ONS analysts said while Noah and Olivia kept their popularity, other names were in danger of extinction!
Noah has ended Oliver’s eight-year reign as the most popular boy’s name in England and Wales, but Olivia continues to be the most common name for girls. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows Noah took the boys’ No 1 slot, while Olivia is top for girls for a sixth successive year. Henry replaced Jack in the boys’ top 10 – pushing Jack out of the top 10 for the first time since records began in 1996 – while Freya, Florence and Willow replaced Isabella, Rosie and Sophia for girls. Advertisement Muhammad was the most popular boys’ name in four out of nine English regions, including derby, while Olivia was the top girls’ name for every English region and Wales, except for the East Midlands where Amelia was the most popular girl’s name. Lara, Beatrice and Sara are among the entries to the girls’ top 100 this year, alongside Blake, Brody, Kai, Rupert, Tobias and Nathan for boys – the first time Rupert and Brody have been in the top 100.
Fewer than seven boys have been called Leslie since 2018, while only 10 or fewer boys have been called Clifford, Nigel and Norman in the same period. Previously common girls names such as Kerry and Glenda have also fallen out of fashion, with fewer than five girls given the names each year since 2018. Data shows age affects name choice, with mothers over 35 more likely to choose traditional names such as Thomas, while younger mothers plump for Tommy. Among girls’ names, Delilah is the ninth most popular name for mothers under 25, but only the 50th most popular girls name overall.
Top 10 baby namesChange in position from 2020 in brackets Girls 1 Olivia 3,649 (–) 2 Amelia 3,164 (–) 3 Isla 2,683 (–) 4 Ava 2,576 (–) 5 Ivy 2,245 (+1) 6 Freya 2,187 (+6) 7 Lily 2,182 (–) 8 Florence 2,180 (+6) 9 Mia 2,168 (-4) 10 Willow 2,067 (+2) Boys 1 Noah 4,525 (+3) 2 Oliver 4,167 (-1) 3 George 4,141 (-1) 4 Arthur 3,766 (-1) 5 Muhammad 3,722 (–) 6 Leo 3,465 (–) 7 Harry 3,089 (+1) 8 Oscar 3,071 (-1) 9 Archie 2,928 (–) 10 Henry 2,912 (+1)