Oliver has been revealed as the most popular name for boys for the seventh year running, while Olivia topped the girls’ list for the fourth consecutive year – but there have been some surprise exits from the top 100.
Freya and Lily replaced Emily and Ella in the top 10 names for girls in England and Wales in 2019, while there were no new entries in the top 10 boys’ names, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
And analysis shows choices can differ depending on the mother’s age, with younger women opting for more modern and shortened names, and older mums choosing more traditional ones.
There were 4,082 newborn girls named Olivia last year, down from 4,598 in 2017.
It is the first time Freya has been in the top 10 most popular girls’ names and also the first time Emily has not been in the top 10 since 1984.
Although Lily entered the top flight, the alternative spelling of Lilly decreased the most within the top 100 girls’ names by 19 places to become the 86th most popular.
Lara and Mabel replaced Aisha and Francesca in the top 100 girls’ names; Mabel has not been in the top 100 since 1924.
Top 10 names for girls:
Olivia
Amelia
Isla
Ava
Mia
Isabella
Sophia
Grace
Lily
Freya
In total, 4,932 babies were named Oliver in 2019, down from 5,390 the previous year.
Alfred, Chester, Hudson, Ibrahim and Oakley entered the 2019 top 100 boys’ names replacing Alex, Dexter, Dominic, Kai, Sonny and Tobias.
Arthur continued its recent rise, now at its highest position since records began in 1904 as the fourth most popular boys’ name, 11 years since returning to the top 100.
Tommy increased in the rankings the most by 24 places to become the 26th most popular boys’ name, while Matthew decreased the most by 17 places to the 99th spot and in danger of falling out the top 100 for the first time since 1954.
Top 10 names for boys:
Oliver
George
Noah
Arthur
Harry
Leo
Muhammad
Jack
Charlie
Oscar
David Corps, from the vital statistics outputs branch at the ONS, 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.”
He added: “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.”
