The most popular baby names of 2022 (so far)
The most popular baby names of 2022 (so far) have been revealed and there has been a change at the top of the girl's chart.
BabyCentre UK has released its annual mid-year charts of parents' top picks and it seems there's a new favourite for girls with Olivia knocked off the top spot. The moniker has been number one since 2015 except in 2020 where Sophia came top for that year.
Instead, Lily has instead stolen the jewel-encrusted crown, pushing Olivia down to number three, while Sophia held on to the number two spot.
Elsewhere in the girls’ top 10 Aria and Ivy were new entries at numbers eight and nine after Ella and Rosie dropped out.
In the boys’ chart Muhammad and Noah held onto numbers one and two but a rush of mini Jacks this year saw the popular moniker climb six places to take third place from Oliver, which dropped to number six.
Meanwhile Freddie and Harry fell tumbled out of the top ten to make room for new entries Ethan and Oscar at numbers eight and nine.
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As well as prepping for the names soon to be dominating the nursery register, the parenting site's annual list also offers a glimpse of what’s inspiring mums and dads-to-be when it comes to choosing baby names for their offspring.
While the UK’s fave choices remain relatively predictable, with many traditional monikers dominating the top spots, the baby name choices also reveal up-and-coming trends as well as more unusual picks plus the names falling out of favour with soon-to-be parents.
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Turns out there were no winners in the baby naming game thanks to the big celebrity defamation cases that dominated headlines this year.
While we were glued to the Wagatha Christie and the Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp court appearances, the drama, unsurprisingly, seemed to put off parents-to-be.
After years of enjoying a top 100 spot, Amber spectacularly dropped out. And, despite a number of registrations last year for Johnny, a total of zero parents so far this year chose the name for their baby.
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Wayne, Coleen and Rebekah also all had zero entries so far this year while registrations dropped for alternative spelling Rebecca and the name of her husband Jamie.
“Parents proved they are judge and jury when it comes to baby names as they threw the book at Amber, Johnny, Wayne, Coleen and Rebekah, all at the heart of expensive high-profile court cases," explains Sarah Redshaw, managing editor for BabyCentre.
"I predict the impact of Johnny and Amber’s battle and the Wagatha Christie effect will continue and we will see those names fall further in the charts.”
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Jubilee fever seems to have had an impact on British parents this year with many royal monikers seeing a rise.
Elizabeth went up two places in the top 100 while William climbed 12 places from 41 to 29. Lily – the shortened version of the queen’s nickname Lilibet as well as Harry and Meghan’s baby girl’s name - was crowned (pun totally intended) number one.
Charlotte moved up four places to number 30 after the young princess entertained the world with her cute jubilee celebration reactions, while the diminutive form Lottie jumped up 14 places to take a seat at number 52.
George remained a firm favourite in the top 10 while Louie, which also includes sound-a-like version Louis held steady in the top 30.
Television continues to provide namespo for British parents, with the final series of epic drama Peaky Blinders fuelling a rise in mini gangsters with Arthur, Alfie, Freddie, Charlie, Finley (Finn), Luca, and Thomas all making the top 20. Meanwhile female characters also proved popular with Grace at number 14, Esme at 31 and Ada sat at number 51.
The hotly anticipated new series of Stranger Things saw a rise outside the top 100 of fan favourites Robin, Maxine (Max), Elle, Mike, Billy, and Steve. Robyn, as an alternative to Robin, and Willliam (Will) both climbed up the top 100 while Lucas and Nancy held firm.
“We’ll have to see how the conclusion of the series affects naming choices for the rest of the year, but it might not be just character names running up the charts," says Redshaw.
"Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill went viral thanks to its inclusion in the series and now holds the record for longest ever gap between release and hitting number one. Kate may scale the heights of the name charts, stranger things have happened!”
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For mums-and-dads-to-be looking for more unique monikers, some slightly more unusual picks did make the most-popular list.
New entries included Zion creeping in at number 95, possibly inspired by heart-throb Zion Miller in the popular show Ginny and Georgia.
High new entry Elliot at number 62 could have been due to the surge in media coverage on Elliot Page after his character’s transition in the TV series The Umbrella Academy.
Another new entry was Maddison at fifty-nine, perhaps inspired by the queen bee of TV series Euphoria, Maddy Perez, or TikTok star Madison Lewis.
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Meanwhile Raya was new at ninety-two, possibly linked to the release of the Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon last year.
Names that dropped out of last year’s top 100 to make way for the newbies included Jasmine, Clara, Elodie, Lola and Amelie for baby girls and Joseph, Edward, Ronnie, Stanley and Milo for the boys.
Parents also seemed to reject 70s-inspire monikers with zero-registration names including Kelly, Gail, Brenda and Susie and Keith, Leslie, Glenn and Terry.
The top 20 baby boys names of 2022 so far
Muhammad +0
Noah +0
Jack +6
Theo +2
Leo +0
Oliver -3
George -3
Ethan +5
Oscar +9
Arthur +0
Charlie +0
Freddie -5
Harry -5
Zayn +46
Alfie +8
Finley +0
Henry -3
Luca +11
Thomas +1
Aiden +6
Read more: Parents seeking inspiration from TV and royals for baby names
The top 20 baby girls names of 2022 so far
Lily +2
Sophia +0
Olivia -2
Amelia +0
Ava +0
Isla +1
Freya +1
Aria +3
Ivy +3
Mia -4
Elsie +17
Emily +1
Ella -4
Grace +0
Isabella +0
Evie +2
Hannah +4
Luna +5
Maya +0
Daisy +7
