Sarah drops out of top 100 baby names for first time

IT HAS been one of the UK’S most popular baby names for more than a century. But Sarah has dropped out of the top 100 girls’ names for the first time since records began, figures show.

The name, which peaked in popularity in the Seventies and Eighties, fell to the 103rd most popular name in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for 2017. It was the top girls’ name in 1974 and 1984, and its popularity has been falling ever since. An alternative spelling, Sara, overtook it in 2015, and last year was the 82nd most popular girl’s baby name in the UK.

The change leaves Elizabeth as the only girls’ name which has been in the top 100 since records began in 1904.

The very top of the list remained unchanged since last year, with Oliver and Olivia remaining the most popular boys’ and girls’ names.

Nick Stripe, of the ONS Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, said: “Although Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular baby names in 2017, some fascinating changes took place beneath them.

“Leo entered the boys’ top 10 for the first time, whilst Hunter rocketed into the top 100, also for the first time, reaching number 78.” New entries include Aurora, Hallie, Lyla and Bonnie.

Sarah has met the same fate as many names including Claire, the secondmost popular name in 1974, which is now the 915th most popular baby girl name, with 41 newborns named Claire in 2017. Lisa, which peaked at 5th in 1974, is now 764th, with 52 girls given the name last year, and Louise, which was 13th in 1974 and is now at 499th place, with 87 girls given the name, though it also features in almost 50 compound forms including Lilly-louise, Phoebe-louise and Bonnie-louise.

A similar pattern can be seen for boys’ names, such as Paul, which peaked in the top spot in 1974, now at 357th behind Troy, Nikodem, Zayd and Teddie. Andrew, which was near the top in the Seventies, is now 210th.