According to the States of Jersey Child Health System, the most popular baby names on the island of Jersey (the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel) from 2014 to 2016 were Emily and Oliver.
Here are Jersey’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014-2016:
Girl Names
1. Emily
2. Mia
3. Daisy
4. Olivia
5. Ava (tie)
5. Isabella (tie)
7. Freya
8. Amelia (3-way tie)
8. Grace (3-way tie)
8. Jessica (3-way tie)
Boy Names
1. Oliver
2. Jack
3. Ethan (3-way tie)
3. James (3-way tie)
3. Thomas (3-way tie)
6. Alexander (tie)
6. Charlie (tie)
8. Harry (4-way tie)
8. Leo (4-way tie)
8. Theo (4-way tie)
8. William (4-way tie)
Roughly 1,000 babies are born on the island per year, so these rankings account for about 3,000 babies overall.
Here’s some information on historically popular names in Jersey. The current top names are English names, but only because the island switched to speaking English relatively recently. For hundreds of years the islanders spoke Norman languages (French and/or Jèrriais, the local dialect) so the top names would have been French.
Sources: Jersey’s most popular baby names revealed, Health Profile for Jersey 2016, Island language in a sea of change
Image: Adapted from Flag of Jersey (public domain)
