You may think Baker Mayfield is popular, but you truly have no idea how serious people are in love with this quarterback.
The former Texas Tech walk-on that transferred to Oklahoma to ultimately win the Heisman Trophy wound up being the #1 overall Draft pick and has given the Cleveland Browns hope for the future for the first time in a long time.
Mayfield also deserves a bit of credit for the ridiculous surge in babies being named “Baker.”
Before he suited up as a dynamic QB for the Sooners, there were zero children named Baker in the state in 2014 when he transferred from Texas Tech.
From The Oklahoman:
“Among boys’ names, it had the third-largest leap in nationwide popularity from 2017 to 2018, according to data from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Its rank jumped 431 spots to No. 712.
The number of Bakers born in Oklahoma has increased each year from 2014 to 2018, according to information from the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Vital Records Service. Although it is unknown whether all of these infants were named after Mayfield, the jump correlates with his rising fame.
In 2014, the year Mayfield left Texas Tech for OU but couldn’t play because of transfer rules, no Bakers were born in Oklahoma, per state records. During his first year as the Sooners’ starting quarterback, there were 10. The number escalated to 48 in 2018, when Mayfield made his NFL debut with the Cleveland Browns. These statistics include baby boys and girls.”
The name has crossed gender lines as girls are being given that name as well.
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“The Shomos, who live in Durant, put a spin on the trend when they named their daughter Baker, but they aren’t alone. Bailey said a friend who went to OU with her named her daughter Baker May, making the Mayfield reference especially obvious. The moniker might seem like an unusual choice to some, but Bailey reminds people about her baby’s namesake.
“They’re kind of confused, and then I kind of explain to them, I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re big OU fans,’” Bailey said. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, Baker Mayfield.’
If Mayfield continues to live up to the hype, expect that surge of “Baker” baby names to continue to trend upwards.
