Prairie Public NewsRoom
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Division of Vital Records Issues Its Fun Facts

Did you know in each day of 2015 North Dakota saw 31 babies born, 13 marriages took place and 6 divorces became final? Those are some of the facts included in a new report from the Division of Vital Records.

Darin Meschke is director of the Division of Vital Records for the state Health Department. He says 2015 was a good year for newborns in North Dakota…

                  “I don’t think most people probably realize that. We’re not one of the largest states by any means, that’s for sure, but I think that’s a big number relative to the size of our state. I think most people would not expect in 2015 there were 31-babies born every day – on the average – in our state.”

Meschke says the number of babies born is just a sample of some fast-facts issued by his office for the year 2015…

…Another name for it could be called “Fun Facts.” It’s our brief document that explains a number of vital events that happened in the previous year. The total number of births the total number of deaths. Those types of things. And it also has some fun facts like the most popular baby names, the oldest father, the oldest mother. Those types of fun facts."

Meschke says in mid-2015 the Supreme Court did make same-sex marriage legal in all states. He says while there are not many numbers to talk about in terms of same-sex marriages in North Dakota, there were still some happy couples…

“…I believe the number was 62 for 2015. We don’t track it in detail yet. The change happened during the year. Those are just the numbers we accumulated through the number of records sent to us.”

As far as some other fast facts, Meschke says the most popular name for baby boys in North Dakota was Liam, while Emma was the most given name for girls. More fast facts can be found at the Health Department’s website.