Baby names 2020: Oliver and Olivia remain the most popular in England and Wales but there’s surprise new entries too

DECIDING what to name your little one is the first (and arguably most important) decision you’ll ever make as a parent.

And while you obviously want to settle on one that “suits” your new arrival, you also don’t want your kid to be one of five children with the same name at school. Seriously, it happens.

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That’s where the Office of National Statistics‘ new findings come in.

The ONS has reported that 62,810 different names were given to 640,270 newborns in England and Wales in 2019.

And following on from the previous year, Oliver and Olivia have remained the two most popular names for baby girls and boys.

Meanwhile, Freya and Lily have replaced Emily and Ella in the top 10 most popular girls’ names and Mabel has entered the top 100 for the first time since 1924.

What’s more, Alfred, Chester, Hudson, Ibrahim and Oakley have entered the top 100 boys’ names and replaced Alex, Dexter, Dominic, Kai, Sonny and Tobias.

The new statistics also found that mothers under the age of 25 generally opted for more “modern” monikers – like Harper – and shortened versions of boys’ names like Freddy.

And David Corps, from the Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, said mums over the age of 35 prefer traditional monikers such as Jack and Charlotte.

Commenting on the findings, David said: “Oliver and Olivia continued their reign as the top boys’ and girls’ names in 2019 but analysis shows choices in baby names can differ depending on the mothers’ age.

“Popular culture continues to influence the baby names landscape. Following Dua Lipa’s first UK number one single in 2017, the number of girls named Dua has doubled from 63 to 126 in 2019.”

Baby Name expert, SJ Strum from ChannelMum.com: “Social media is rapidly – and radically – changing the way we name our children. Young mums under 25 want short, snappy ‘micro’ names of five letters or less which work well as a hashtag online. Already, half of the top 10 boys’ names chosen by young mums aged under 25 are shortened versions of traditional names, showing just how fast this change is happening.

“Small is also beautiful for girls’ names too as the two new entries into the girls top 100 – Mabel and Lara – are both just five letters or fewer. Meanwhile micro names Freya and the short version of Lily are both new entries into the top 10 girls list.

“Other micro names climbing the charts include Mia, Dua, Sara and Ada for girls alongside Noah, Theo, Tommy and Albie, for boys. Micro name Louis is also a big riser up 16 places to number 53 thanks to the Royal seal of approval from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.”

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