By order of… well, your brand new baby.
The most popular baby names of the last year have been announced – and there were some definite surprises.
First things first, this list is for England and Wales, not worldwide, and not for Ireland, but once again, the top monikers overall weren’t a shock – with Olivia and Oliver taking the top spots once again.
However, the number of newborns being given the name Oliver has dropped, which may be a sign the name’s six-year reign as the number one name for boys is under threat.
Olivia, meanwhile, was the most popular girl’s name for a second year in a row.
And the BBC’s Peaky Blinders seems to have had a massive affect, with Tommy, Ada and Arthur all seeing a surge.
Grayson, Rowan and Tobias all appeared in the top 100 names for the boys for the first time; with Delilah, Ayla and Margot making their first appearances on the list for girls.
Nick Stripe, Office for National Statistics statistician, said [via The Telegraph]: “Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular baby names in 2018, although there are the first signs that Oliver’s six-year reign as the number one name for boys is under threat.
“Arthur surged into the top 10 boys’ names for the first time since the 1920s, and Ada jumped into the girls’ top 100 for the first time in a century too, both perhaps inspired by characters in the BBC TV drama Peaky Blinders.
“On the flipside, the growth in the use of technology assistants in our homes may help to explain why the number of baby girls named Alexa has more than halved compared with 2017. Communicating with young children can be hard enough at the best of times.”
Top 10 baby girl names of 2018
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Ava
- Isla
- Emily
- Mia
- Isabella
- Sophia
- Ella
- Grace
Top 10 baby boy names of 2018
- Oliver
- George
- Harry
- Noah
- Jack
- Leo
- Arthur
- Muhammad
- Oscar
- Charlie
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