The 100 most popular baby names revealed
Expectant parents will no doubt be scanning the top 100 baby names to see if their choice has made the cut for this year.
The Office of National Statistics has released its much-anticipated list of the most popular baby names in England and Wales.
The list is created using birth registration data and there have been some unexpected new entries - as well as some old favourites - for this year.
Oliver and Olivia continue to be the most sought-after. In fact, there have been no new entries in the top 10 boys’ names of 2019 and just two new entries in the top 10 girls’ names - with Freya and Lily replacing Emily and Ella.
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In addition, there have been some unexpected entries to the overall lists.
Dua - which was number 126 in 2018 - doubled in popularity in 2019 and took the 63rd spot, doubtless owing to the success of singer, Dua Lipa.
“Popular culture continues to influence the baby names landscape. Following Dua Lipa’s first UK number one single in 2017, the number of girls named Dua has doubled from 63 to 126 in 2019,” David Corps, Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, explained.
This will also explain why the likes of Kylo ranked this year, thanks to Star Wars’ Kylo Ren.
Names such as Alex, Dexter, Dominic, Kai, Sonny, Aisha and Francesca have been pushed out, despite being popular in previous years.
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One name has seen a huge drop off in popularity, though. Alexa, which has been a favourite among new parents in recent years, has seen a sharp fall in takers following the growth in popularity of Amazon Echo.
In 2016, there were 332 babies named Alexa born compared to just 39 in 2019.
Although Oliver and Olivia are still the most popular choices of the year, their hold on the top spot is beginning to fall a little.
In 2019 there were 4,082 Olivias, compared with 4,598 the year before. Similarly Oliver fell from 5,390 to 4,392, after holding the top spot since 2013.
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While Aisha and Francesca fell out of the top 100, Lara and Mabel were new entries for the year.
Mabel hasn’t made it into the top 100 since 1924.
There’s also a difference in top names dependent on where you live and what age you are. Younger parents were more likely to opt for shortened versions of traditional names, like Freddie.
Older parents (those aged 35 and over) were more likely to go for classically traditional names like Jack and Charlotte.
Top 10 boys’ names of 2019:
Oliver
George
Noah
Arthur
Harry
Leo
Muhammad
Jack
Charlie
Oscar
Top 10 girls’ names of 2019:
Olivia
Amelia
Isla
Ava
Mia
Isabella
Sophia
Grace
Lily
Freya
