Description

Utah baby names have a distinctive style–creative, patterned, and instantly recognizable. This session explores what happens when that style is modeled computationally. Using a simple machine learning approach trained on Utah Social Security name data, the Utah Name Generator (https://utahnames.sararands.com) produces entirely new names letter by letter, yielding results that range from plausible (Braegan, Emerrick) to delightfully absurd (Susandromeda, Maddextoneston). Originally developed as a student project and later revived as a public website, the generator offers a playful lens into how cultural patterns can be learned, exaggerated, and recombined.

Sara Rands is a clinical mental health counselor, former software engineer, and lifelong name enthusiast. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Northwestern University and bachelor’s degrees in computer science and English. Her clinical work focuses on thoughtful, gifted, highly sensitive, and neurodivergent adults, with particular attention to faith transitions, drawing on trauma-informed approaches including NARM, ART, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.