Let's face it, what you name your child is pretty important.

Pick the wrong name and your kid could be paying for it for the rest of his or her life.  I had my son's name picked out well before I was even married.  It was premeditated and to be honest, it would've been a deal-breaker if my future partner wasn't on board with it.  Luckily, I found a woman who loved it from the get-go.  "Hunter" is what I had picked out.  It's a symbol of something extremely special to me and my life.

As it turned out my son was one of several "Hunters" in his class growing up.  The name is certainly not unique and is especially more common in the upper Midwest.  I still love it and it fits him perfectly.

When it comes to baby names in North Dakota, the most common names right from Social Security Administration records for 2023 were Olivia, Amelia, and Nora on the girl's side. Oliver, Theodore, and Asher are the most popular names on the boy's side, according to Listophile.

How about baby names that you are NOT allowed to have in North Dakota?

According to the BUMP,  There's really not much you can't do.  Name your child anything, but the data system doesn't allow special characters.  What are special characters?  A special character is one that is not considered a number or letter.  This means the only names off-limits are symbols, accent marks, and punctuation marks.  In North Dakota, the last name must match a parent's last name too.

Remember when the singer Prince changed his name to a symbol?  Yeah, that doesn't fly in our state.

How about names that are banned in the USA?  According to US BIRTH Certificates,  there are a few and they include:

Jesus Christ

Blue christian christmas church service wall aged
artisteer
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Adolph Hitler

Hitler In Crowd
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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King

A costume prop chair in front of red drape.
TonyLomas
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Queen

Nice happy queen
Mykola Velychko
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Santa Claus

Horizontal composition isolated on red of the real santa holding a dog
kingpics
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Messiah

nativity scene with hand-colored figures made out of wood
alexhstock
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There are a few more.  You can read about them here.

KEEP READING: Here are the most popular baby names in every state

Using March 2019 data from the Social Security Administration, Stacker compiled a list of the most popular names in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., according to their 2018 SSA rankings. The top five boy names and top five girl names are listed for each state, as well as the number of babies born in 2018 with that name. Historically common names like Michael only made the top five in three states, while the less common name Harper ranks in the top five for 22 states.

Curious what names are trending in your home state? Keep reading to see if your name made the top five -- or to find inspiration for naming your baby.

Gallery Credit: Stacker

Popular Child Stars From Every Year

Below, Stacker sifted through movie databases, film histories, celebrity biographies and digital archives to compile this list of popular pint-sized actors from 1919 through 2021.

Gallery Credit: Erin Joslyn

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