My Best Nickname

The most common name among Illinois Governors is far and away John with a total of 8.

The Hoosier State was admitted to the Union in December 1816. The most common name among its governors is James with 6 governors bearing the name. Thomas comes in second with half as many. The most unique names are Ashbel and Ratcliff.

Here is a list of governors of Iowa since the state’s admission to the Union in 1846. The most common name among them is William. The most uncommon names begin with B — Bourke and Buren.

The most common name for Kansas governors is John, although one of the seven went by his middle name. Four governors shared the name George. Payne is the most uncommon first name as it has never been in the Top 1000 names for boys in the USA. Lyman was actually pretty popular at the turn […]

The most common names of Kentucky governors are John (8), James (7) and Charles (5). The most uncommon names are Brereton, Flemon and Keen. One governor, a Confederate General during the Civil War, was named after Venezuelan revolutionary and liberator, Simon Bolivar.

Louisiana became the eighteenth U.S. state on April 30, 1812. Its first governor was named William but the most common name among its governors is Henry. John, James and William tie for second place. Oramel, Pinckney, Ruffin and Piyush are the most uncommon names. Piyush Jindal is much better known by his nickname, Bobby. A […]

Maine was the 23rd state to enter the Union. That happened on March 15, 1820, and there have been over 70 governers since then. The most common name among Maine governors has been John (7) and William (6). The least common names (ones that we probably won’t be able to make a page for) are […]

Thomas is the most common name of governors of the State of Maryland since 1777. It was the name of the first two governors of the Old Line State. John and William tied for second place with 7 governors each. Oden is the most unique given name. The 51st Governor, Herbert O’Conor, had the most […]

John and William have been the most common names among all the men who governed the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The 30th U.S. President was born a John (he was actually a Jr.), but chose to go by his middle name, Calvin. Two others were named after presidents: Gov. John Q.A. Brackett and George D. Robinson. […]

So far, John holds the record for the first name of the most governors of the State of Missouri, but when it became a state on August 10, 1824, Alexander was the first name of its first governor . Missouri’s 55th governor was given the name Jeremiah at birth. He goes by the nickname Jay. […]

Montana became a state on November 8, 1889 and its first governor was Joseph Kemp Toole. The state would go on to be governed by more men named John than any other name. The most unique given first name was Milford.

William and George are the top names of all the Governors of the State of New Jersey, with 3 more Williams than Georges.  So far, there has only been one woman governor, Christine Todd Whitman, who goes by the nickname “Christie.” Woodrow Wilson, (we put him under Thomas because that was his real first name), […]