According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year were (again) Amelia and Oliver.
Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:
Girl Names | Boy Names |
1. Amelia, 5,158 baby girls 2. Olivia, 4,853 3. Emily, 3,893 4. Isla, 3,474 5. Ava, 3,414 6. Ella, 3,028 7. Jessica, 2,937 8. Isabella, 2,876 9. Mia, 2,842 10. Poppy, 2,816 | 1. Oliver, 6,941 baby boys 2. Jack, 5,371 3. Harry, 5,308 4. George, 4,869 5. Jacob, 4,850 6. Charlie, 4,831 7. Noah, 4,148 8. William, 4,083 9. Thomas, 4,075 10. Oscar, 4,066 |
In the girls’ top 10, Ella and Mia replaced Lily (now 13th) and Sophie (now 11th).
In the boys’ top 10, Noah (the top name in the U.S. right now) replaced James (11th).
In the girls’ top 100, Penelope, Mila, Clara, Arabella, Maddison and Aria replaced Lydia (now 103rd), Faith (104th), Mollie (105th), Brooke (107th), Isabel (110th) and Amy (117th).
In the boys’ top 100, Jaxon, Roman, Reggie and Carter replaced Owen (now 101st), Robert (105th), Joey (117th) and Finlay (123rd).
Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to either 3, 4 or 5 babies:
Rare Girl Names | Rare Boy Names |
Aarzoo, Autumn-Lily, Boglarka, Comfort, Edna, Enxi, Euphemia, Flourish, Fozia, Gabia, Jupiter, Lady, Lleucu, Llio, Merveille, Nectaria, Pebbles, Peony, Prisca, Purity, Quorra, Reisel, Sloka, Tuba, Venice, Vimbainashe, Ylva | Alffi, Bam, Bright, Crimea, Cuthbert, Efezino, Elimelech, Fyfe, Ghyll, Gryff, James-Dean, Jamesdean, Kushagra, Ignatius, Marmaduke, Math, Mio, Osagie, Otso, Pip, Przemyslaw, Sherlock, Swayley, Ringo, Testimony, Thierno, Zephyrus |
(Crimea is intriguing, isn’t it? It was used as a baby name in the 1850s, during the Crimean War, but this is the first time I’ve seen it on a modern name list.)
And how did Welsh names fare in Wales specifically?
Welsh Girl Names | Welsh Boy Names |
Seren (“star”) ranks 17th in Wales Ffion (“foxglove”), 20th Megan, 27th (and 76th overall) Mali, 45th Alys, 66th Carys (“love”), 72nd Efa, 73rd Cadi, 82nd Lili, 85th Lowri, 88th Eira (“snow”), 92nd Ela, 97th (tie) Elin, 97th (tie) | Dylan, ranks 13th in Wales (and 38th overall) Osian, 25th Harri, 27th Jac, 33rd Rhys, 34th Evan, 37th Tomos, 47th Cai, 51st Ioan, 56th Morgan, 67th Elis, 66th Hari, 82nd Gethin (“swarthy”), 88th (tie) Iestyn, 88th (tie) Macsen, 92nd (tie) Owain, 92nd (tie) Ifan, 96th |
Finally, if you’d like to go back another year, here are the England and Wales rankings for 2014.
Source: Baby names in England and Wales: 2015 – ONS
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)