According to the Office for National Statistics, the new top baby names in England and Wales are Harry and Amelia.
They beat out 2010’s top names, Oliver and Olivia.
Here are the current top 25 names for both boys and girls:
Girl Names
- Amelia
- Olivia
- Lily
- Jessica
- Emily
- Sophie
- Ruby
- Grace
- Ava
- Isabella
- Evie
- Chloe
- Mia
- Poppy
- Isla
- Ella
- Isabelle
- Sophia
- Freya
- Daisy
- Charlotte
- Maisie
- Lucy
- Phoebe
- Scarlett
Boy Names
- Harry
- Oliver
- Jack
- Alfie
- Charlie
- Thomas
- Jacob
- James
- Joshua
- William
- Ethan
- George
- Riley
- Daniel
- Samuel
- Noah
- Oscar
- Joseph
- Mohammed
- Max
- Dylan
- Muhammad
- Alexander
- Archie
- Benjamin
In Wales specifically, the top names were Oliver and Lily. In London, Daniel and Isabella.
A few other things I noticed…
Usage of Pippa increased in 2011, thanks to the royal wedding:
- 2011: 250 baby girls named Pippa (rank: 204th)
- 2010: 124 baby girls named Pippa (rank: 365th)
- 2009: 125 baby girls named Pippa (rank: 351st)
Usage of another quirky P-name, Pixie, is also on the up thanks to English pop star Pixie Lott:
- 2011: 99 baby girls named Pixie (rank: 432nd)
- +6 named Pixie-Lou
- +5 named Pixie-Leigh
- 2010: 83 baby girls named Pixie (rank: 485th)
- +3 named Pixie-Lou
- +3 named Pixie-Rose
- 2009: 33 baby girls named Pixie (rank: 982nd)
I also spotted 5 baby girls named Renesmee, 4 named Coraline and 4 named Io.
The most insightful article I’ve seen about this batch of names so far is Ed West’s “Britain’s divided nation is revealed in our baby names.” Some snippets:
- “…the annually-published list does show that, for the first time in nine centuries, English people are easily identifiable by class solely by their name, since most names in the 2011 list have strong class biases either way.”
- “Social mobility will be achieved only when we all give our children the same names.”
Have you spotted anything interesting or surprising on the England and Wales 2011 list?
Source: Baby names in England and Wales: 2011
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
Source: Mohammed retakes top spot in English baby names
High climbers for boys:
High climbers for girls:
Source: Most popular baby names in 2011 are Harry and Amelia
A relevant blog post at British Baby Names: Hyphen Names of 2011