Just announced! The most popular baby boy names in England and Wales in 2009 were:
- Oliver
- Jack
- Harry
- Alfie
- Joshua
- Thomas
- Charlie
- William
- James
- Daniel
And the most popular baby girl names were:
- Olivia
- Ruby
- Chloe
- Emily
- Sophie
- Jessica
- Grace
- Lily
- Amelia
- Evie
The big news is that Oliver ousted former #1 Jack, which had been the top name for 14 years. And…now the top boy name and the top girl name sound eerily similar.
The biggest jumps within the top 100 were Lucas for boys (36th to 17th) and Maisie for girls (63rd to 34th). Newbies in the top 100 were Aiden, Arthur, Frederick, Stanley (!), Jude and Austin for boys and Heidi, Sara and Mya for girls.
Finally, looks like the ONS has a brand new baby names comparison tool for us to play with. Very cool.
Sources: Oliver and Olivia top names’ list, Office for National Statistics
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)