Baby Name: Theo

Last year, the country of Scotland — which takes up the northern third of Great Britain — welcomed 45,779 babies.

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

Here are Scotland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

1. Olivia, 266 baby girls
2. Isla, 264
3. Freya, 244
4. Lily, 231
5. Millie, 222
6. Sophia, 214
7. Amelia, 198 (tie)
8. Emily, 198 (tie)
9. Ella, 195
10. Charlotte, 191
11. Ava, 188 (tie)
12. Bonnie, 188 (tie)
13. Grace, 183
14. Evie, 180 (tie)
15. Ivy, 180 (tie)
16. Rosie, 167
17. Sophie, 164
18. Maisie, 161
19. Maya, 159 (tie)
20. Orla, 159 (tie)
21. Harper, 149
22. Sofia, 147
23. Aria, 142
24. Poppy, 135
25. Maeve, 129
26. Mia, 126
27. Daisy, 123
28. Lucy, 113
29. Willow, 106
30. Mila, 105
31. Elsie, 104 (tie)
32. Hallie, 104 (tie)
33. Esme, 102
34. Ruby, 100
35. Ellie, 99
36. Zara, 98
37. Lottie, 97
38. Eilidh, 91 – pronounced EH-lee
39. Ayla, 90 (tie)
40. Chloe, 90 (tie)
41. Layla, 89 (3-way tie)
42. Sienna, 89 (3-way tie)
43. Violet, 89 (3-way tie)
44. Ada, 87
45. Skye, 83
46. Phoebe, 82
47. Callie, 81
48. Jessica, 80 (tie)
49. Robyn, 80 (tie)
50. Isabella, 79

Boy names

1. Noah, 366 baby boys
2. Muhammad, 293
3. Rory, 275
4. Theo, 270
5. Leo, 260
6. Luca, 255
7. Jack, 247 (tie)
8. Oliver, 247 (tie)
9. Harris, 243
10. Archie, 228
11. Finlay, 220
12. Alexander, 208 (tie)
13. Jude, 208 (tie)
14. James, 203
15. Alfie, 196
16. Brodie, 195
17. Finn, 190
18. Arlo, 177
19. Charlie, 159
20. Thomas, 154 (tie)
21. Tommy, 154 (tie)
22. Oscar, 151
23. Lucas, 147
24. Arthur, 145
25. Freddie, 144 (tie)
26. Mason, 144 (tie)
27. Jacob, 141
28. Lewis, 136
29. Logan, 132 (tie)
30. Max, 132 (tie)
31. Harry, 124
32. Albie, 123
33. Cameron, 117
34. Ollie, 116
35. Myles, 111
36. Callan, 108 (tie)
37. Theodore, 108 (tie)
38. Angus, 106 (tie)
39. Reuben, 106 (tie)
40. Harrison, 105
41. Blake, 102
42. Adam, 101 (tie)
43. Caleb, 101 (tie)
44. Sonny, 100
45. Louie, 99
46. Roman, 98
47. Liam, 93
48. George, 91
49. Isaac, 90
50. Luke, 89

Muhammad, which entered the boys’ top 100 in 2008, jumped from 11th to 2nd place.

And the bonny name Bonnie, which entered the girls’ top 100 in 2018, now sits just outside the top 10.

Last year’s fastest-rising girl names already in the top 100 were Violet, Arabella, Myla, and Chloe, while the fastest-rising girl names entering the top 100 for the first time were Eliza, Romy, and Nora.

The fastest-rising boy names already in the top 100 were Myles, Callan, Ruairidh, and Lochlan, while the fastest-rising boy name entering the top 100 for the first time was Reggie.

Una and Ernie, two of the top names in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney, were given to 19 baby girls and six baby boys (respectively) nation-wide.

Here’s a selection of the names that were given to just three babies each in Scotland last year:

Beira is a modern Scottish name for the Gaelic mythological figure Cailleach, and Innis is a Scottish Gaelic word meaning “small island, islet.”

(I can’t give you the usual sampling of Scotland’s single-use names because, as of 2024, the country has decided to stop releasing names given to fewer than three babies. The news release noted that “the exclusion of the names given to one or two babies is consistent with policies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.”)

Finally, here are Scotland’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

• Babies’ First Names 2024 – NRS
• Comeback kids Noah and Olivia back at top of baby name charts – NRS
• Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events – Quarterly Figures (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) – NRS

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)