Oliver and Olivia are still the most popular names for babies
OLIVER REMAINED the most popular name for boys in England and Wales for the seventh year in a row in 2019, while Olivia topped the girls’ list for the fourth year in succession, according to the Office for National Statistics ( ONS).
Freya and Lily replaced Emily and Ella in the top 10 names for girls, while there were no new entries in the top 10 boys’ names.
It is the first time Freya has been in the top 10 most popular girls’ names and the first time Emily has not been in the top 10 since 1984, the ONS said.
In total, 4,932 babies were named Oliver in 2019, down from 5,390 the previous year.
Likewise, there were 4,082 newborn girls named Olivia last year, down from 4,598 in 2018.
David Corps, from the vital statistics outputs branch at the ONS, said: “Analysis shows choices in baby names can differ depending on the mother’s age.
“We found younger mothers opted for more modern girls’ names like Harper, which has seen a rise since the Beckhams named their daughter so in 2011, and shortened boys’ names like Freddie.
“In contrast, older mothers chose more traditional names such as Jack and Charlotte.
“Popular culture continues to influence the baby names landscape. Following Dua Lipa’s, inset, first UK number one single in 2017, the number of girls named Dua has doubled from 63 to 126 in 2019.”
The name Kylo has also increased in popularity following the release of the new Star Wars trilogy in 2015 in which Kylo Ren was a leading character, with the number of boys given this name rising from 10 to 67 in 2019. But some of the most popular names of the last century have fallen out of favour. Margaret was the number one girls’ name in 1924, 1934 and 1944 while Susan topped the list in 1954 and 1964. But the latest data shows that there were 109 babies named Margaret and seven named Susan in 2019, with the names dropping to 396th and 3,151st place on the list respectively.
In the list of boys’ names, John was top in 1914, 1924, 1934 and 1944 but has fallen to 131st place in 2019. Alfred entered the top 100 most popular boys’ names in 2019 for the first time since 1944.