Why the US Navy honors the name Kearsarge

Why does Kearsarge appear among US battleship names even though it is not a state?

The name honors USS Kearsarge's defeat of CSS Alabama and became a prestigious recurring US Navy name.

Kearsarge commemorates the Union warship that defeated CSS Alabama in the Civil War. That victory gave the name enough prestige to become an exception to the usual state names for American battleships. A battleship, an Essex-class carrier, and an amphibious assault ship subsequently carried the name. Reusing it kept the Civil War victory visible across successive generations of the US Navy.