We thought you might be interested in this official, but interesting, report from the Office of National Statistics, on babies names registered in England and Wales.
To see the top 100 names for Girls and Boys in the last few years, just click on the buttons above.
Harry and Amelia are the most popular names in England and Wales in 2012
Harry and Amelia were the most popular first names given to babies born in England and Wales in 2012, maintaining the top spots from 2011.
Riley replaced Joshua in the top 10 most popular names for baby boys, climbing 5 places from number 13 to number 8.
Mia and Isla replaced Ruby and Grace in the top 10 most popular names for baby girls, climbing 6 and 7 places from numbers 13 and 15 to numbers 7 and 8 respectively.
In England, Amelia was the most popular name in all regions and Harry was the most popular name in seven out of nine regions
In Wales, Jacob was the most popular name for baby boys, replacing Oliver, while Amelia replaced Lily as the most popular name for baby girls.
Within the 100 most popular boys’ names given to babies born in England and Wales in 2012, there were only seven new entries:
Hugo at number 88 (up 51 places from 139)
Sonny at number 90 (up 18 places from 108)
Seth at number 91 (up 10 places from 101)
Elliott at number 95 (up 12 places from 107)
Theodore at number 97 (up 27 places from 124)
Rory at number 99 (up 11 places from 110)
Ellis at number 100 (up 3 places from 103)
These replaced Joel (101), Hayden (102), John (104), Ashton (111), Jackson (113), Ben (118) and Reece (122) which fell out of the top 100.
Bobby showed the largest rise within the top 100, gaining 19 places to reach number 57. Frankie (up 18 to number 66), Arthur (up 16 to number 52), Jenson and Blake (up 13 to numbers 54 and 66 respectively) were also high climbers.
Aiden (down 19 to number 80), Finlay (down 17 to number 83), Jamie (down 15 to 64) and Rhys (down 14 to number 84) showed the largest falls within the top 100.
There were six new entries in the top 100 most popular girls’ names, which were:
Mollie at number 84 (up 29 places from 113)
Ivy at number 88 (up 80 places from 168)
Darcey at number 89 (up 42 places from 131)
Tilly at number 92 (up 11 places from 103)
Sara at number 99 (up 10 places from 109)
Violet at number 100 (up 14 places from 114).
These replaced Lexie (102), Lauren (103), Rebecca (108), Tia (116), Nicole (119) and Kayla (135) which fell out of the top 100.
Elsie, which rose 17 places between 2011 and 2012 to 70, was the highest climber within the top 100, followed by Hollie (up 14 to number 54), Maryam (up 13 to number 81) and Bella (up 11 to number 58).
Isobel (down 18 to number 98), Megan (down 12 to number 41), Amy (down 11 to number 62) and Caitlin (down 11 to number 97) were the names with the largest falls in popularity within the top 100.
There are a number of possible reasons why the popularity of baby names can change over time. The popularity of names can be influenced by names of famous figures or current celebrities and what they name their own babies. However, it is an individual choice which can be influenced by a number of other factors such as the religious, cultural and/or ethnic identities of the parents or the names of family, friends or fictional characters. As such, there is a great diversity of baby names.
In 2012, there were 729,674 live births in England and Wales (ONS, 2013), with over 28,000 different boys’ names and over 36,000 different girls’ names registered. The top 10 names only account for 13% of all names in 2012.
Changes between 2002 and 2012
Five of the top 10 most popular boys’ names in 2012 were also in the top 10 in 2002: Jack, Thomas, James, William and Oliver.
When compared with 2002, the biggest increases in popularity for those names in the top 10 in 2012 were Riley (up 114 to number 8), Alfie (up 42 to number 7), Charlie (up 25 to number 4) and Jacob (up 25 to number 5). Benjamin (down 26 to number 32), Joseph (down 14 to number 22), Daniel (down 11 to number 16) and Joshua (down 9 to number 11) have fallen the furthest since being in the top 10 in 2002.
Within the top 100 names, Kayden (up 662 to number 92), Dexter (up 327 to number 70), Ollie (up 306 to number 73) and Jenson (up 242 to number 54) were the highest climbers between 2002 and 2012.
Among the most popular names for baby girls, four names appear in the top 10 in both 2002 and 2012: Olivia, Jessica, Emily and Sophie.
Of the names in the top 10 in 2012, Isla (up 268 to number 8), Ava (up 198 to number 6), Isabella (up 40 to number 10) and Amelia (up 24 to number 1) were the highest climbing new entries when compared with 2002, while Megan (down 35 to number 41), Hannah (down 34 to number 42), Ellie (down 31 to number 35) and Lucy (down 17 to number 27) have fallen the furthest since 2002.
Within the top 100 names, Lexi (up 1,613 to number 46), Ivy (up 911 to number 88), Bella (up 677 to number 58) and Violet (up 556 to number 100) were the highest climbers between 2002 and 2012.
source: Office of National Statistics
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
Jack and Chloe are the most popular names in England and Wales in 2002
Jack and Chloe are still the most popular names given to babies in England and Wales; but there are a few surprises lower down the list, suggesting that some parents still prefer to take a lead from showbiz.
Jack has now been the most popular boys’ name for the past eight years, and Chloe the top girls’ name for the past six years. Jack actually increased slightly in popularity compared with 2001, while Chloe saw a small decrease.
Few parents followed the example of David and Victoria Beckham: their son Romeo was one of only 21 to be given the name. Their other son, Brooklyn has more of an influence, with 86 baby boys (up from 76 in 2001) and 19 baby girls (down from 31) sharing his name.
Did a fictional footballer’s wife prove just as influential? Some 52 girls were named Chardonnay, the name of a leading character in TV drama ‘Footballers’ Wives’ often compared to Posh Spice. A further 14 were called Chardonay.
Mirroring the success of the Colombian pop singer, 221 girls were named Shakira, a more than eightfold increase
on 2001. The name Amelie saw a twelvefold increase to 203 girls, perhaps reflecting the success of the Oscar-nominated French language movie of the same name. Some 468 baby girls share the name of Aaliyah, the American R&B singer killed in a plane crash in August 2001 – an increase of 300 on 2001, putting it 92nd in the girls’ ranking.
The choice of boys’ names is generally more conservative, with 2430 different boys’ names registered in 2002, compared to 3089 girls’ names.
One that catches the eye is Korben – 127 baby boys share the name of the first finalist to be voted off TV’s ‘Pop Idol’ contest, up from only 8 in 2001. (A further 135 were given different variations of the name, such as Korbyn or Corban.) Ironically, Korben was not even his real name: a rather more conventional Chris Niblett. But the number sharing the name of fellow Pop Idol competitor Darius fell by half in 2002, to just 22.
New entries to the boys’ top 50 were Harvey (up 15 to 46th), Charles (up four to 47th) and Alfie (up five to 49th).
Benjamin rose eight places to number six, while Ben climbed ten places to number 21. Harry dropped five places to number 11, while William went up six places to number seven. Jordan saw a big decrease in popularity, down 18 places to number 43. Harrison, Christopher and Joe dropped out of the top 50 altogether.
In the girls’ top 50, Isabelle was the highest new entry, up ten places to number 47, followed by Maisie, up 18 places to number 48 and Isabella, up five to squeeze in at number 50. While Jade and Laura both went down eight places to numbers 32 and 45 respectively. Niamh, Natasha and Alexandra all dropped out of the top 50.
source: Office of National Statistics 6th January 2003
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
