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

[GreenPalmTree]

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!

Also a just turned 1yo names Elsie

Around by me (and I've worked in primary schools) the names that seem to be recurrent are:

Esme
Lilly/Lily (also with other names as double barrel, e.g. Lilly-Mae)
Amelia
Orla
Annie

Theo
Teddy
Zac (various spellings)
Isaac
Jude
Freddie

Forgotten ones that I've just thought of -

Isabella

Reggie
Harry

(Midlands)

Arlo, really? I didn't know that it's so popular!

Cute name.

Reggie
Otis
Jack
Stanley
Luca
I mean, Mohammed is the most popular, but obviously related to Islam.

Anna

I don't come across so many girls !

It was number 20 in the uk in 2021. And was on a sharp rise, so based on that and the amount that seem to be around, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the top 10 soon (maybe even in the 2022 data if we ever get it!).

Yusuf in London too!

Isaiah and Ezekiel style Biblical names when we lived in SW London. Every time I read more posts, I remember more.

I have a just 1 year old and the names I know lots of from baby groups are:

Isla
Ava and similar
Rosie and similar

Rowan
Alfie
Harry

I also know at least one the following off the top of the my head that others have mentioned:
Margot
Maeve
Maya and different spelling variations
Short L names aplenty (Lara, Lila and the like)
Noah
Felix
Casper
Arlo
Zach

I have a 1 year old and the names I hear a lot at baby/toddler groups and through people I know are:
Rory
Freddie
Archie
Alfie
Henry
George
Kobe
Isaac
Finlay/Finn
Seb/Sebby
Jacob
Reuben
Eli
Ronnie

Mabel
Ottilie
Elsie
Florence
Ophelia
Dottie
Mia
Bella/Isabelle
Evelyn/Evie
Isla
Lily
Ella

I have an under one and the names I come across multiples of at the moment are

Boys
Arlo
Leo
Robin (3! Which really surprised me as the others names I knew were popular but I'd never guess robin)
Freddie

Girls
Matilda
Ophelia (4 Ophelia's!)
Rosie
Evie

Funny you should say that as I also know an under 2 with the name Robin and my son is also in a class with a Robin!
Never a name I would usually hear about x

I've got a one year old and all the other babies I know around the same age or younger are:

Lola
Astrid
Ellie
Elsie
Molly
Lyra
Orla
Lottie
Freya

Quinn
Charlie
Theo
Oscar
Arthur
Daniel
Lucas
James
Gabriel

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

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

I know multiples under 2 of

harry
sophia
freya
otis
florence
arthur
lyra
freddie
amelia

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.

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!

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

Archie
Harry
Charlie
Zack

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Isla, Teddy and Theo. So many!!