Most-popular baby names of 2019 so far in the UK revealed

Olivia remains the most popular name for girls 

Chelsea Ritschel
Wednesday 26 June 2019 18:48 BST
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Most popular baby names in the UK for 2019 (Stock)
Most popular baby names in the UK for 2019 (Stock)

British parents are finding baby name inspiration in everything from politics and the royals to climate change activists and pop culture, a new report has found.

According to parenting website BabyCentre, which analysed the most-popular baby names of 2019 so far through parent registrations on the site, there are various trends influencing parents’ choices.

However, despite a resurgence of 80s names as well as some celebrity influence, both of last year’s most-popular names have remained in their respective places, with Olivia leading the way for girls and Muhammed the most-popular choice for boys.

Following Olivia is Sophia, which has remained the second-most popular name, and Lily, which BabyCentre speculates may be the lasting influence of the Harry Potter series on millennial parents.

Ava, Freya and Isabella are also popular girl choices for 2019 in fourth, eighth, and ninth, respectively, while Penny, Hannah and Emma are making a comeback.

Botanical names Willow and Ivy both made it into the top 20, while a focus on the climate crisis saw an increase in registrations for Greta after Greta Thunberg, and David, which may be the influence of David Attenborough.

“Robyn, Raven, Rowan and Sage were also boosted as a new generation of parents are increasingly conscious of climate crisis,” the site said.

According to BabyCentre, a registration for the name combination Blair Margaret proves “politics is no longer divided on party lines”.

For boy names, Muhammed has proved its lasting power, while Oliver, which held the second place spot for years, dropped two spots to be replaced by Noah.

Prince George may be behind the popularity of his moniker, which came in at third place, while his new cousin Archie’s name was 18th.

TV shows also proved to be a major baby name influence for both boys and girls, with an increase in registrations for Otis, Evie and Maeve from Sex Education, as well as Penny from the Big Bang Theory.

Love Island fans and new parents are using former season two contestants Kady, Scott, Nathan and Cara as inspiration, while Game of Thrones fans have paid tribute to the show by naming their children names such as Maisie for Maisie Williams and Emilia for Emilia Clarke.

Baby Centre senior editor Lorna Marsh said: "The rise in box-set names makes us wonder if the Netflix-and-chill generation are shunning the fad for naming babies after the place they were conceived in favour of that evening’s choice of TV!"

As always, celebrity couples are also influencing parents, with Cara and Ashley, Joe and Sophie, and Ryan and Eva seeing an increase on the charts.

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According to the site, the rankings are the result of analysing thousands of parent registrations of baby's born or due in the first six months of the year. Each year, the site has more than 50,000 registrations.

The full lists of top 20 names for girls and boys of 2019 are below.

Most popular girl names

  1. Olivia 
  2. Sophia
  3. Lily
  4. Ava
  5. Mia
  6. Isla
  7. Amelia
  8. Freya
  9. Isabella
  10. Emily
  11. Aria
  12. Evie
  13. Grace
  14. Isabelle
  15. Ella
  16. Ivy
  17. Sophie
  18. Willow
  19. Charlotte
  20. Elsie 

Most popular boy names

  1. Muhammad 
  2. Noah
  3. George
  4. Oliver
  5. Charlie
  6. Harry
  7. Leo
  8. Arthur
  9. Jack
  10. Freddie
  11. Jaxon
  12. Ethan
  13. Jacob
  14. Theo
  15. Oscar
  16. Alfie
  17. Henry
  18. Archie
  19. Joshua
  20. Thomas

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