Last year, the English city of Peterborough (located 75 miles north of London) welcomed about 3,615 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Mohammad, according to provisional data released in late December, 2024, by the Peterborough City Council’s Register Office.
Here are Peterborough’s projected top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2024:
Girl names
- Sofia
- Amelia
- Ivy
- Olivia
- Lily
- Ava
- Freya
- Mia
- Daisy
- Isla
Boy names
- Mohammad
- Noah
- George
- Leo
- Theodore
- Arthur
- Charlie
- Henry
- Elijah
- Oliver
I’ve never posted rankings for Peterborough before, but research reveals that the city’s top names of 2018 were Olivia and Mohammad. In fact, “Mohammad” (which includes Mohammed, Muhammad, and all other spellings) had been the #1 boy name “[f]or the 11th year in a row” at that point.
Here are the most recent rankings for England and Wales (2023), as well as a recent-ish sent set of rankings for the English county of Oxfordshire (located 60 miles north-west of London).
Sources:
- Peterborough City Council tweet (29 Dec. 2024)
- Griffin, Joe. “The top 10 names for new baby boys and girls in Peterborough revealed.” Peterborough Telegraph 30 Dec. 2024.
- “Most popular baby names in Peterborough in 2018 revealed.” Peterborough Telegraph 31 Dec. 2018.
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
I love seeing Ivy so high on a chart. It was my favorite girls’ name for many decades, only recently demoted in favor of Laura. But I still love Ivy a lot, still in my top 5.
Ivy is a great name. :)
It’s interesting that you are liking Laura more these days — is there a particular reason? (I’ve always had a soft spot for Laura b/c it’s my sister’s name.)
I’m not sure why Laura rose to the top for me recently. My favorite novelist is Laura Lippman, so maybe that’s why, but I have a strange feeling that it’s because I like the way the man in this hilarious BBC sketch comedy bit says Laura. It’s particularly cute in his accent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbmbMSrsZVQ