According to National Records of Scotland (NRS), the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were Isla and Jack.
Here are Scotland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:
Girl Names
- Isla, 347 baby girls
- Olivia, 334
- Emily, 300
- Freya, 284
- Ava, 276
- Sophie, 275
- Ella, 267
- Grace, 261
- Amelia, 254
- Lily, 208
Boy Names
- Jack, 354 baby boys
- Noah, 299
- James, 292
- Leo, 274 (2-way tie)
- Oliver, 274 (2-way tie)
- Harris, 268
- Rory, 258
- Alexander, 252
- Finlay, 247
- Archie, 244
In the girls’ top 10, Lily replaced Charlotte.
In the boys’ top 10, Alexander, Finlay and Archie replaced Charlie, Lewis and Alfie.
The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Maeve and Ayda, and in the boys’ top 100 were Roman and Finley.
Here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Scotland last year:
| Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
|---|---|
| Antarleena, Binatari, Caoife, Dianka, Elswyth, Evrydiki, Fara, Fayne, Geneza, Honor-Norah, Icasia, Idelette, Jafleen, Kasatria, Lochie, Malmuira, Nashmia, Orlia, Phildah, Rileytilly, Rinrada, Skaiste, Tuscany, Uvika, Valfreya, Weeam, Xiaotong, Yorkubel, Zanzibar | Aulliver, Burn, Caedmon, Coagh, Dhruvanandan, Ertugrul, Fenwick, Guerau, Hanzal, Istari, Jelvin, Jettison, Kifl, Lhanium, Moncef, Nojus, Opei-Wes, Phalata, Riliklan, Rukudzo, Sawney, Torquhil, Tselot, Uendjipa, Vakaris, Wilsheldro, Xataan, Yigit, Zhaocheng |
Istari seems to be taken from Tolkien. The Elves referred to the wizards of Middle-earth (such as Gandalf) as istari, a plural noun meaning “wise ones” in Quenya.
Finally, in 2019, the top names in Scotland were Olivia and Jack.
Sources: Isla topples Olivia as top girl’s name, Babies’ First Names
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
Some of those unique names leave me with so many questions for the parents.
Rileytilly: Your child is going to spend a lifetime explaining that their name is not pronounced Riley-Tiley or Rilly-Tilly. Why, just why??? It’s just one tiny space between Riley and Tilly to make life easier for your child.
Honor-Norah. Wouldn’t Honoria have been easier?
And Opei-Wes: Is the second syllable of Opei pronounced as spelled, “pay”, or is it supposed to be pronounced “pee”?
I have many thoughts/questions just like these when I comb through lists of very rare names. :)
My son is the “Lhanium” that you have seen on the National Records of Scotland born 2020?
@Diva – If your son’s first name is Lhanium and he was born in Scotland in 2020, then, yes, I’d have to assume that the single instance of “Lhanium” in Scotland’s 2020 data refers to him. :)