Baby Name: Senga

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

1. Isla, 274 baby girls
2. Olivia, 266
3. Freya, 254
4. Emily, 232
5. Amelia, 225
6. Ella, 213
7. Charlotte, 210
8. Millie, 206
9. Grace, 205
10. Ava, 203
11. Lily, 201
12. Aria, 190
13. Sophie, 189
14. Orla, 173
15. Maisie, 166
16. Sophia, 164
17. Rosie, 155
18. Ivy, 149
19. Evie, 146
20. Lucy, 141
21. Sofia, 140
22. Harper, 139
23. Willow, 138
24. Bonnie, 128
25. Jessica, 123
26. Eilidh, 122 [tie]
27. Ellie, 122 [tie]
28. Maya, 119
29. Mia, 118
30. Daisy, 117
31. Elsie, 116
32. Poppy, 115
33. Esme, 114
34. Hallie, 111 [tie]
35. Zara, 111 [tie]
36. Ruby, 107
37. Mila, 102
38. Isabella, 101
39. Anna, 96 [tie]
40. Maeve, 96 [tie]
41. Lottie, 95
42. Robyn 92
43. Emma, 90 [2-way tie]
44. Georgia, 90 [2-way tie]
45. Ada, 88 [2-way tie]
46. Phoebe, 88 [2-way tie]
47. Erin, 85 [2-way tie]
48. Sienna, 85 [2-way tie]
49. Layla, 84
50. Eva, 80 [tie]
51. Gracie, 80 [tie]

Boy names

1. Luca, 344 baby boys
2. Noah, 336
3. Leo, 288
4. Jack, 285
5. Harris, 266
6. Rory, 254
7. Oliver, 250
8. Theo, 238
9. Archie, 235
10. Finlay, 231
11. Muhammad, 225
12. James, 223
13. Brodie, 220 [tie]
14. Finn, 220 [tie]
15. Alexander, 214
16. Thomas, 195
17. Jude, 193
18. Lucas, 186
19. Alfie, 182
20. Lewis, 180
21. Freddie, 172
22. Arlo, 164
23. Max, 155
24. Charlie, 151
25. Tommy, 149
26. Arthur, 147
27. Mason, 143
28. Oscar, 139
29. Logan, 134
30. Blake, 129
31. Sonny, 127
32. Kai, 122
33. Roman, 121
34. Caleb, 120 [3-way tie]
35. Cameron, 120 [3-way tie]
36. Harrison, 120 [3-way tie]
37. Adam, 118 [tie]
38. Jacob, 118 [tie]
39. Louie, 111
40. Ethan, 110
41. Ollie, 108
42. Harry, 106
43. Reuben, 104
44. Albie, 103 [2-way tie]
45. Angus, 103 [2-way tie]
46. Daniel, 102 [2-way tie]
47. Liam, 102 [2-way tie]
48. Hudson, 100
49. Aaron, 98
50. 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.
51. 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:

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.