Arise king Oliver and queen Olivia
Names top the polls for newborns for yet another year in UK
OLIVER and Olivia continue their run as the top baby names - but mother’s age may be key to whether you’re inspired by Kate or Meghan when it comes to naming your newborn.
Oliver has been the top name for boys in England and Wales since 2013, and Olivia has been number one for girls since 2016, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
David Corps, Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, Office for
National Statistics, said: “Oliver and Olivia continued their reign as the top boys’ and girls’ names in 2019, but 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 first UK number one single in 2017, the number of girls named Dua has doubled from 63 to 126 in 2019.”
While the names given to new princes and princesses often see a boost in the rankings, which names you choose to take inspiration from seems to vary by age.
Charlotte and George - Kate and William’s picks for two of their children - were particularly popular with mum’s aged 35 and over, both coming in second, while ranking 47th and 10th respectively aged under 25.
However, Archie - the name of Harry and Meghan’s son - was the third-placed pick for mothers aged under 25, but 43rd for mothers aged 35 and over.
Other influences of popular culture seen in the figures include the decline of Alexa - since 2016, when the Amazon Alexa was first available in the UK, Alexa has decreased in popularity from 332 girls named to just 39 in 2019.
On the rise were Taron, possibly influenced by the actor Taron Egerton who starred in for mums
the 2019 award-winning Elton John biopic, Rocketman, and Kylo, growing in popularity with each Star Wars release, up from 10 in 2015 to 67 in 2019.
In the top 10, Freya and Lily were new entrants for girls replacing Ella and Emily. This is the first time Emily has dropped out of the top 10 since 1984.
There were no new entrants in the boy’s top 10 - but the possibly Peaky Blinders’ inspired Arthur rose to fourth.
Another name from the series, Tommy, was the biggest riser in the top 100, up 24 places to 26th.
Alfred, Chester, Hudson, Ibrahim and Oakley entered the top 100, replacing Alex, Dexter, Dominic, Kai, Sonny and Tobias.
This is the first time Alfred has been in the top 100 since 1944.
Mabel, another possibly pop-inspired pick after the Don’t Call Me Up singer, and Lara replaced Aisha and Francesca in the girls’ top 100. This is the first time Mabel has been in the top 100 since 1924.
Hallie was the biggest riser in the top 100, up 21 places to 58th.