What’s in a name?

Here’s one more way that Massachusetts is out of step with the rest of the nation, courtesy of the Social Security Administration’s annual roll call of the most popular baby names in America, released in May: The favorite moniker for boys born in the United States in 2002 was Jacob, which appeared on 30,122 birth certificates, comfortably ahead of runner-up Michael (with 28,119 instances). But Jacob did not make the top five in Massachusetts. Matthew took the naming prize here, followed by Michael, Nicholas, Ryan, and John. (Only three other states–Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York–kept Jacob out of the top tier.) The continued popularity of John may seem obvious in a state that has produced several presidents (Adams twice, Kennedy) and now a presidential candidate (Kerry) with the name, but its charm is wearing off elsewhere. It’s now 17th on the boys’ national chart, the lowest it has been since the SSA started tracking all newborn babies’ names in 1991.

Girls’ names in Massachusetts more closely matched national trends, with Emily topping both the national and state charts. But the country’s runner-up, Madison, was absent from the Bay State’s top five and, like Jacob, was relatively weak in northern, Democratic-leaning states. The rest of the top five in Massachusetts were Olivia, Emma, Sarah, and Abigail. The name Olivia, by the way, is on the fast track. It ranked 62nd among girls’ monikers in 1991 and is now up to 10th place, perhaps because of a series of popular children’s books featuring an energetic piglet of the same name.

Driving forces

It’s car crash season in Massachusetts. According to the US Department of Transportation, 58 percent of the 446 fatal car crashes in Massachusetts in 2001 occurred during the last six months of the year. Apparently, it’s not icy roads but mild weather that puts drivers most at risk: Fatal crashes were least frequent in March, then nearly doubled in April (from 17 to 33) and remained high throughout the summer and fall, peaking at 50 in November. (In the nation as a whole, 54 percent of fatal crashes occurred in the second half of the year, with the highest number in July.)

Where are the roads most deadly? Whately, of all places, at least in terms of fatalities per capita. During the eight-year period with complete records (1994 through 2001), seven fatal crashes occurred in the Franklin County town of only 1,573 people, which includes a stretch of I-91. Other western towns were close behind in auto-related deaths per capita: Bernardston (also on I-91), Blandford (on the Mass. Pike), Royalston, and Montgomery. The most populous community without a single fatal crash was Winthrop.

The most fatal crashes per square mile occurred in Chelsea: 11 of them in an area covering 2.19 square miles. The rest of the top five were also eastern cities: Revere, Boston, Lowell, and Lawrence. The largest community without a single fatality was Sandisfield, in Berkshire County on the Connecticut border.

And what about the drivers in these deadly accidents? Where do they come from? Taunton (02780) tops the list of zip codes that drivers in fatal car crashes (37 from 1994 through 2001) had on their licenses, followed by 02360 (Plymouth), 02790 (Westport), 01201 (Pittsfield), and 02184 (Braintree).

Down for the count

After a decade of slow but steady growth, Suffolk County has begun to lose residents again, according to estimates released this spring. The US Census Bureau pegged the population of Suffolk County (which includes Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop) at 689,925 as of last July 1–a loss of 2,987 residents from July 1, 2001. The county still has about 40,000 more people than it did in 1992, before an economic boom in Boston drew people back into inner-city neighborhoods. But it’s a long way from the city’s population peak of 896,615, reached in 1950.

Only two other Bay State counties lost population, according to the 2002 estimates. Berkshire County fell for the 12th consecutive year (this time by 626 people) and is now down to 133,462. (Berkshire peaked in 1970, at 149,402.) Middlesex County fell for the first time since 1991, but not by much. The state’s most populous county now contains 1,474,160 residents–down 1,047 from its record 2001 count.

The state as a whole gained 26,637 people from 2001 to 2002, reaching a new high of 6,427,801. The increase of 0.4 percent placed Massachusetts 41st among the states in growth rate. (Nevada, which grew 3.6 percent in the year, took the top spot.) Still, four Massachusetts counties–Barnstable, Dukes, Nantucket, and Plymouth–grew faster than the national average of 1.1 percent.

