Every year the Office for National Statistics releases lists of the most popular baby names in England and Wales for the past year. The latest information was released this week - and it would seem a certain royal baby has had a big influence on new parents!
The list toppers: To kick things off, Oliver and Olivia have remained the most popular names for baby girls and boys. Oliver first made the top spot back in 2009, fell to 2nd place in 2011 and 2012, then rose back to the number 1 spot in 2013 and has remained there ever since. Whilst Olivia first reached number one in 2008, fell back to 2nd place between 2011-15, then rose back to the number 1 spot in 2016 where it remains still.
Risers and fallers: Grace and Freya have been knocked out of the top 10 spot, taken over by Ivy and Rosie. Similarly, Archie has taken over from Charlie in the top 10 for boys, appearing in the top 10 for the first time (most likely due to the arrive of Harry & Meghan's baby born in 2019). Ivy has risen in popularity a huge 221 places in the last 10 years, becoming the 6th most popular name for baby girls. Similarly, Arthur and Noah have increased in popularity over the last 20 years, both rising over 200 places. This is the first time in 15 years that Charlie hasn't been in the top 10. The largest movers however were Milo, Otis and Maeve - all 3 names have been rapidly gaining popularity amongst new parents although they still haven't reached the top 10.
The influence of age: It seems that older mums are choosing traditional and longer names for both boys or girls, whilst younger mums are doing the complete opposite and opting for shortened versions of traditional names, such as Tommy rather than Thomas. For mums over 35, the top 10 names are Amelia, Ava, Charlotte, Isla, Emily, Ava, Florence, Sophie, Sophia and Mia for girls, and Oliver, George, Jack, Muhammad, Noah, Thomas, Alexander, Arthur, Leo and William for boys. Whereas mothers under 25 are choosing shorter and abbreviated names - Noah, Archie, Leo, Arthur, Theo, Tommy, Freddie, Oliver, Oscar and Finley for boys, and Amelia, Ava, Olivia, Ivy, Isla, Isabella, Mia, Willow, Harper and Elsie for girls.
The top 10 boys' names are:
Oliver (no change from 2019)
George (no change from 2019)
Arthur (up 1 place from 2019)
Noah (down 1 place from 2019)
Muhammad (up 2 places from 2019)
Leo (no change from 2019)
Oscar (up 3 places from 2019)
Harry (down 3 places from 2019)
Archie (up 10 places from 2019)
Jack (down 2 places from 2019)
The top 10 girls' names are:
Olivia (no change from 2019)
Amelia (no change from 2019)
Isla (no change from 2019)
Ava (no change from 2019)
Mia (no change from 2019)
Ivy (up 6 places from 2019)
Lily (up 2 places from 2019)
Isabella (down 2 places from 2019)
Rosie (up 5 places from 2019)
Sophia (down 3 places from 2019)
And the names at the bottom of the top 100? Aisha for the girls, and Myles for the boys.
But of course, all of this doesn't mean a thing - whichever name you choose for your baby (assuming you don't choose something like 'Ikea' or 'Trixie-Biscuit') will be perfect. Although, as the parent of a teenager, I can pretty much guarantee that whatever you do choose they'll moan about it at some point!!
Sarah x
No comments:
Post a Comment