The best player names of the 2019–20 women’s college basketball season
At Her Hoop Stats, we provide data about each and every NCAA women’s basketball player, from Division I to Division III, walk-on to WNBA prospect, freshman to graduate student.
Just as players’ statistics are one-of-a-kind, so too are their names. (At least, most of the time!) Last year, I shared the top player names from the 2018–19 season, and I’m back for Round 2 in 2019–20.
This article covers the 4,334 Division I players who have taken the court in a game this season for their teams. As such, transfers sitting out the season and players with season-long injuries are not included. Players’ names are shown as they appear on NCAA.com; in some cases, that means a player goes by a nickname instead of her full name.
Most common names
There are 2,093 different first names and 2,842 different last names among Division I women’s basketball players this season. That includes differences in spelling; for example, Caitlin and Kaitlyn are counted as two different first names.
Here are the ten most common first and last names this season:
Sixty-three percent of players share a first name with at least one other player, and 45% of players share a last name with at least one other player (sometimes with their sisters!). In addition, just 1.1% of players — 48 players in all of Division I — have the same first and last name as another player.
No team has two players with the exact same name, but five schools (Air Force, Radford, Rice, Stanford, and Texas State) have multiple players who have name twins elsewhere in Division I. A list of all 24 pairs of “name twins” (48 players total) is available at the end of this article.
Longest and shortest names
Four players have 23 letters in their name, the most in Division I:
Shalaunda Burney-Robinson, Florida A&M
Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, Iowa State
Oksana Gouchie-Provencher, Stony Brook
Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba, Miami (FL)
On the other end of the spectrum, four other players have six-letter names:
Tia Hay, Santa Clara
Nia Lee, Gardner-Webb
Izzy Om, Albany
CJ West, California
Jada Dapaa of Saint Francis (PA) also deserves a shout-out here for having a name in which 55% of the letters are “a”s. I have not confirmed this, but I suspect that she is the player with the highest percentage of a single letter.
Hyphens and name construction
Ninety players have a hyphen in their name, most commonly in their last name. No player has two hyphens in their full name.
There are 82 players whose last names start with “Mc,” compared to just seven starting with “O’.” There are 64 Johnsons but just two Johnstons.
Ironically in a sport that rewards height, there are several Shorts and Smalls (and a Littlefield, a Littlejohn, and a Petit), but no Bigs or Talls. And the name “Unique” is not quite one-of-a-kind (as its definition implies): Unique Drake at St. John’s, Unique Meyers at Coppin State, and Unique Thompson at Auburn share it.
Colors
The color that appears most often in players’ names is Brown (37 players), followed by Green (22), Amber (18), and White (16). Here are seven of my favorites:
Teal Battle, Little Rock
Lavender Briggs, Florida
Grayson Bright, Louisiana Tech
Amber Brown, Pittsburgh
Tierra Dark, Alabama A&M
Emerald Ekpiteta, Niagara
Mahogany Vaught, South Alabama
(B)all in the name
Here are five players whose names reference the sport:
Amani Ball, Bethune-Cookman
Gracie Champion, California Baptist
Holly Hoopingarner, IUPUI
Hannah Jump, Stanford
Myah Pace, San Diego
Haven’t I heard that name before?
Several players are related to famous athletes, including Michigan’s Izabel Varejão (the niece of Anderson), Stanford’s Anna Wilson (sister of Russell), Maryland’s Stephanie Jones (sister of Brionna), and Princeton’s Bella Alarie (daughter of Mark). But this list spotlights players whose names immediately bring to mind an athlete or entertainer, even when there is no relation.
Kierstan Bell, Ohio State
Beyonce Bea, Idaho
Ciara Bracken, Fairfield
Kesha Brady, Tennessee Tech
Constance Chaplin, Eastern Michigan
Trajata Colbert, Wichita State
Unique Drake, St. John’s
Maren Durant, Boston University
Lea Favre, Rider
Joyner Holmes, Texas
Kionna Jeter, Towson
Braxtin Miller, Ohio State (nearly identical to former Ohio State football player Braxton Miller)
Aaliyah Prince, New Mexico State
Maya Timberlake, USC Upstate
Erin Whalen, Dayton
Perfect pairings
These pairs of names go together like cheese and crackers, so it’s too bad that none of these pairs play on the same team. The next-best thing happened on November 21, when Coppin State’s Chance Graham and West Virginia’s Lucky Rudd shared the court. Perhaps more of these pairings will face off in March!
