You know you're in Utah if brothers named Joseph and Hyrum live in a town called Moroni and their parents, LaVell and LaRue, hail from Lehi and Nephi, respectively.
The distinct naming of people and places is one way Utah distinguishes itself from elsewhere. Mormon pioneers have certainly left their mark on the map and in the phone book. A BYU professor, Don Norton of the English language faculty, referred to this trend of creating distinctive names as a "Mormon phenomenon."
"It just becomes a tradition, a cultural thing," he was quoted as saying in a Deseret News story last year. "People do strange things with names, as an impulse to be innovative and be different."
That's why you'll run into more Janells, Ladoyles, Chyleens, LaVons, DeVoys, Legenes, Rondells and LaMars in Utah than anywhere else. Slap a French-sounding La, De or elle on any name, and you're good to go, apparently.
It's also become popular to put a spin on the spelling of names, such as Katlyn, CheRee, Me'shell, RaNae, HiDee and K-8, which is pronounced Kate and is a real name, according to "The Utah Baby Namer."
Wesley and Cari Clark, who maintain the Utah name site at www.wesclark.com/ubn, have even come up with a list of Beehive State babies who they claim "could only be LDS." Some samples: Mormon Beauty, Liahonna, Desereta, Tabernacle, Helaman's Warrior, Iron Rod, Morona, Ensign, Brighaminie and Xione (pronounced "Zion").
Book of Mormon-related city names are also prevalent in Utah — Bountiful, Deseret, Lehi, Nephi, Moroni and Manti. And not to leave out the biblical ties, the Beehive State also has Eden, Ephraim, Moab, Adamsville, Caineville, Enoch, Jericho, the Jordan River and Paradise.
E-MAIL: jody@desnews.com