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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Courtney Pochin

Most popular baby names of 2022 - with big changes to girls' top 100 this year

It's that time of year again, and no, I'm not talking about how the Christmas season is upon us... it's the big unveiling of the top 100 names of 2022. BabyCentre has released its list of the most popular monikers for baby boys and girls, as well as the biggest naming trends parents have been following.

Tens of thousands of mums and dads have registered their baby name choices on the pregnancy and parenting site and the experts have used the data to see where inspiration may have been coming from - and it seems parents have been loving throwbacks to the 90s and the reality stars of Love Island.

This year the biggest changes can be seen in the top names for girls, with Olivia being officially knocked off the number one spot from 2021 and replaced by Sophia - which was recently also crowned the 'most beautiful name' of the year by scientists. The top 10 had a bit of a reshuffle, with Olivia dropping down to third place and being overtaken by Lily. The ninth and 10th spots also welcomed new names for 2022, with Maya jumping up 10 places to number nine and Ivy also moved up two spots to enter the top 10.

The top 100 baby names of 2022 have been unveiled (stock photo) (Getty Images)


According to BabyCentre's research, the sudden popularity of the name Maya could be due to presenter Maya Jama being named as the new Love Island host for 2023. Love Islanders past and present seemed to have a big impact on names across the board, with many being the highest climbers of the year.

Luca (Bish), the name of the 2022 runner-up leapt 21 places into the top 10 boys' names and was followed closely by 2021’s Toby (Aromolaran) which rose 20 places. Fellow runner-up Chloe (Burrows) also went up a place.

Other Love Island names storming the charts included Millie, Liam, Teddy, Alex, Zara and Theo. While names such as Maura (Higgins) and Ovie (Soko) saw a number of registrations for the very first time this year.

Parents have been loving 90s throwbacks and Love Island names (stock photo) (Getty Images)

BabyCentre also noted that parents seemed to be returning to the 90s when naming their little ones over the last 11 months, with mums and dads opting to name their little ones after some of the decade's biggest icons, like Gabrielle and Aaliyah.

The names of Friends stars like Matthew (Perry/LeBlanc), Lisa (Kudrow) and David (Schwimmer) also had an uptick in registrations, in addition to other popular 90s monikers including Thomas, Jack, Daniel, Liam, Charlotte, Emily and Jason.

A number have parents seem to have been inspired by Maura Higgins this year (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
The name Luca (like Luca Bish) has jumped up the charts (REX/Shutterstock)

The research also found that the names of the England Women's football squad were winning over parents after becoming UEFA Champions, with Leah (Williamson), Gabby (Logan) and Alexandra (Alex Scott) surging in popularity.

Interestingly, with all the royal news from the year, the experts noted that there didn't seem to be much of an increase in the use of names from Britain's most famous family - like Lilibet, William, Kate, Harry, Meghan or Charlie.

Even Elizabeth, which rose up the charts for the half-year data, didn't see much of an improvement in the full-year results, following the death of Her Majesty the Queen in September.

Sarah Redshaw, UK Managing Editor for BabyCentre, said: "Love Islander names are definitely parents’ type on paper. And BabyCentre parents haven’t been putting all their eggs in the 2022 Love Island basket either. It’s possible that the islanders’ continued fame on social media and more reality TV is causing this surge. We now want to keep a watch on the names of 2022 winners Ekin-Su and Davide to see if they become more popular as they go on to bigger things."

And speaking of the 90s revival, she added: "We wonder if parents are just excited to be dusting off their bucket hats or if 90s babies are now starting to have their own and giving into nostalgia when it comes to naming their little ones!"

Here's a look at the full list of top 100 names for boys and girls for 2022.

Top 100 baby girls' names of 2022

1. Sophia

2. Lily

3. Olivia

4. Isla

5. Ava

6. Amelia

7. Freya

8. Aria

9. Maya

10. Ivy

11. Emily

12. Isabella

13. Mia

14. Grace

15. Evie

16. Zara

17. Millie

18. Ella

19. Hannah

20. Daisy

21. Rosie

22. Elsie

23. Willow

24. Luna

25. Poppy

26. Zoe

27. Isabelle

28. Sophie

29. Sienna

30. Ada

31. Nur

32. Florence

33. Charlotte

34. Evelyn

35. Emilia

36. Maryam

37. Fatima

38. Harper

39. Phoebe

40. Ayla

41. Mila

42. Maisie

43. Chloe

44. Hallie

45. Eliana

46. Layla

47. Lyla

48. Emma

49. Erin

50. Eva

51. Alice

52. Aurora

53. Aaliyah

54. Ruby

55. Matilda

56. Leah

57. Bella

58. Thea

59. Nora

60. Molly

61. Anna

62. Darcie

63. Lottie

64. Eleanor

65. Robyn

66. Violet

67. Maeve

68. Anaya

69. Maddison

70. Arabella

71. Maria

72. Holly

73. Ellie

74. Penelope

75. Imogen

76. Lucy

77. Talia

78. Rose

79. Mirha

80. Bonnie

81. Eliza

82. Iris

83. Abigail

84. Nova

85. Aisha

86. Nancy

87. Orla

88. Gabriella

89. Gracie

90. Esme

91. Jessica

92. Scarlett

93. Amira

94. Elizabeth

95. Jasmine

96. Olive

97. Lara

98. Lola

99. Mabel

100. Harriet

Top 100 Baby Boys' names of 2022

1. Muhammad

2. Noah

3. Theo

4. Leo

5. Oliver

6. Jack

7. George

8. Luca

9. Ethan

10. Freddie

11. Arthur

12. Ryan

13. Harry

14. Oscar

15. Henry

16. Charlie

17. Archie

18. Teddy

19. Thomas

20. Adam

21. Aiden

22. Alfie

23. Louie

24. Finley

25. Liam

26. Jacob

27. Lucas

28. Daniel

29. Caleb

30. Joshua

31. Jaxon

32. Max

33. Isaac

34. Elijah

35. Zayn

36. Theodore

37. Reuben

38. Arlo

39. Jayden

40. James

41. William

42. Jude

43. Tommy

44. Mason

45. Ali

46. Albie

47. Ezra

48. Alexander

49. Nathan

50. Dylan

51. Yusuf

52. Kai

53. Rory

54. Logan

55. Toby

56. Roman

57. Samuel

58. Michael

59. Elliot

60. Myles

61. Ayaan

62. Sebastian

63. Finn

64. Kian

65. Harrison

66. Alex

67. Jesse

68. Jason

69. David

70. Grayson

71. Levi

72. Benjamin

73. Hunter

74. Hudson

75. Gabriel

76. Ollie

77. Rowan

78. Zachary

79. Asher

80. Ibrahim

81. Riley

82. Brodie

83. Eli

84. Oakley

85. Abdul

86. Luke

87. Matthew

88. Joseph

89. Milo

90. Hugo

91. Reggie

92. Edward

93. Ronnie

94. Aaron

95. Jasper

96. Omar

97. Zion

98. Bobby

99. Abdullah

100. Syed

Did your child's name make the list? Let us know in the comments below.

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