Alexandria Cliff, Chicago State; Vanessa Edgehill, Boston University
Blessing Ejiofor, West Virginia; Miracle Saxon, CSU Bakersfield
Karly Gore, Oral Roberts; Kali Grimm, New Hampshire
Century McCartney, Northeastern; Forever Toppin, Central Connecticut State
Charisma Osborne, UCLA; Allure Simmons, Monmouth
Jurnee President, St. Bonaventure; Rhianna Council, UNC Greensboro
Opposites attract
On the other hand, these names are spectacular because the first name and last name provide a striking contrast:
Diamond Forrest, Wichita State
Charity Savage, Middle Tennessee
Lacee Savage, Northwestern State
Jewel Smalls, Western Carolina
Divine Tanks, McNeese
Diamond Wraggs, Mississippi Valley
Dinner is served
The headliners in this delicious category are Yummy Morris (TCU) and Juicy Landrum (Baylor), who happen to play each other on January 22 and February 12. Here are some other food-related names, divided into two courses:
In the Kitchen
Angel Baker, Wright State
Ashtyn Baker, Liberty
Logan Cook, Iowa
Iyanla Kitchens, Ole Miss
Francesca Pan, Georgia Tech
Time to Eat
Daishai Almond, Southern Mississippi
Amber Bacon, SMU
Kayla Bacon, Drexel
Kaeani Berry, Alabama State
Jailin Cherry, LSU
Moriah Crisp, UNC Wilmington
Tonysha Curry, Stetson
Ginger Reece, Arkansas
Peanut Tuitele, Colorado
Courts
There are three branches of government, and two are represented in players’ names. (Did you see the President earlier?) These five players’ names evoke the judiciary branch:
Justice Coleman, Grambling
Claudia Del Moral, St. Bonaventure
Justice Ethridge, UNLV
Dyaisha Fair, Buffalo
Amani Free, Quinnipiac
Royalty
Several players with regal names departed after last season, but the following names still reign supreme. Kings (9 players), Knights (5), and Queens (3) were most common, and Alcorn’s Diamond Hall also deserves an honorable mention.
Princess Clemons, Marshall
Queen Egbo, Baylor
Deja King, La Salle
JaBria Knight, Eastern Michigan
Malay McQueen, Lamar
Raven Prince, Wichita State
Kat Tudor, Oregon State
Where in the world…
Way back when, children learned geography from maps, atlases, and (in my case) Carmen Sandiego. These days, though, just look at NCAA rosters — you’d be surprised how many cities and countries show up, both in players’ hometowns and in their names. Here are some of the best, divided into U.S. and international categories.
U.S.
Georgia Alexander, Dartmouth
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Montana Braxton, Navy
Cheyenne Clark, Stony Brook
Courtney Cleveland, Sam Houston State
Brooklyn Fort-Davis, Howard
Olivia Orlando, Providence
Daneesha Provo, Utah (a fitting choice of school)
Aspen Williston, Oklahoma
International
Cairo Booker, Wofford
London Clarkson, Florida State
Tiana England, St. John’s
Brazil Harvey-Carr, Rhode Island
Nigeria Jones, Alabama A&M
Paris McBride, Delaware
Mali Morgan-Elliott, Toledo
India Pagan, Stony Brook
Jada Poland, Evansville
Emma Stockholm, Montana
The elements
In a 3-on-3 tournament, which of the following teams would you pick? UAB’s Zakyia Weathersby can be the super sub.
Air
Sky Jasper, McNeese
Kai Moon, Binghamton
Moon Ursin, Baylor
Water
River Baldwin, Florida State
Oceane Kounkou, Buffalo
Lydia Rivers, Virginia Tech
Earth
Chloe Bloom, Oklahoma
Dorian Branch, Houston
Brooke Flowers, Saint Louis
Fire
Soleil Barnes, Toledo
Sunshine McCrae, UNC Wilmington
Starr Omozee, UIW
Animals
There are enough animals represented in players’ names to fill a zoo. Here are some of the best (including a remarkable number of Taylors …):
Kola Bad Bear, Montana State
Gabrielle Bird, Central Michigan
Harper Birdsong, William & Mary
Bridgid Fox, Detroit Mercy
Taylor Hawks, Jacksonville State
Taylor Herd, Quinnipiac
Taylor Lamb, Tennessee Tech
Taylor Mole, Colorado State
Shalae Salmon, BYU
Cynthia Wolf, UNI
Music to our ears
Beyond the following list of musical names, there are also a few DJs on Division I rosters. The natural question is, do these players have the pregame playlists to match their names?
