Last year, the country of Scotland — which covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain — welcomed nearly 46,000 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Isla and Luca.
Here are Scotland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:
Girl names
- Isla, 274 baby girls
- Olivia, 266
- Freya, 254
- Emily, 232
- Amelia, 225
- Ella, 213
- Charlotte, 210
- Millie, 206
- Grace, 205
- Ava, 203
- Lily, 201
- Aria, 190
- Sophie, 189
- Orla, 173
- Maisie, 166
- Sophia, 164
- Rosie, 155
- Ivy, 149
- Evie, 146
- Lucy, 141
- Sofia, 140
- Harper, 139
- Willow, 138
- Bonnie, 128
- Jessica, 123
- Eilidh, 122 [tie]
- Ellie, 122 [tie]
- Maya, 119
- Mia, 118
- Daisy, 117
- Elsie, 116
- Poppy, 115
- Esme, 114
- Hallie, 111 [tie]
- Zara, 111 [tie]
- Ruby, 107
- Mila, 102
- Isabella, 101
- Anna, 96 [tie]
- Maeve, 96 [tie]
- Lottie, 95
- Robyn 92
- Emma, 90 [2-way tie]
- Georgia, 90 [2-way tie]
- Ada, 88 [2-way tie]
- Phoebe, 88 [2-way tie]
- Erin, 85 [2-way tie]
- Sienna, 85 [2-way tie]
- Layla, 84
- Eva, 80 [tie]
- Gracie, 80 [tie]
Boy names
- Luca, 344 baby boys
- Noah, 336
- Leo, 288
- Jack, 285
- Harris, 266
- Rory, 254
- Oliver, 250
- Theo, 238
- Archie, 235
- Finlay, 231
- Muhammad, 225
- James, 223
- Brodie, 220 [tie]
- Finn, 220 [tie]
- Alexander, 214
- Thomas, 195
- Jude, 193
- Lucas, 186
- Alfie, 182
- Lewis, 180
- Freddie, 172
- Arlo, 164
- Max, 155
- Charlie, 151
- Tommy, 149
- Arthur, 147
- Mason, 143
- Oscar, 139
- Logan, 134
- Blake, 129
- Sonny, 127
- Kai, 122
- Roman, 121
- Caleb, 120 [3-way tie]
- Cameron, 120 [3-way tie]
- Harrison, 120 [3-way tie]
- Adam, 118 [tie]
- Jacob, 118 [tie]
- Louie, 111
- Ethan, 110
- Ollie, 108
- Harry, 106
- Reuben, 104
- Albie, 103 [2-way tie]
- Angus, 103 [2-way tie]
- Daniel, 102 [2-way tie]
- Liam, 102 [2-way tie]
- Hudson, 100
- Aaron, 98
- Arran, 95 [tie] – likely inspired by Scotland’s Isle of Arran.
- The similar names Aaron and Arran have been neck and neck for several years in a row.
- Carter, 95 [tie]
The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Mabel, Delilah, Mollie, and Lottie.
The fastest-rising names in the boys’ top 100 were Oakley, Rowan, Ruairidh, and Muhammad.
And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Scotland last year:
| Unique girl names | Unique boy names |
| Angharad, Babel, Camellia, Doileag, Ellerby, Fenn, Griva, Hubavena, Iris-Davinia, Jafina, Kinvara, Linamandla, Mhuilinn, Neven, Orlie, Pollaidh, Quinza, Rhumer, Senga, Tweedie, Uxia, Vhairi, Welwitschia, Xiwei, Yolandra, Zarmina | Aonghas, Brandonlee, Caoimhin-Caolan, Dubhlainn, Excellent, Fragkiskos, Gibby, Howl, Ivaylo, Jophil, Kenai, Lavish, Malverde, Oakes, Padruig, Quinlann, Riordan, Seocaidh, Talorcan, Ultan, Venkata, Wullie, Xabier, Yuan, Zuriel |
Possible explanations/associations for several of the above:
- Pollaidh comes from the name of the Scottish mountain Stac Pollaidh (pronounced “stack polly”). The Scottish name is based on the Norse name for the mountain, Stakkr Pollå, which means “the pinnacle of the pool river.”
- Senga could be Agnes backwards…or it could be based on the Scottish word seang, meaning “slender.” (Here’s a post about Scotland’s Senga syndrome.)
- Talorcan is a Pictish name that belonged to several Pictish kings. It’s often spelled Talorgan.
- Welwitschia (pronounced vel-VIH-chee-uh) is the name of a genus of plants that includes a single species, Welwitschia mirabilis, endemic to the Namib desert in Africa. The genus was named after Austrian physician/botanist Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872).
Here’s what Welwitschia mirabilis — often referred to as a “living fossil” — looks like:
(I haven’t been this fascinated by a science-y baby name since Petrichor popped up in Alberta in 2016!)
Finally, here are Scotland’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources:
- Babies’ First Names 2023 – NRS
- Babies’ First Names 2023, Report – NRS (PDF)
- Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events – Quarterly Figures (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) – NRS
- Place names – North West Highlands Geopark
- Welwitschia – Wikipedia
Images:
- Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
- Adapted from Welwitschia mirabilis by Hans Hillewaert under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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