940 of The Daily Dirt.
1. There is arguably no better indicator of a cultural landscape than the first names that occupy it.
“(First) names have become more diverse and personalized over the years,” says Kushal Tantry — speaking of interesting first names — who is the CEO of ourpublicrecords.org.
Ourpublicrecords.org recently analyzed data involving 10,000 names given to U.S. babies, which Tantry said showed “fascinating insight in the attitudes of parents when it comes to naming babies,” plus how “traditional naming practices still hold significance for many families”.
The ourpublicrecords.org results revealed that Illinois’s most popular male name for a baby since 1992 is Noah, while Olivia is the most popular female name. The following are currently the most popular baby names in Illinois:
Boys
- 1. Noah
- 2. Liam
- 3. Oliver
- 4. Mateo
- 5. Theodore
- 6. Benjamin
- 7. Henry
- 8. James
- 9. William
- 10. Sebastian
Girls
- 1. Olivia
- 2. Sophia
- 3. Emma
- 4. Charlotte
- 5. Amelia
- 6. Mia
- 7. Isabella
- 8.Ava
- 9. Camila
- 10. Sofia
Tantry says it is no accident there is an interesting mix of newer-type names and those with more of a traditional feel.
“Zendaya is a great example of a unique name (that is becoming more popular, though it did not make the top 10), thanks to cultural inspiration,” Tantry said. “Georgina is an older, more traditional name (that also did make the top 10) that has also greatly increased in popularity, showing how names never really go extinct and how most names will see fluctuations in popularity over time.”
For the record, ourpublicrecords.org said that on a national level the most popular male baby name right now is Liam, with Noah ranking second. On the distaff side, Olivia is also the most popular female name nationally.
2. Did you know (Part 7) …
That in 1980 David Bowie was performing in “The Elephant Man” on Broadway, and in the front row there were three empty seats. Two of those seats belonged to Yoko Ono and John Lennon. Lennon had been shot and killed on the streets of New York the night before. The third empty seat belonged to Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon.
That former “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson played bass guitar on the Divinyls’ 1990 song “I Touch Myself”.
That the Monty Python movie “The Holy Grail” was funded by George Harrison, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and Pink Floyd.
3. More potential nicknames are surfacing for the NHL team that is relocating from Arizona to Utah. Here’s the latest:
Utah Latter-Day Skates: This one is gold, whether you may be Mormon or not.
Utah Jambalaya: Remember when Utah stole the New Orleans Jazz NBA team? Now it can steal something else from New Orleans for this nickname. Of course, neither nickname makes any sense in Utah, which is the beauty of it all.
Utah Jazz Hands: Jazz Hands! It’s been a while since this term has been mainstream. But it might just work, since the hockey team would be a partner to the Utah Jazz NBA club.
Utah Pyramids: OK, it seems Utah is the home to multi-level marketing firms (and pyramid schemes), so … maybe we don’t really need to celebrate that.
Steve Thought O’ The Day – It’s comforting to know that Chuck Norris can speak every language, including dolphin.

Steve Eighigner writes daily for Muddy River News. What about the Utah Johnnies?
Illinois
Storms bring damaging winds and heavy rains to central Illinois
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Multiple rounds of severe storms impacted central Illinois on Wednesday bringing damaging wind gusts and very heavy rain. Our area was sparred from the worst of the tornadoes, but areas south of I-72 were not so fortunate with damage to homes and injuries reported.
An outflow boundary from our morning storms struggled to get any further north than highway 136, which was about 30 miles south of what was anticipated early this morning. This kept the risk of strong tornadoes just south of our local region, though we still had plenty of rain and instances of large hail and gusty winds roll through central Illinois.
The worst of the wind came with the storms in the morning. As the severe storms moved through the area they produced measured gust of 60-70 mph with localized gusts estimated to be around 80 mph. The winds resulted in tree, powerline, and structural damage from Knox through McLean County.
Storm Reports
Galesburg – Tree and power line damage
Williamsfield – Roof partially torn off building
Princeville – Tree damage
Dunlap – 60 mph wind gust
Bellevue – 60 mph wind gust
Germantown Hills – Trees down
Roanoke – 60 mph wind gust
El Paso – Power poles snapped
El Paso – Multiple semis and campers rolled on I-39
Gidley – 70 mph wind gust
Chenoa – Semi rolled on I-55
Dunlap – 1.0″ size hail
Metamora – 1.0″ size hail
Armington – 1.0″ size hail
Rain reports
West Peoria – 4.37″
Lexington – 4.00″
West Peoria – 3.98″
Washington – 3.97″
East Peoria – 3.47″
Dunlap – 3.40″
Goodfield – 2.47″
Towanda – 2.43″
Peoria (PIA) – 2.24″
Lewistown – 2.20″
Galesburg – 1.84″
Chillicothe – 1.52″
Pontiac – 1.27″
Illinois
Thousands of Illinois residents report power outages amid storms
Historic tree dating back to Abraham Lincoln damaged in Springfield
It may be the last living tree standing when Abraham Lincoln and his family lived in the Springfield neighborhood from 1844 to 1861.
More than 30,000 Illinois residents reported power outages Wednesday morning amid severe storms and destructive winds.
The National Weather Service forecast two rounds of severe weather throughout the day, issuing a tornado watch early Wednesday morning across central Illinois.
Where were power outages reported in Illinois?
More than 35,000 of the more than 5.8 million customers tracked on PowerOutage.com reported outages Wednesday, as of noon.
The majority of these outages were concentrated in west-central Illinois in Warren, Henderson and Woodford counties.
More than 93% of the customers tracked in Henderson County and nearly 60% of those in Warren County were impacted by outages.
Less widespread outages were also reported in DeKalb, Mercer, Knox, Menard, Jefferson and Gallatin counties.
Electric service company Amaren was by far the most impacted utility provider, followed Commonwealth Edison Company and Corn Belt Energy Corporation.
Illinois power outage map
Report power outages in Illinois
Illinois residents can report power outages in their area at PowerOutage.com.
Illinois power outage tracker
To track where power outages have been reported and where they have been restored, follow the USA Today power outage tracker.
Chicago weather radar
Central Illinois weather radar
Illinois
Pritzker calls on Bears to clarify what they’re seeking in Illinois stadium deal
Skip to content
Contact Us
-
World7 minutes agoTaiwan hopes US arms sale package can be approved soon, president says
-
News30 minutes ago
As America turns 250, one museum makes history possible to touch
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoPolice, DEA agents flood L.A.’s MacArthur Park for narcotics enforcement operation
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoThis Detroit steakhouse used to serve thousands a night in its heyday
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoArtwork quilt unveiled at San Francisco dirt alley that was mistakenly bought at auction
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas Police Seize Glock Switch in Deep Ellum
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoMiami-Dade brush fire started by lightning strike, officials say
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoBrensley: Craig Ferguson is Boston Strong



