Most popular girls and boys baby names in the UK revealed – and Peaky Blinders has been inspiring parents’ choices
THE top UK baby names for last year have officially been revealed - and it seems TV show Peaky Blinders could have had an influence on parents' choices.
While Oliver and Olivia are still the most popular, there were a few surprises in the top 100 boys and girls names from 2018, with Grayson, Delilah and Tobias appearing for the first time.
Oliver has been the number one choice for boys for the last six years, but could we could see a new moniker take over in a year's time?
Meanwhile, Olivia is still going strong for girls and was top for a second year in a row, according to a report released today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
ONS statistician Nick Stripe said: “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."
Other new additions into the top 100 include Sonny, Rowan, Jasper, and Dominic.
There were some shifts into the top 10 names for girls too, with Sophia and Grace replacing Poppy and Lily.
Ada made the top 100, appearing for the first time since 1924.
New entries include Delilah, Ayla and Margot, while Zoe and Felicity made a reappearance in the popular list.
WHY ARE OLIVER AND OLIVIA SO POPULAR?
ChannelMum.com's baby name expert SJ Strum said: “The biggest baby name trend is ‘matching pairs’, where parents pick out a single name while pregnant which works for both a boy or a girl.
“It explains why Oliver and Olivia have held the top spot for so alongside Charlie and Charlotte which are also wedged in the top 20.
“But they now look set to be toppled by fresher, cooler names matching pairs preferred by parents under 30.
“Theo and Thea is another new top pick, at 59 for girls and 19 for boys, with Theodore at 29.
“Freya and Freddie and holding firm, up at 18 for both boys and girls, while Ada – the matching pair for ever-popular Adam - is a fast riser for girls jumping 49 places to 65.”
Meanwhile, baby girls called Alexa slipped by more than half compared to 2017, thanks to its increased use with Amazon's technology system.
There were 118 baby Alexas, meaning it ranked 380, compared to there being 301 Alexas in 2017 leaving it ranked 181.
Nick added: "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.”
In 2018, there were 657,076 live births in England and Wales, with 62,729 different names being registered.
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