According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year — for the fifth year in a row — were Olivia and Oliver.
Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:
Girl Names
- Olivia, 3,640 baby girls
- Amelia, 3,319
- Isla, 2,749
- Ava, 2,679
- Mia, 2,303
- Ivy, 2,166
- Lily, 2,150
- Isabella, 2,052
- Rosie, 2,035
- Sophia, 2,028
Boy Names
- Oliver, 4,225 baby boys
- George, 4,100
- Arthur, 4,052
- Noah, 4,042
- Muhammad, 3,710
- Leo, 3,314
- Oscar, 3,268
- Harry, 3,209
- Archie, 2,944
- Jack, 2,900
In the girls’ top 10, Ivy and Rosie replaced Grace and Freya.
In the boys’ top 10, Archie replaced Charlie. (No doubt Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to name their first child Archie in 2019 gave the name a boost, but Archie was on the rise in England and Wales long before it became a royal baby name.)
The fastest-rising names within the top 100 were…
- Arabella, Mabel, Lyra, and Maeve (for girls)
- Roman, Milo, Otis, and Myles (for boys)
(The popular British TV series Sex Education features main characters named Otis and Maeve.)
Here are the top 10 lists for England and Wales separately:
| England, Top 10 | Wales, Top 10 | |
| Girl Names | Olivia, Amelia, Isla, Ava, Mia, Ivy, Lily, Isabella, Sophia, Rosie | Olivia, Amelia, Isla, Rosie, Ava, Lily, Mia, Ella, Willow, Freya |
| Boy Names | Oliver, George, Arthur, Noah, Muhammad, Leo, Oscar, Harry, Archie, Henry | Noah, Oliver, Leo, Theo, Finley, Arthur, George, Archie, Oscar, Charlie |
Finally, here are some of the rare baby names from the other end of the rankings. Each one was given to just 3 babies in England and Wales last year.
| Rare Girl Names | Rare Boy Names |
| Aelfwynn, Aerith, Berfin, Boheme, Croia, Dorsa, Dwija, Elitsa, Fianna, Gwennie, Hecate, Hetvi, Isla-Bleu, Jamia, Junainah, Kimran, Liarna, Liliwen, Mehwish, Navara, Noorul, Otterly, Palma, Quratulain, Rimsha, Saltanat, Tafida, Tanzeela, Unaizah, Vesa, Wajan, Zimmal | Alazar, Brychan, Cavanni, Corran, Dhvij, Ensar, Floki, Grantas, Gruff, Hendry, Huxon, Itanas, Jaivik, Kitson, Lindon, Mursalin, Nandor, Nyron, Oviyan, Phaedon, Qaim, Reggie-Blu, Riven, Romarni, Sejun, Tecwyn, Tomek, Udham, Vishwak, Wolfram, Xheison, Yuvi, Zennor |
Liliwen comes from lili wen, one of the Welsh words for snowdrop (a small, white flower that blooms during the winter). The hyphenated variant Lili-wen was also given to three baby girls last year, bringing the grand total to six.
Also given to six baby girls last year? The name Eirlys, from eirlys, another Welsh word for snowdrop. :)
P.S. Want to see the 2019 rankings?
Sources: Baby names in England and Wales: 2020 (ONS), All data related to Baby names in England and Wales: 2020 (ONS), Snowdrops at Penrhyn Castle
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
