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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Lack of ONS data, what names are you seeing at nursery?

63 replies

GreenPalmTree · 28/12/2023 11:56

Hello,

As the ONS data hasn’t been recently updated for babies born in England and Wales (I think the last data set is 2021?), I’m interested in hearing what names are popular near you - whether you’ve recently had a baby, have a baby or toddler in nursery or pre-school or have friends or family members with babies.

I am based in London and for girls I have met quite a few little Mia’s and Ada’s, Florence’s and Frances’s.

I’m due next year, so a way off needing to pick a name - but always nice to hear what others are choosing.

Thanks!

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Quaversss · 05/03/2024 21:48

Lots of
Rory
Leo
Teddy
Harry
Arlo
Jack
Theo
James

Orla (I think I know of 5 under 3s!)
Ava
Isla
Eva
Ella
(All these names blur into one in my mind)

amz4 · 04/03/2024 22:13

Boys - Roman, Jude, Oliver, Noah, Luca, Harry

Girls - Lily, Isla, Poppy, Daisy, Mia, Ella

LeMoax · 04/03/2024 00:37

Ohhh here in London Surrey borders I’m hearing at baby groups:

Noah, Oliver, Teddy, Joshua

Evie, Ava, Poppy, Sophia

Heh1991 · 04/03/2024 00:00

I’m hearing a lot of girls called, Mia, Maeve, Lily, Orla, Mabel and boys called Arlo, Otis, Teddy, Arthur and Noah!

Samzzz · 01/03/2024 10:39

Otto appears to be a new one for babies being born now

FH27 · 27/02/2024 12:59

We're in Scotland and I had a baby last year. Baby names we hear a lot are:

Girls- Evie, Eva, Elsie, Darcy

Boys- Oscar, Caleb and more Scottish names like Callum and Angus

Appleblos · 27/02/2024 11:49

Surprised to see so many mentions of Winnie. I know 2 but thought it was still quite unusual.
Hearing Margot a lot, Jude, Mia/ Maya & Arlo.

sunflowerpinks · 31/12/2023 13:06

Evie
Mia
Florence

Theo
Quinn
Harry

BROWNBANANABITS · 31/12/2023 11:29

Children in the baby room at our nursery include Dorothy, Daphne, Odette and Orin

EnterNowhere · 31/12/2023 09:35

My daughter is 4 (in school nursery) - popular names for her age I would say are Arthur/Charlie/Leo for boys - Evelyn/Lily/Maisie for girls.

New babies being born - quite a few Jude's, Leo and Theo still popular - for girls Daisy/Millie.

NewtonPulsifer · 31/12/2023 04:15

Girls:
Estee
Sadie
Ava
Gracie
Ffion
Harper
Mia
Willow
Annabell
Miriam
Hope
Caroline
Jean

Boys:
Arlo x 5
Harrison/Harry
Blake
Iain
Ronnie
Jimmy/Jim
Clay
Robert
Mikey
Lucas
Paul
Ralf

TrustPenguins · 30/12/2023 22:28

Isabella / Isobel / Izzy
Evie / Evelyn
Ava
Ivy
Etta/ Ettie
Nancy

Arthur
Seth
Otis
Arlo
Teddy / Eddie / Edward
Harrison

Samzzz · 30/12/2023 22:08

from personal experience Amelie and Daisy have been popular amongst people I know.

Samzzz · 30/12/2023 22:07

Isla, Teddy and Theo. So many!!

Sleepnplay · 30/12/2023 16:48

Most recent babies I know of are:

Esther
Rosie
Winnie
Ava ×3
Maisie
James
Monty
Adaline

A year or two prior were:

Ava
An abundance of 'M' names - Millie, Mya, Maisie, Molly, Mia, Maeva.
Evie
Max
Zach

SnapdragonToadflax · 30/12/2023 13:27

It's massively area dependent, but if you know what your demographic is you can take a good guess at the type of names.

My son has a fairly 'typical middle class ish', name and we live in an area which is lower middle, next to a large council estate. He's the only one in the whole school. My friend lives in a super middle class area and there are three in her son's class 😂

Also you never know what will suddenly leap in popularity. Ours has gone from just outside the top 100 to inside the top 50 in four years.