Jazz Bond, North Florida
Jazzy Hughes, Purdue Fort Wayne
Lyric Robins, Illinois
Sophia Song, UC Davis
Lyric Swann, UMBC
Melody Van Ness, St. Francis Brooklyn
Singing their praises
For these players, their names are just another way of highlighting their exceptional skills:
Allie Best, Marist
Trinity Bravo, Bryant
Excellanxt Greer, UNC Greensboro
Marvellous Osagie-Erese, Georgetown
Toughness
These six players’ names embody the toughness that coaches value on the court:
Shauntai Battle, Samford
Diamond Battles, UCF
Claire Gritt, Denver
Chante Stonewall, DePaul
Clair Steele, Lehigh
Jordan Tuff, Cincinnati
Holidays
It will no doubt feel like a rivalry when Oregon and Oregon State match up in January, but it may also feel festive with Oregon’s Holly Winterburn and Oregon State’s Noelle Mannen participating. Here are five other festive names:
Noelle Cahill, Penn
Holly Forbes, Robert Morris
Valentina Pepic, Niagara
Tyeisha Rudolph, Alabama State
Noelle Yancy, SFA
Alliteration
In 2019, a player with an alliterative name, former George Washington star Jonquel Jones, dominated in the WNBA Finals. These players aren’t quite at JJ’s level, but they do have the alliteration down:
Harley Hansen, Southern Utah
Jasmine Jeffcoat, Denver
Kamalu Kamakawiwo’ole, Utah State
Lexus Levy, George Washington
Pare Pene, Chattanooga
Ren’Cia Rolling, UMass Lowell
Timber Tate, UNC Wilmington
Vanerlie Valcourt, Hofstra
Make that cash money (after you graduate)
Enough said.
Brionna Budgetts, Central Arkansas
Kennedy Cash, NJIT
Sarah Overcash, George Washington
E’Mya Price, Coppin State
Faith Price, Campbell
The 2019–20 All-Name Teams
There are thousands more players in women’s college basketball, and many of my favorite names don’t fit into the above categories. With four of the five players from last year’s first team not playing Division I basketball this season, there were also lots of spots up for grabs. Without further ado, here are the best names in Division I women’s college basketball this season:
First Team All-Name
Kola Bad Bear, Montana State
Gracie Champion, California Baptist
Charity Savage, Middle Tennessee
Chante Stonewall, DePaul
Holly Winterburn, Oregon
Second Team All-Name
De’Mean Bond, South Carolina State
Crystal Dangerfield, UConn
Dominique Golightly, Abilene Christian
Ahriahna Grizzle, Alabama
Forever Toppin, Central Connecticut State
Third Team All-Name
Harper Birdsong, William & Mary
Kesha Brady, Tennessee Tech
Jala Buster, South Alabama
Jurnee President, St. Bonaventure
Divine Tanks, McNeese
Honorable Mention All-Name
Traiva Breedlove, Brown
Montserrat Brotons, Oral Roberts
Pearl Dean, Indiana State
Whisper Fisher, Syracuse
Respect Leaphart, Southern Mississippi
Allie McCool, George Mason
Ren’Cia Rolling, UMass Lowell
The full list of name twins:
Fun fact: As of December 22, the two Haley Joneses have played the most minutes (542 combined, nearly 50 more than the Megan Walkers), but none of the duos are lapping the field. The individual leader in minutes played is New Mexico’s Ahlise Hurst with 475.
If you are interested in name twins in men’s college basketball, Ken Pomeroy has a fun round-up at The Athletic.
If you like this content, please support our work at Her Hoop Stats by subscribing for just $20 a year. All stats were compiled from Her Hoop Stats on December 22; players had to play in at least one game by that date to be eligible for inclusion.
