Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SO LONG, KEITH
Star’s name no longer popular for tots
LOOKS like not many babies will be taking after Keith Richards – the first name has almost vanished in the popularity stakes.
Only nine tots were called Keith last year. In 1944, the year after the Rolling Stone legend was born, the name was 14th in the list of the most common among newborn boys. It plummeted to 379th in 1996 and fell off the records completely last year. Parents now consider Keith a “naff ” name, along with Nigel, Terence and Graham. They are going for trendier ones such as Leo and Oliver, which is top of the list for a second year.
But the latest ONS register of baby names showed old-fashioned Ralph made a comeback, making the top 100 list for the first time in 73 years.
As for girls, Janet has suffered a similar fate to Keith with just six tots given the name last year. In 1954 it was in the top five. Susan and Linda have also gone out of favour as the likes of Amelia and Isla make the list, now topped by Olivia.
ONS statistician Nick Stripe 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 and Hunter rocketed into the top 100 for the first time.
“Sarah, the most popular name throughout much of the 70s and 80s, dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since our records began in 1904.”
As for poor old Keith, it looks like It’s All Over Now…