Baby names: Noah enters top 10 for boys, Amelia remains top
for girls
By Mario Cacciottolo for BBC News
2nd September 2016
The name Noah has entered the top 10 most popular boys'
names for the first time, while Amelia has remained the most popular for girls,
the Office for National Statistics said. The list of most popular baby names in
England and Wales in 2015 also showed Oliver has remained top for boys. Among
more unusual choices were 17 boys and 15 girls who were named Baby. The ONS
said the results were "based on the exact spelling of the name given on
the birth certificate". Grouping names with similar pronunciation would
change the rankings, it added. Oliver has been the most popular name for boys
since 2013, while Amelia has been the most popular girls' name since 2011. The
statistics come after an online poll suggested almost a fifth of parents in the
UK regret the name they chose for their child. The ONS has also created an
online tool for people to chart the popularity, or lack of, their own names.
Among the more unusual names given to boys, 35 were called Rocky,
and 21 chose Apollo, potentially setting up a rematch between movie boxing's
most famous duelling duo, Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. There will be 18 boys
born last year for whom the movie Top Gun will take on extra resonance, because
they share the name Maverick with the nickname of Tom Cruise's lead character. And
perhaps the 15 boys called Blue could hang out with the 14 boys called Ocean.
And just to be even more different, 18 boys were called Blu. At the other end
of the pronunciation scale is Tymoteusz, which will be spelled out on a daily
basis in future by 36 boys.
For the girls, while none were called Arya, after one of the
lead characters in Game of Thrones, 562 were called Aria, 33 Ariah, 17 Aaria
and six Aariah - all presumably with the same pronunciation. Unmistakably from
that television series is the name Kaleesi, which was given to five girls,
arming them with a lifetime of conversation about mothers and dragons. Four
girls were called Ha, while another four called Fizza will need to have neat
handwriting when they grow up, so as not to be confused with the Italian meal. The
name Princess was given to 72 girls, almost a perfect match for the 77 boys who
were called Prince last year. Keeping with the fairytale theme, 134 girls were
called Pixie.
These latest figures show Oliver is the most popular boys'
name for all regions of England except London and the West Midlands, which both
had Muhammad as the top name. This is the first time Muhammad has been top in
two areas, as it overtook Oliver in the West Midlands from 2014. Oscar and Noah
showed the biggest increase in popularity for those in the top 10 - rising 45
and 44 places respectively, compared with 2005. Jaxon, Roman, Reggie and Carter
made it into the latest boys' top 100, taking the places of Owen, Robert, Joey
and Finlay from 2014.
Most popular boys' names 2015
Oliver 6,941
Jack 5,371
Harry 5,308
George 4,869
Jacob 4,850
Charlie 4,831
Noah 4,148
William 4,083
Thomas 4,075
Oscar 4,066
For girls, Amelia was the most popular for all regions of
England except the East Midlands and the East, where Olivia - keeping in step
with Oliver's national popularity - was the name most chosen. And Olivia is
also the second most popular name for girls overall. Ella and Mia rose into the
top 10 girls' names last year, while Isla and Ava shot up 121 and 77 places
respectively from their 2005 position, to reach the top 10. Penelope, Mila,
Clara, Arabella, Maddison and Aria were all new entries into the top 100 for
girls, replacing Lydia, Faith, Mollie, Brooke, Isabel and Amy from the year
before.
There were 697,852 live births in England and Wales in 2015
according to the ONS, with more than 27,000 different boys' and 35,000
different girls' names registered.
Most popular girls' names 2015
Amelia 5,158
Olivia 4,853
Emily 3,893
Isla 3,474
Ava 3,414
Ella 3,028
Jessica 2,937
Isabella 2,876
Mia 2,842
Poppy 2,816
Siobhan Freegard, founder of parenting site ChannelMum, said
parents were being influenced by "Americanised monikers". "Jaxon,
a US-version of the traditional Jackson, is rocketing in popularity, after
being made famous by Jaxon Bieber, half brother of Justin," she said. She
added that Maddison, used 577 times last year, "is one of the most common
US girls' names and is gaining traction here," while another popular trend
was for "gangster chic". "Tough but cool Reggie, made famous by
the Krays, was picked by Olympic ace Jessica Ennis-Hill for her son, while
Carter of Get Carter fame is a name we'll be hearing much more of." Reggie
was given as a name 708 times last year, while Carter was chosen 689 times.
To end on a musical note, 72 girls were called Adele, and 39
Paloma, matching the singer Paloma Faith. Also, 35 girls were called Rihanna,
giving them a slight advantage over the nine who were called Rhianna in a
possible misspelling of the pop star's name. And proving that classic names
never die, 35 baby boys were called Elvis last year - quite appropriate, given
that romper suits do bear some similarity to the King's famous jumpsuit.
[I do feel sorry for some kids growing up with ‘unusual’
names. I’ve been tempted more than once to advise parents to invest in
self-defence classes for their potentially misnamed darlings because they’re
going to get ribbed (or bullied) mercilessly in school. I’m sure we’ve all seen
it or experienced it. Personally I’m a fan of the classics. Jack is a good
solid boy’s name and Elizabeth or Victoria for a girl sounds good. It is, of
course, a social and especially a family minefield. Apparently when my older
brother was named it caused family ructions because he wasn’t named after our
father as was family tradition. Meanwhile I was (mis)named after a popular song
in the charts at the time of my birth. Go figure!]
3 comments:
Working in a public library, I see some of the strangest names -- kids named "President", first names with five syllables. American blacks have attempted to create their own name-culture that creates distinctive if sometimes tongue-twisting names. I say culture because while the syllables being put together were at first fairly random, forty years into this experimentation there are some names people like and pass on. A hundred years from now it will be an interesting case of lingual evolution, I think. Others just have to adapt: one girl with a six-syllable first name shortens it to one, "Quinn".
Personally, I like names with history -- Elizabeth, Christopher, Isabella, Thomas, that sort of thing. I rather like my own name, too, but far too many people try to call me 'Steve'. *shudder*
Oh, and odd names: have you seen some of Sarah Palin's kid names? Five kids, only two names that sound like names. The rest get saddled with labels like 'Trig' and 'Track'.
My brother went to school with someone called 'Clint Eastwood' (poor bastard) as well as Elizabeth Taylor. Funnily one of our new consultants is also called Elizabeth Taylor and she told me she has a cousin called Richard Burton (though she might have been pulling my leg). When she told me her name I said: 'Cool, I've seen quite a few of your movies'. No doubt she's been hearing things like that all her life [grin].
Like you I like classic names with a bit of heft behind them rather than faddish names or made up ones. I also prefer names that can't be shortened... so I kinda feel your pain.
I prefer classic names, but also something a little unique. We named our daughter, Melynda Elizabeth, after her Aunt Lynda and about nine generations of Elizabeths in our families. Unfortunately my ex filled out the birth certificate for our son while I was asleep at the hospital, so our son is named Rob Lowe.
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