PORTLAND — Back in the old days (the 1980s), people wanted to give their kids names that didn’t stand out too much. Elizabeth maybe, or Michael. But all those Elizabeths and Michaels and Jennifers and Christophers grew up and they didn’t want to condemn their children to a life of being known by their last initial. So they tried their darndest to come up with an original name.

But of course, true originality is impossible, unless you let a random number generator pick your baby’s name a la Elon Musk.

Which brings us to the most popular “unique” names in Oregon. Do you know a Juniper or a Jasper? You probably aren’t alone.

Wordfinder collected name data from the Social Security Administration spanning 2012 through 2022 to figure out which names appeared at higher rates in a state than nationally. Note: They only considered names that showed up at least 1,000 times overall over that period.

The results may not shock you, if you’ve been to a child’s birthday party in the last five years.

For girls, the most popular unique name is June, with a 1643% increase over the national rate of the name June. Then comes Juniper, at 1554% and Freya at 906%.

For boys, the percentages are a bit smaller, though still massive. The most popular unique boy name in Oregon is Arlo, with a 1080% increase over the national rate of the name Arlo. Then Jasper at 961%. And finally, Elliot at 747%.

But look, if you are the proud parent of an Arlo or a June, don’t despair. Consider that in 1982, 568 baby girls were named Jennifer and and 696 baby boys were named Christopher, the most popular names. Meanwhile, in 2022, 245 baby boys in Oregon were named Oliver, the most popular boy name, and 156 girls were named Olivia, the most popular girl name. Only 41 baby boys total were named Arlo and 41 baby girls were named June.

So even the popular names are less popular these days.

And if you really want a unique name that isn’t just a random assortment of symbols and letters, the Social Security Administration has a tool to help. Just enter the name you’re thinking of and you will see how many years since 1900 it ranked in the top 1,000 baby names and how high it ranked.

Here’s an idea: Madge. That hasn’t ranked since 1948.