The Most Popular Country Western Baby Names

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Lindsay Elshere, the wife of JJ Elshere and mother to five boys, shared her country western baby names with Cowboy Lifestyle Network.

From oldest to youngest, the future Elshere saddle bronc riders are: Talon, followed by Thayne, Trik, Tel and Trailon.

The cowboys range in age from 11 to nearly 2-years-old and are seasoned rodeo kids.

While attending the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions in Pierre, South Dakota, on May 31, 2014, several rodeo moms were interviewed about how they selected their country western baby names.

The most popular answer was they wanted a unique name with western hertiage.
The reigning World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Chad Ferley and his wife Jessica are the proud parents of a daughter, Teagan.

Behind the bucking chutes, names such as Cactus, Clover, Dakota, Raelynn, Tradeon and Luke can be heard when parents call their kids.

Sources for parents-to-be in researching country western baby names are: www.prorodeo.com, www.wpra.com, along with the www.nhsra.org and www.nlbra.com.

Cowboy Lifestyle Network noticed a trend that Cody nearly doubles the number two name. Jake followed closely by Justin, Matthew and Michael among current ProRodeo contestants.

The popularity of Cody dates back to William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his Wild West Show.

Today popular cowboys such as Cody Ohl, Cody Wright, Cody Teel and Cody Hancock boosted the continued western name.

Rodeo legends Casey Tibbs and Lane Frost also have a handful of namesakes.

Jennifer, Brittney, Jessica, Kelly and Christine all ranked fairly close with spelling variations for cowgirl names among barrel races on the WPRA site.

Cowboy Lifestyle Network realized that names are often handed down through generations and sometimes surnames become first names for young ladies.

Historical western and pioneer woman like Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane and Laura Ingalls are popular but birth certificates don’t follow the trend. Country western baby names seem too often follow with popular western movie characters and towns.

Some favorite baby names also include western fashion brands with Bailey Hats, Justin Boots, Stetson Western Wear/Hats and Levi Jeans.
DeAnne and Justin Friese from South Dakota named their three sons Cody, Kyle and Austin after western characters and landmarks.
“We liked the name Cody for a boy or girl and were just going to change the spelling if we had a girl.

Kyle was suppose to be Sutton, but he didn’t look like a Sutton and Austin was named Wyatt throughout the entire pregnancy but at birth we changed it to Austin,” stated DeAnne.

She admits her Austin is the lawman in the family and should have named him after Wyatt Earpe.

The duo also admit choosing the name Cody was based off “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Cody Lambert‘s character in the movie 8 Seconds.

The following names are grouped in popularity of the 2014 Contestant Names – Cowboys & Cowgirls

Gretchen Kirchmann

Gretchen Kirchmann is a veteran journalist covering a variety of events across the country each year. She founded Kirchmann Media Group in 2009 and works as a marketing consultant with a forte for the western lifestyle industry, festivals, fairs and rodeo world. Her work includes 15 national communication awards plus coverage of Nashville's CMT Awards and CMA Fanfest. A favorite assignment was attending the all cast reunion of the Dukes of Hazard in 2006 and 2007 at Dukesfest. In December you will find her covering the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and Miss Rodeo America pageant live from Las Vegas. Her favorite color is orange, favorite song "Rocky Top" and she loves to dance especially clogging.