Names of new babies in England and Wales

Names change in popularity. According to the data compiled annually by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and published each September, the most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2021 were as follows:
Position Boys Girls
1 Noah Olivia
2 Oliver Amelia
3 George Isla
4 Arthur Ava
5 Muhammad Ivy
6 Leo Freya
7 Harry Lily
8 Oscar Florence
9 Archie Mia
10 Henry Willow

There are some patterns here.

First of all, astonishingly the second 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 were actually top for their gender for the previous 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 – Harry instead of Harold and Archie instead of Archibold.

Third, in the case of girls, six of the top 10 names end with the letter ‘a’ and six contain the letter ‘l’ (in three cases, twice).

On the other hand, the name John (my father’s name), which was the most popular boys’ name until the end of the Second World War and is still the most common male name in Britain for the population as a whole, is nowhere in the top 100 names in the 2021 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 is still only 62.

Some boys’ names have almost fallen out of use – such as Leslie, Clifford, Norman, Gary.

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.

Some girls’ names are almost of use – such as Glenda and Kerry.

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 Ivy has soared to number 5, while Elsie has jumped to 18. Arthur has surged into the top 10 boys’ names for the first time since the 1920s (it is now 4) and Ada has jumped into the girls’ top 100 for the first time in a century too (it is now 44), both perhaps inspired by characters in the BBC television drama “Peaky Blinders”.

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 fourth, while Darcie, Darcey and Darcy would boost that name’s ranking.

Also it is interesting to note that names are becoming more diverse: less than half (45%) of babies had a name within the top 100 lists in 2021, down from two thirds (67%) in 1996.

For more information on naming practices click here.


 




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