Sun, smoke, and spare tires

According to the American Cancer Society’s 2003 “Cancer Prevention” report, 32 percent of Bay State adults reported that they had suffered a sunburn–defined as “any part” of the body that was reddened for more than 12 hours–at some point in 1999. That’s slightly below the national average (35 percent) and puts us in a tie for 28th place among the states. (Wisconsin and Wyoming tied for first, with 47.8 percent of adults reporting sunburns, while Arizona, where people know enough to stay out of the sun, came in last, with only 20 percent of adults getting scorched.) Nationally, there was a sizeable gender gap, with 40 percent of men but only 29 percent of women reporting sunburns. But in Massachusetts, women were barely more sensible about their sun exposure than men: 34 percent of men got red under the collar (ranking 36th among all states), compared with 30 percent of women (21st among the states).

In cigarette smoking, we did far better, even without a statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. In 2001, two years before Boston took the lead by enacting its own ban, Massachusetts had the third-lowest smoking rate among adults: Only 19.6 percent reported being “regular” or “irregular” smokers, compared with 23.4 percent for the entire nation. The only states to score lower were Utah and California (which in 1998 instituted a statewide ban on smoking in bars and, like Massachusetts, has long had a major anti-smoking campaign financed by excise taxes). But, as with sunburn, the national gender gap almost disappears in the Bay State. Nationally, 25.5 percent of male adults and 21.5 percent of female adults are professed smokers. Here in Massachusetts, 20.5 percent of men smoke (lower than any state but Utah) and 18.9 percent of women smoke (five other states are lower).

But we have women to thank for the Bay State’s enviably low ranking in residents who are overweight–third lowest, behind Colorado and Vermont, with 54.7 percent of adults considered overweight. (The national average is 57.9 percent.) For its standard of portliness, the Cancer Society uses the body mass index, or BMI, which measures weight against height. A 5-foot-10-inch man, for example, is called overweight if he tips the scales at more than 174 pounds; for a 5-foot-4-inch woman, the breaking point is 145 pounds. Among Bay State men, 65.4 percent have lopsided BMIs, not far from the national average of 66.2 percent. Only 43.8 percent of Massachusetts women are considered overweight, significantly below the national average of 50.1 percent.

Easy As from Audubon

Woody Allen once said that 90 percent of life is just showing up, but in the state Legislature being there is almost enough to get you a 100 percent rating from the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Its Senate Report Card for 2002 rates the 39 voting members of the state’s upper house (the president only votes in the case of a tie) on the basis of 12 roll-call votes on environmental issues. The average score was 97 percent, and 29 members got perfect scores–which isn’t surprising, given that Mass Audubon’s preferred position won unanimously in all 12 votes. Senators lost points only if they missed votes entirely, as Guy Glodis did five times; with a score of 79 out of 100, he was the lowest ranked member of the Senate. (Appropriately, the stingiest scores for Bay State lawmakers may come from Citizens for Limited Taxation. For the 2001-2002 legislative session, the 39 senators got an average score of 26 percent, with newly elevated Senate President Robert Travaglini and four others getting flat zeros.) As recently as five years ago, the environmental group was a lot tougher, giving an average score of 57 percent to Senate members–primarily because of two roll-call votes in which legislators ignored Audubon Society concerns and overwhelmingly backed electric utility deregulation.

On the House side, seven roll-call votes were considered, five of which passed unanimously. In one case, a budget amendment to restore funding for several environmental programs, only one legislator voted no (Republican John Locke, who retired last year). The final vote on a $597 million environmental bond was a relative squeaker, passing 124-18. Thus, Mass. Audubon gave perfect scores to 106 members of the 160-member House, with three members tied for the lowest score at 71 percent (again, more due to absences than to casting votes that offended the environmental advocates).