Oliver and Amelia were the most popular baby names in 2015 in England and Wales for the third year running, according to official data.
Amelia has been the most popular name for girls since 2011 and Oliver has been in the top spot for boys since 2013.
In the east of England and the east Midlands, the most popular girls’ name was Olivia. In London and the West Midlands, the most popular boys’ name was Muhammad – the first time the name has been top in two areas, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Noah entered the top 10 of boys’ names for the first time, replacing James, and Ella and Mia entered the top 10 of girls’ names this year, replacing Lily and Sophie.
Four names – Jaxon, Roman, Reggie and Carter – broke into the boys’ top 100, taking the places of Owen, Robert, Joey and Finlay. Of these, Jaxon rose the most, climbing 35 places to 80 while Kian saw the greatest decline, falling 44 places to 98.
There were six new entries in the girls’ top 100 – Penelope, Mila, Clara, Arabella, Maddison and Aria. These replaced Lydia, Faith, Mollie, Brooke, Isabel and Amy. Of these, Aria had the greatest rise, climbing 70 places to the number 100 spot, while Katie dropped the furthest, falling 22 places to number 99.
Elizabeth McLaren, a statistician from the ONS, said: “Amelia and Oliver remained the most popular names for baby girls and boys born in 2015, having held the top spot since 2011 and 2013 respectively.
“Ella re-entered the top 10 baby girls’ names in 2015 – Ella was last in the top 10 in 2007. Noah entered the top 10 baby boys’ names for the first time on record in 2015, following a gradual increase in popularity.”
The statistics are “based on the exact spelling of the name given on the birth certificate; grouping names with similar pronunciation would change the rankings,” the ONS said.
There were 697,852 live births in England and Wales in 2015, with more than 27,000 different boys’ and 35,000 different girls’ names registered, it added.
The top 100 boys’ names accounted for 52% of all boys born in 2015, while the top 100 girls’ names accounted for 43% of all girls born in 2015.
Siobhan Freegard, founder of parenting site ChannelMum.com, said: “Parents are once again looking across the pond for Americanised monikers. Jaxon, a US version of the traditional Jackson, is rocketing in popularity, after being made famous by Jaxon Bieber, half-brother of Justin.”
Freegard added Maddison “is one of the most common US girls’ names and is gaining traction here”, while another trend was for “gangster chic”.
“Tough but cool Reggie, made famous by the Krays, was picked by Olympic ace Jessica Ennis-Hill for her son, while Carter, of Get Carter fame, is a name we’ll be hearing much more of,” she said.
“Roman, given to celeb babies including Roman Keitel, son of Harvey, and Roman Upton, Cate Blanchett’s son, sits across both crazes, being used in numerous gangster flicks and also a US favourite.”
Half of the top 10 boys’ names were in the top 10 a decade earlier: Oliver, Jack, Harry, William and Thomas.
Compared with 2005, Oscar and Noah showed the biggest increase in popularity for those in the top 10 – rising 45 and 44 places respectively.
Daniel showed the biggest decline, having dropped 18 places since being in the top 10 a decade ago.
Four out of the top 10 girls’ names in 2005 also stayed in that list; they were Olivia, Emily, Ella and Jessica.
Isla and Ava shot up 121 and 77 places respectively from their 2005 position to make it in to the 2015 top 10.
Ellie has fallen 42 places in the rankings since being in the 2005 top 10 – the largest decrease in popularity for girls.
