Top Scottish Baby Names for 2018

National Records of Scotland is out with the provisional list of top choices for baby names for 2018.

The main points are:
 Jack remained the most popular first forename for baby boys, for an eleventh
consecutive year. Two names were tied in second place: Oliver, which was second
last year, and James, which was third. Logan rose one place to fourth.

 The rest of the boys’ Top Ten were Lewis (down one place to fifth), Leo (up three
places to sixth), Alexander (up one place to seventh) jointly with Harris (which
remained seventh), Rory (up eight places to ninth) and Noah (down four places to
tenth). Rory was the only entrant to the boys’ Top Ten; Harry (down two places to
twelfth) dropped out of it.

 The fastest climbers within the boys’ Top Twenty were Rory, Lucas (up five places
to eleventh) and Thomas (up five places to fourteenth). There were two entrants to
the boys’ Top Twenty: Max (up five places to nineteenth) and Finn (up five places
to twentieth).

 Olivia was the top girls’ name for the third year running. Emily remained second,
Isla remained third, Sophie remained fourth and Amelia remained fifth.

 The rest of the girls’ Top Ten were Ella (up two places to sixth), Ava (remained
seventh), Grace (up five places to eighth), Aria (up one place to ninth) and Jessica
(down four places to tenth).Grace was the only entrant to the girls’ Top Ten;
Charlotte (down two places to eleventh) dropped out of it.

 Grace and Sophia (up four places to twelfth) were the fastest climbers within the
girls’ Top Twenty. There were two entrants to the girls’ Top Twenty: Eilidh (up two
places to nineteenth) and Mia (up three places to twentieth).

 Other big climbers within the 2018 baby name Top Fifty charts included (for boys)
Jaxon (up 10 places to joint 33rd), Liam (up 9 places to joint 33rd) and Freddie (up
nine places to 36th), and (for girls) Georgia (up 13 places to 24th), Rosie (up 13
places to 27th) and Willow (up 11 places to joint 34th). Particularly fast-rising
entrants to the Top Fifties were (for boys) Hunter (up 38 places to 30th), Arthur (up
43 places to 46th), Luca (up 55 places to joint 47th) and Robert (up 17 places to
50th), and (for girls) Mila (up 16 places to 36th) and Ivy (up 20 places to joint 38th).

 National Records of Scotland registered the births of 24,532 boys and 23,253 girls
in the period covered by these figures. In total, 3,322 different boys’ first forenames
and 4,130 different girls’ first forenames were registered; 2,085 boys and 2,635 girls
were given names that were unique (within the period). The numbers of different
names, and of unique names, were well above the levels of 10 and, much more so,
40 years ago. For example, the number of boys with unique first forenames was
greater this year (2,085 in the period covered by these figures) than in the whole of
2008 (1,932) or 1978 (843).

 Jack was the first forename of only 1.6% of the boys, and Olivia was the first
forename of just 1.8% of the girls. Of all the boys’ births that were registered, 39%
had a first forename that was in their Top Fifty, and 37% of all girls had a Top Fifty
first forename.

Find statistical information and documentation about Vital Events including births, marriages, deaths, civil partnerships and divorces in Scotland at www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events.