Ready for some rankings?
Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2008:
Girl Names
- Olivia, 5,325 baby girls
- Ruby, 4,931
- Emily, 4,881
- Grace, 4,775
- Jessica, 4,672
- Chloe, 4,605
- Sophie, 4,380
- Lily, 4,047
- Amelia, 3,440
- Evie, 3,281
- Mia, 3,121
- Ella, 3,042
- Charlotte, 2,939
- Lucy, 2,876
- Megan, 2,515
- Ellie, 2,505
- Isabelle, 2,460
- Isabella, 2,424
- Hannah, 2,335
- Katie, 2,324
Boy Names
- Jack, 8,010 baby boys
- Oliver, 7,417
- Thomas, 6,062
- Harry, 6,008
- Joshua, 5,716
- Alfie, 5,566
- Charlie, 5,291
- Daniel, 5,191
- James, 5,170
- William, 5,169
- Samuel, 4,624
- George, 4,214
- Joseph, 3,764
- Lewis, 3,482
- Ethan, 3,451
- Mohammed, 3,442
- Dylan, 3,373
- Benjamin, 3,275
- Alexander, 3,215
- Jacob, 3,127
Intriguingly, the name Honey ranked 190th on the girls’ list. A whopping 279 baby girls got the name. In contrast, just 90 U.S. baby girls were named Honey that year, and the name has never once cracked the U.S. top 1,000. I wonder what accounts for the relative popularity of Honey overseas.
Finally, here are some of the names that were used less often in 2008…
Uncommon Girl Names | Uncommon Boy Names |
Bluebell (20 baby girls), Primrose (17), Temperance (13), Breeze (11), Cleopatra (11), Sorrel (11), Tigerlily (9), Tirion (9), Comfort (8), Peaches (8), Pebbles (8), Beyonce (7), Miami (7), Zinnia (7), Godiva (6), Mercades (5), Panashe (5), Tulip (5), Wednesday (5), Magenta (4), Boadicea (3), Cayenne (3), Kimora-Lee (3), Plum (3), Rejoice (3) | Spike (23 baby boys), Willoughby (22), Ziggy (20), Ptolemy (19), Zidane (13), Zinedine (12), Kal-El (10), Hendrix (9), Humphrey (8), Elan (6), Gruff (6), Legend (6), Achilles (5), Amen (5), Bright (5), Jesse-James (5), Tennyson (5), Darlington (4), James-Dean (4), Courage (3), Freedom (3), Messiah (3), Remus (3), Riquelme (3), Seven (3) |
What are your thoughts on these rankings/names?
Sources: Office for National Statistics, England & Wales Baby Names
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)