Tag: buddy

Last year, England and Wales welcomed close to 625,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

Here are England and Wales’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

1. Olivia, 3,649 baby girls
2. Amelia, 3,164
3. Isla, 2,683
4. Ava, 2,576
5. Ivy, 2,245
6. Freya, 2,187
7. Lily, 2,182
8. Florence, 2,180
9. Mia, 2,168
10. Willow, 2,067
11. Rosie, 2,028
12. Sophia, 2,019
13. Isabella, 2,010
14. Grace, 1,992
15. Daisy, 1,873
16. Sienna, 1,869
17. Poppy, 1,841
18. Elsie, 1,840
19. Emily, 1,797
20. Ella, 1,756
21. Evelyn, 1,729
22. Phoebe, 1,678
23. Sofia, 1,671
24. Evie, 1,670
25. Charlotte, 1,654
26. Harper, 1,480
27. Millie, 1,472
28. Matilda, 1,437
29. Maya, 1,433
30. Sophie, 1,375
31. Alice, 1,359
32. Emilia, 1,353
33. Isabelle, 1,304
34. Ruby, 1,300
35. Luna, 1,261
36. Maisie, 1,229
37. Aria, 1,202
38. Penelope, 1,194
39. Mila, 1,133
40. Bonnie, 1,121
41. Eva, 1,091
42. Hallie, 1,070
43. Eliza, 1,064
44. Ada, 1,058
45. Violet, 1,057
46. Esme, 1,013
47. Arabella, 1,012
48. Imogen, 998
49. Jessica, 997
50. Delilah, 981

Boy Names

1. Noah, 4,525 baby boys
2. Oliver, 4,167
3. George, 4,141
4. Arthur, 3,766
5. Muhammad, 3,722
6. Leo, 3,465
7. Harry, 3,089
8. Oscar, 3,071
9. Archie, 2,928
10. Henry, 2,912
11. Theodore, 2,889
12. Freddie, 2,873
13. Jack, 2,847
14. Charlie, 2,674
15. Theo, 2,514
16. Alfie, 2,338
17. Jacob, 2,319
18. Thomas, 2,302
19. Finley, 2,283
20. Arlo, 2,154
21. William, 2,093
22. Lucas, 1,965
23. Roman, 1,923
24. Tommy, 1,901
25. Isaac, 1,888
26. Teddy, 1,875
27. Alexander, 1,830
28. Luca, 1,807
29. Edward, 1,806
30. James, 1,772
31. Joshua, 1,737
32. Albie, 1,729
33. Elijah, 1,657
34. Max, 1,650
35. Mohammed, 1,619
36. Reuben, 1,534
37. Mason, 1,517
38. Sebastian, 1,516
39. Rory, 1,483
40. Jude, 1,482
41. Louie, 1,461
42. Benjamin, 1,423
43. Ethan, 1,398
44. Adam, 1,367
45. Hugo, 1,325
46. Joseph, 1,307
47. Reggie, 1,287
48. Ronnie, 1,285
49. Harrison, 1,254
50. Louis, 1,240

Two of the names that saw marked increases in usage last year, Luca and Raya, were helped along by the animated films Luca (2021) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

And the name Lilibet re-surfaced in the data (after a seven-year absence) with eight baby girls, no doubt thanks to the royal influence of Prince Harry’s daughter Lilibet, who was born in California in June of 2021.

Home to nearly 56.5 million people, England is divided into nine regions. The top baby names within each of these regions last year were…

Wales, a separate country within the United Kingdom, is home to more than 3.1 million people. The top 10 names per gender in Wales last year were…

Welsh-origin names in that ranked within Wales’ top 100 included…

• Girl names: Alys, Ffion, Seren, Eira, Mabli, Cadi, Eleri
• Boy names: Osian, Elis, Macsen, Cai, Morgan, Gruffydd, Rhys

Now it’s time for a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum. Each of the rare names below was given to just 3 babies in England and Wales in 2021:

• Dwynwen is the name of the Welsh patron saint of lovers. St. Dwynwen’s Day, the Welsh version of St. Valentine’s Day, is celebrated on January 25th.
• Glyndwr is a reference to Welsh nobleman Owain Glyndwr, who led the Welsh Revolt (1400-1415) against the Kingdom of England.
• Teifion is based on the name of the River Teifi.

Finally, here’s a link to England and Wales’ 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

P.S. The ongoing rise of the baby name Mabel accelerated in the late 2010s thanks to mononymous English singer/songwriter Mabel — who just so happens to be the niece of Eagle-Eye Cherry.

Sources (all ONS):

• Baby names in England and Wales: 2021
• Births in England and Wales: 2021
• Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021
• From Star Wars to the Kardashians: the cultural influences that could be driving baby name trends

Map: Adapted from English regions 2009 by Nilfanion and Dr Greg under CC BY-SA 3.0.