The most popular first names in Britain today
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just issued its annual data for the names chosen last year for boys and girls born in England and Wales. I always use this material to update my comprehensive essay on naming practices all around the world. You can check out the section on British first names here.
I have noted:
“First of all, astonishingly the most popular boys’ name and the 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 eight 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 – Harry instead of Harold, Jack instead of John, Charlie instead of Charles, Alfie instead of Alfred, Freddie instead of Frederick, Archie instead of Archibold. Third, in the case of boys, four 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’, five of the top 20 names end with the sound ‘ee’, and 11 of the top 20 names contain the letter ‘l’ (in four cases, twice).
On the other hand, the name John (my father’s name), which is the most common male name in Britain, is nowhere in the top 100 names in the 2016 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 43rd). 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 either.
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 decade or so Elsie has soared to 31, Ivy has jumped to number 54, Violet has risen to 65, Bella to 66, Lexi to 85.
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 and the powerful trend for Muslim families to name their son after the Prophet. 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 third, while Darcie, Darcey and Darcy would boost that name’s ranking.”