What are the most popular names for new babies in Britain?
According to the data compiled annually by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2013 – published this week – were as follows:
| Position | Boys | Girls |
| 1 | Oliver | Amelia |
| 2 | Jack | Olivia |
| 3 | Harry | Emily |
| 4 | Jacob | Ava |
| 5 | Charlie | Isla |
| 6 | Thomas | Jessica |
| 7 | Oscar | Poppy |
| 8 | William | Isabella |
| 9 | James | Sophie |
| 10 | George | Mia |
| 11 | Alfie | Ruby |
| 12 | Joshua | Lily |
| 13 | Noah | Grace |
| 14 | Ethan | Evie |
| 15 | Muhammed | Sophia |
| 16 | Archie | Ella |
| 17 | Leo | Scarlett |
| 18 | Henry | Chloe |
| 19 | Joseph | Isabelle |
| 20 | Samuel | Freya |
There are some patterns here.
First of all, astonishingly the most popular boys’ name and the second most popular girls’ name are essentially the same (Oliver and Olivia) – what is technically known as cognates – and these names have been in the top two for their gender for the last five years. Is this the case in any other nation? Second, it is striking how traditional most of the names are for both boys and girls, although for the boys it is interesting that the familiar form of names rather than the original version is often preferred – Jack instead of John, Harry instead of Harold, Charlie instead of Charles, Alfie instead of Alfred, Archie instead of Archibold. Third, in the case of boys, five of the top 20 names begin with the letter ‘J’ while, in the case of girls, 10 of the top 20 names end with the letter ‘a’, seven of the top 20 names end with the sound ‘ee’, and ten of the top 20 names contain the letter ‘l’ (in three cases, twice).
On the other hand, the name John, which is the most common male name in the Britain, is at a mere 107th place in the 2013 listings, while David – which is the second most common name in Britain – slipped out of the top 50 of names chosen for baby boys born in 2004 and has only just come back (it is currently 50th). Similarly Margaret – the most common female name in the population as a whole – does not even appear in the top 100 names chosen for girls these days, while Susan – the second most common name in Britain – is not even in the top 100.
These observations underline how much fashion shapes the popularity of different names. Fashion is a stronger influence with girls’ names than those of boys. So, for example, in the last 10 years (2003-2013) Ivy is up 733 places to number 66, Lexi is up 729 places to 42, Bella is up 563 places to 56, Sienna is up 405 places to 22, and Elsie is up 361 places to 47.
It should be noted that the Office of National Statistics (ONS) produces its ranking of the popularity of names using the exact spelling of the name given at birth registration. If one combines the numbers for names with very similar spellings, a very different picture is revealed. For boys, combining the occurrence of Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohammad & Muhammed plus eight other spellings of the names would put it in first place – a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the British population. Similarly, if one combines the occurrence of Isabella, Isabelle, Isabel and Isobel, one would find the name top of the girls’ list and, if one took Lily and Lilly together, the name would come three.
You can find the top 100 boys and girls names in 2012 click here.
You can find my comprehensive guide to naming practices around the world here.
August 17th, 2014 at 1:26 am
My theory is that names skip two generations. We don’t call our babies after our friends, or our parent’s friends, we try and find something “unusual”. The irony is that we often end up with names popular in our Grandparent’s generation, and so does everyone else.
If I’m right, Olive and Olivia will call their kids Margaret and David.
Nadine – after a friend of my Mum.
Where does “Catrin” come from?
August 17th, 2014 at 9:31 am
I think there is sense in your theory, Nadine. My late mother-in-law was called Ruby but the name fell out of fashion for a couple of generations, Now it is back at No 11.
Catrin is Welsh for Catherine. Catrin’s mother is of Welsh background on her father’s side.