The top UK baby names for 2021 - revealed!

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

Brand New this month!

I've been working away on some brand new designs to add to my ever-popular 'Meaning of Name' print range - and I'm rather proud of them!

'Little Hare' personalised meaning of name print, nursery art from PhotoFairytales.co.uk

This range has been a best seller since I first introduced them in, what, 2011 was it? 2010? Whichever, it's not important - what IS important is that over the years customers have found them to be the perfect personalised gift to welcome a new baby.

'Heritage' personalised meaning of name print in blue, nursery art from PhotoFairytales.co.uk

They've been bought for christenings and baptisms, as a present for the new mummy and daddy, as a celebration when the newborn arrived, a special birthday gift, or just a lovely piece of personalised wall art for a nursery or child's bedroom.

'Heritage' personalised meaning of name print in pink, nursery art from PhotoFairytales.co.uk

Whatever the occasion really, it's just a real matter of sheer joy to me that so many of these custom name prints have found their way into homes and onto walls across the world!

'Heritage' personalised meaning of name print in soft sage green, nursery art from PhotoFairytales.co.uk

So, I wanted to introduce some of the latest new designs I've just added to the collection - I hope you like them!

'Dandelion' personalised meaning of name print in pink, nursery art from PhotoFairytales.co.uk

'Dandelion' personalised meaning of name print in blue, nursery art from PhotoFairytales.co.uk

You can see the full range (and bigger images!) by clicking on any of the pictures shown, or visiting the website here: https://www.photofairytales.co.uk/meaningofname.html. The prints are just £15.95 including free UK delivery.

Sarah x

Barking Mad Baby Names

When our lovely daughter Amy was still “the Bump” we became obsessed with names - right down to scouring the credits at the end of every programme and film (“Audrey Thexton - that’s a bit different, would that work? Maybe not…”). 

It was such a responsibility to plump for the right one: we couldn’t choose something too cutesy because she might became Prime Minister one day (Angel Thexton, Prime Minister). It couldn’t be anything that would date (think ‘Ethel’, or ‘Mavis’). We weren’t the kind of people to do a Beckham or a Bowie (ie, calling her something utterly mad like ‘Trixie-Biscuit’). It couldn’t start with a “th” or a “ph” because with a surname like Thexton that would make everyone sound like they had a lisp (try saying Thelma Thexton and you’ll see what I mean!).

And then there was the other problem, the one that nobody likes to mention… the really, really popular names. The ones that are so popular that if you shout them out loud in the park the chances are 5 toddlers, a cat and 4 dogs will all look up at you. You know the ones I mean I’m sure… So what if we got a bit ironic and went in the opposite direction, and called her “Scamp”? Or “Patch” (bit too eczema-y?) Or what about “Lassie”?? No, perhaps not.

The problem is, everyone is giving their pets human names - even we’ve named our dog Freddy. And there’s a cute Jack Russell dog right here in Belton called Alan. The other day we walking Freddy when we met Pete, the greyhound. A friend of mine once had a Labrador called Dave…

Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to Freddy we are all completely guilty of giving him human characteristics to match his human name. It isn’t just the Paris Hiltons of this world that are guilty of turning pets into baby substitutes (even when you actually do have a real, human baby!). I guess it’s just the inevitable side effect of the human need to nurture - especially anything that has big innocent eyes!

So how did we end up with the name “Amy”? A nice lady working in Boots struck up a conversation over my bump, and mentioned it was one of her favourites. Amy…. Amy Thexton…. I like it... I like it a lot…. middle name Rose…. and Amy means ‘beloved’ which is lovely… yes, perfect!

So how did you come up with a name for your child? Did you research the meaning of the name? Did you find it all as tricky as we did?! Leave a comment and let me know, I’d love to hear about your experience too!

Sarah x