Baby Name: Myles

According to the National Records of Scotland (NRS), the most popular baby names in the country last year were Olivia and Jack.

Here are Scotland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

1. Olivia, 349 baby girls
2. Emily, 318
3. Isla, 317
4. Freya, 270
5. Ella, 259
6. Amelia, 257
7. Ava, 241
8. Sophie, 238
9. Grace, 235
10. Millie, 216
11. Lily, 205
12. Sophia, 200
13. Charlotte, 196
14. Rosie, 190
15. Aria, 183
16. Evie, 181
17. Maisie, 165
18. Lucy, 164 (tie)
19. Mia, 164 (tie)
20. Eilidh, 160
21. Ellie, 159 (3-way tie)
22. Ivy, 159 (3-way tie)
23. Orla, 159 (3-way tie)
24. Jessica, 150
25. Harper, 144
26. Maya, 134 (tie)
27. Willow, 134 (tie)
28. Georgia, 126
29. Daisy, 123 (tie)
30. Sofia, 123 (tie)
31. Mila, 122
32. Isabella, 121 (tie)
33. Ruby, 121 (tie)
34. Hannah, 119
35. Skye, 118
36. Sienna, 116
37. Molly, 113
38. Hallie, 111
39. Bonnie, 108 (tie)
40. Poppy, 108 (tie)
41. Eva, 106
42. Esme, 104
43. Anna, 102 (3-way tie)
44. Ayla, 102 (3-way tie)
45. Erin, 102 (3-way tie)
46. Callie, 98
47. Zara, 92
48. Layla, 91
49. Emma, 90 (tie)
50. Robyn, 90 (tie)

Boy Names

1. Jack, 382 baby boys
2. Noah, 337
3. Leo, 289
4. Oliver, 284
5. Harris, 273
6. Finlay, 255
7. Lewis, 254
8. James, 252
9. Rory, 247
10. Alexander, 240
11. Brodie, 236
12. Alfie, 224
13. Charlie, 220
14. Theo, 219
15. Archie, 217
16. Lucas, 214
17. Mason, 205
18. Finn, 197
19. Thomas, 193
20. Freddie, 192
21. Max, 190
22. Logan, 187
23. Harry, 181
24. Jacob, 176
25. Blake, 159 (tie)
26. Luca, 159 (tie)
27. Oscar, 157
28. Jude, 155
29. William, 146
30. Caleb, 140
31. Roman, 138
32. Cameron, 136
33. Jaxon, 133
34. Adam, 131
35. Joshua, 130
36. Ollie, 129 (tie)
37. Tommy, 129 (tie)
38. Daniel, 125 (tie)
39. Ethan, 125 (tie)
40. Harrison, 124
41. Luke, 122
42. Arthur, 121
43. Muhammad, 120
44. Jamie, 118 (tie)
45. Liam, 118 (tie)
46. Reuben, 112
47. Arlo, 110
48. Grayson, 103 (3-way tie)
49. Hunter, 103 (3-way tie)
50. Kai, 103 (3-way tie)

The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Lyla, Blake, and Rowan.

The fastest-rising names in the boys’ top 100 were Carson, Struan, and Myles.

Other names that have seen higher usage recently include Maeva (influenced by Made in Chelsea actress Maeva D’Ascanio) and Connell (influenced by Normal People character Connell Waldron).

And what about the unique names?

Almost 12% of baby girls were given a name that no other girl was registered with in 2021. Almost 9% of boys had unique names for births last year.

Baby names bestowed just once in Scotland last year include…

Here are possible explanations/associations for some of the above:

• Diadem, a type of crown
• Ischia, an island near Naples
• Nymeria, a direwolf from Game of Thrones
• Ribhinn, a Scottish-Gaelic word (rìbhinn) meaning “maiden, girl”
• Tifa, a character from the Final Fantasy video games
• Kallikrates, a 5th-century BC Greek architect
• Masinissa, a 2nd-century BC Numidian king
• Somhairle, a 12th-century Norse-Gaelic king

Finally, here are Scotland’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Babies’ First Names 2021 – National Records of Scotland, Trends in baby names 2021 (PDF)

Image by Csaba Nagy from Pixabay