The only baby I know born in the last year is called Mia, so very of the moment.

sunflowerpinks · 30/12/2023 13:20

I think we sometimes forget what the purpose of a name is - to identify a person!

That's much easier with a name not shared by lots of others.

Another downside to a 'fashionable' name is it's inevitable fall out of fashion and start to sound dated.

The ons data is useful as you can at least avoid names that are already fashionable/overused. My dc's names was used about 30 times in their birth year and now about 20 times.

sunflowerpinks · 30/12/2023 13:16

Would you be using the ONS data to avoid the most popular names?

I assumed that was the point of the thread. Ive always hated having a popular name that I have to share with others.

Terningbay · 30/12/2023 10:52

Brandyginger · 30/12/2023 08:09

Would you be using the ONS data to avoid the most popular names? I did that to check that my DC names were nowhere near the top 20. They are the only kids in their schools with their first names (not weird, just less popular names). It’s brilliant. Meanwhile the 5 Olivers in their form constantly struggle with being misidentified.

I am a child of the 80s and Sarah was so ubiquitous that many resorted to using their second names; I still know many Sarahs now who still go by their second names in their 40s. When I was suffering from pregnancy memory loss at the school gate I reminded myself that 80% of the mothers would be called either Sarah or Kate.

I guess the point I’m making is that sometimes it’s good not to have a wildly popular name.

What I find interesting though is that names are nowhere near as popular now as they were in the 80’s. Sarah for example - in the 80’s 2% of babies were called this. Whereas in 2021, Olivia was the most popular girls name and less than 0.6% of girls were names it. Names like David in the 60’s, more than 4% were named it. No where near the same now so you’re much less likely to get multiples in a class, even with the most popular names.

Personally I did avoid top 20 though and also names that seemed to be suddenly on trend.

aSpanielintheworks · 30/12/2023 10:23

Where I am popular ones are
Mia
Poppy
Elsie/Ella/Eva/Evie 'E' names

Archie
Harry
Charlie
Zack

GingerSquid · 30/12/2023 10:17

80s was SO bad for multiples of same name ..re the mums in my child’s reception year of 60 there were FIVE Nicola’s, three Rachel’s, three Sarah’s, three Emma’s and loads of duplicates. I always think Isla is the new Nicola, one of those names that comes quickly from nowhere and is super popular but then ages quickly as of its time! Apologies to anyone who has an Isla! It’s a nice name, so I get the popularity!

Brandyginger · 30/12/2023 08:09

Would you be using the ONS data to avoid the most popular names? I did that to check that my DC names were nowhere near the top 20. They are the only kids in their schools with their first names (not weird, just less popular names). It’s brilliant. Meanwhile the 5 Olivers in their form constantly struggle with being misidentified.

I am a child of the 80s and Sarah was so ubiquitous that many resorted to using their second names; I still know many Sarahs now who still go by their second names in their 40s. When I was suffering from pregnancy memory loss at the school gate I reminded myself that 80% of the mothers would be called either Sarah or Kate.

I guess the point I’m making is that sometimes it’s good not to have a wildly popular name.

Mumofgirls2017 · 30/12/2023 07:59

I know multiples under 2 of

harry
sophia
freya
otis
florence
arthur
lyra
freddie
amelia

GenZer · 29/12/2023 22:30

It’s hugely area dependent

From someone who works with children under 5, I would say (in order of most to least popular)

Boys:

Noah
Theo
Leo
Albie / Albert
Teddy
Hudson
Tommy
Luca
Harry
Jude
Arthur
Freddie
Oscar
Jacob
Lenny

Girls:

Isla
Ada
Isabella
Sophia
Ava
Freya
Penelope
Ottilie
Violet
Winnie
Lila
Mila
Rosa
Maeve

LittleButtercup · 29/12/2023 13:52

I have a 2yo, names popular near us in the North West:

Girls
Florence (I know 5 under 3 years old!)
Freya
Willow
Nova
Elsie
Lyra

Boys
Jude (I know 3)
William
George
Arlo
Jackson / Jaxson
Wilf
Albie