Most popular baby names in England and Wales for 2018

In 2018, 62,729 different names were given to 657,076 newborns. The just-published annual list of popular baby names in England and Wales from the UK the Office for National Statistics has few surprises.  Here are the main points from the ONS"

Oliver remained the most popular name for boys in England and Wales for the sixth year in a row, while Olivia remained the most popular name for girls for the third year in a row.
Arthur was the only new entry into the top 10 names for boys in 2018, replacing Jacob, while Sophia and Grace replaced Poppy and Lily in the top 10 names for girls.

“... 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.”

Kenneth, Roger, Keith, Terence and Barry were all in the top 20 names for boys in 1944 but none are in the top 1,000 in 2018.

Christine, Jean, Ann, Susan, Janet, Maureen, Carol, Pauline, Joan and Pamela were all in the top 20 in 1944, but none are in the top 1,000 names for girls in 2018.

John which was the top name for boys for many years is now 122nd.

Read the full ONS release here.

Go here to explore names outside the top 100 (not ONS).

Nick Stripe, Head of Life Events at the UK Office of National Statistics has penned a blog post for those, perhaps those who rejoice in one of those now out of favour names, who question the significance of the list.