Zeus and Aphrodite join those born for greatness

Records reveal most popular – and unusual – names given to newborns last year

Gods, emperors, superheroes and fallen angels inspired some of Scotland’s most unusual baby names last year.

Lists from the National Records of Scotland have revealed the full list of first names given to babies last year.

Jack and Olivia remain the nation’s favourite names for boys and girls respectively but other parents plumped for more exotic choices.

The boys’ list revealed one called Lucifer while pagan deities were also well represented with four Thors, one Zeus and 19 Odins all arriving on the mortal plane in 2018.

Ancient Rome also inspired some parents with four boys being given the name of emperors: Octavian, Augustus, Tiberius and Nero.

Superheroes also inspired some parents: A total of 307 boys were named Logan, real name of the X-Man Wolverine, while two boys were given Superman’s Kryptonian name Kal-El.

Other unusual choices include Sandor (from Game of Thrones), Rudolf, Nevis, Marvellous and Marvelous all catching the eye.

Celebrities also inspired baby boys Bowie, Cobain, Elvis and Dre.

There were also several unusual names given to girls last year.

There were four babies named Adele while two have been named after the Greek goddess of beauty, Aphrodite.

One girl was called Chardonnay-Zoe and another Charley-Quinn.

There were also two girls called Kelis, one called Zola and another called Pfeiffer.

Another girl was named Zuzu, which is also the name of James Stewart’s daughter in the classic Christmas movie It’s A Wonderful Life.

The lists also revealed which names are going out of fashion. Remarkably, no girls were called Jane or Karen in 2018.

A number of names proved popular with the parents of baby boys and girls.

There were 34 Taylors born last year, 18 boys and 16 girls.

There were also 13 boys and eight girls called River.

Researchers are split over whether a person’s name can influence their life, a phenomenon called nominative determinism.

While most research has been inconclusive, public surveys suggest unusual names can have a negative effect on people’s life chances.

Recruiters performing the first cut of CVs have even confessed to rejecting candidates with “foreign-sounding” names as a crude way of reducing the numbers of applications to read through.

Other studies have indicated that the name itself is not the most significant factor.

Dalton Conley, author of Parentology: Everything You Wanted To Know About The Science Of Raising Children But Were Too Exhausted to Ask, believes being raised by parents whose character leads them to choose an unusual name is far more influential in the long term than growing up with the name itself.

A separate list released by NRS revealed that Smith, Brown and Wilson remain the three most common surnames in Scotland.

Celebrities also inspired baby boys Bowie, Cobain, Elvis and Dre