So, would you name your baby girl after evil Harley Quinn?
WheN deciding what to call your baby girl, Batman’s murderous nemesis seems an unusual source of inspiration.
But it emerged yesterday that harley – perhaps influenced by the DC Comics character harley Quinn – is one of the names which saw the biggest increase in popularity this year.
Quinn, played in the movie Suicide Squad by Margot Robbie, is a baseball bat-wielding baddie who loves the Joker.
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) revealed yesterday that harley jumped 46 places to 66th in the top 100 names in 2017.
According to the NRS, Jack is the most popular name for boys for the tenth year in a row, while Olivia topped the girls’ rankings for a second year.
A total of 453 boys were named Jack and Olivia was chosen for 484 girls. Oliver, James
‘Some names have enduring appeal’
Lewis and Noah made up the rest of the top five for the boys, while emily, Isla, Sophie and Jessica were the favourites for girls.
Some unusual names in the top 100 were influenced by celebrity and pop culture.
Finn, lead character in the new Star Wars films, jumped eight places to 26th, while Arlo, the name of footballer Andy Carroll and reality TV star Billi Mucklow’s twoyear-old son, jumped 26 places to 65th
In the girls category, Sienna was another high climber, up 36 places to 32nd. A total of 126 babies were given the name, possibly influenced by the actress Sienna Miller.
Willow, the name of US singer Pink’s daughter, went up 17 places to 45th, and harper, the name of David and Victoria Beckham’s daughter, made it into the top 20 for the first time, at 18th.
The figures also show that 2,063 boys and 2,767 girls were given unique names. The list of these will not be released until March next year but examples from last year included harley-Davidson, Cleopatra and Jynxx-Blu.
NRS registered the births of 25,384 boys and 23,935 girls during the year.
The top 50 girls names accounted for 38 per cent of all those registered, and the top 50 boys names for 39 per cent. Culture Secretary Fiona hyslop said: ‘Naming your baby is such an important decision and it’s always fun to see the names parents around Scotland are choosing. This year’s figures show some names have an enduring appeal, with Jack and Olivia confirming themselves as the most popular across Scotland.’