Most-popular baby names of 2019 so far in the UK revealed
Olivia remains the most popular name for girls
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British parents are finding baby name inspiration in everything from politics and the royals to climate change activists and pop culture, a new report has found.
According to parenting website BabyCentre, which analysed the most-popular baby names of 2019 so far through parent registrations on the site, there are various trends influencing parents’ choices.
However, despite a resurgence of 80s names as well as some celebrity influence, both of last year’s most-popular names have remained in their respective places, with Olivia leading the way for girls and Muhammed the most-popular choice for boys.
Following Olivia is Sophia, which has remained the second-most popular name, and Lily, which BabyCentre speculates may be the lasting influence of the Harry Potter series on millennial parents.
Ava, Freya and Isabella are also popular girl choices for 2019 in fourth, eighth, and ninth, respectively, while Penny, Hannah and Emma are making a comeback.
Botanical names Willow and Ivy both made it into the top 20, while a focus on the climate crisis saw an increase in registrations for Greta after Greta Thunberg, and David, which may be the influence of David Attenborough.
“Robyn, Raven, Rowan and Sage were also boosted as a new generation of parents are increasingly conscious of climate crisis,” the site said.
According to BabyCentre, a registration for the name combination Blair Margaret proves “politics is no longer divided on party lines”.
For boy names, Muhammed has proved its lasting power, while Oliver, which held the second place spot for years, dropped two spots to be replaced by Noah.
Prince George may be behind the popularity of his moniker, which came in at third place, while his new cousin Archie’s name was 18th.
TV shows also proved to be a major baby name influence for both boys and girls, with an increase in registrations for Otis, Evie and Maeve from Sex Education, as well as Penny from the Big Bang Theory.
Love Island fans and new parents are using former season two contestants Kady, Scott, Nathan and Cara as inspiration, while Game of Thrones fans have paid tribute to the show by naming their children names such as Maisie for Maisie Williams and Emilia for Emilia Clarke.
Baby Centre senior editor Lorna Marsh said: "The rise in box-set names makes us wonder if the Netflix-and-chill generation are shunning the fad for naming babies after the place they were conceived in favour of that evening’s choice of TV!"
As always, celebrity couples are also influencing parents, with Cara and Ashley, Joe and Sophie, and Ryan and Eva seeing an increase on the charts.
According to the site, the rankings are the result of analysing thousands of parent registrations of baby's born or due in the first six months of the year. Each year, the site has more than 50,000 registrations.
The full lists of top 20 names for girls and boys of 2019 are below.
Most popular girl names
- Olivia
- Sophia
- Lily
- Ava
- Mia
- Isla
- Amelia
- Freya
- Isabella
- Emily
- Aria
- Evie
- Grace
- Isabelle
- Ella
- Ivy
- Sophie
- Willow
- Charlotte
- Elsie
Most popular boy names
- Muhammad
- Noah
- George
- Oliver
- Charlie
- Harry
- Leo
- Arthur
- Jack
- Freddie
- Jaxon
- Ethan
- Jacob
- Theo
- Oscar
- Alfie
- Henry
- Archie
- Joshua
- Thomas
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments