Prospective parents are often inspired by celebrities and popular culture when it comes to naming their babies, but it turns out recent high profile feuds and gossip has put them off certain monikers this year.
BabyCentre has unveiled its much-anticipated list of top 100 baby boy and girl names for 2023, showing the biggest trends that have influenced parents over the past year.
While more traditional names always feature, parents are also normally inspired by names of celebrities, but certain ones have tumbled down the list this year, no doubt thanks to certain feuds that have dominated headlines over the past year.
Despite ranking highly in the charts in previous years, Holly has plummeted in the number of registrations - which now leaves it outside the top 100. Also joining outside the list is Philip, along with Phil, which only had one registration so far this year.
This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby and her previous on-screen partner Phillip Schofield have been embroiled in controversy over the past few months - including being accused of "skipping" the queue to see the late Queen Elizabeth II's coffin.
More recently, Phillip left the popular daytime TV show after admitting he had an affair with a younger colleague.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also made their mark on the public after the release of their controversial documentary, as well as Harry's memoir Spare.
The popular boys name Harry, which sat happily at place 10 in last year's list, has topped down to number 23. Meanwhile, the names Meghan, and alternative spelling Megan, has also dropped in popularity.
Sarah Redshaw, managing editor for BabyCentre, said: "Whether you keep up with celebrity drama or not, it's been hard to avoid some of the latest outbreaks in the media. I've no doubt that negative press around some celeb names played a part in their fall from favour with parents this year.
"It just remains to be seen how quickly reputations turn around, or how short memories are, and whether Philip, Holly, Meghan and Harry can regain their popularity."
Instead of taking inspiration from real-life celebrities, it seems this year parents have been inspired on-screen drama. With HBO series Succession airing its final season, Logan, the name of the family patriarch, has leapt six places to 48, while name of his wayward son Roman jumped nine places to 47.
After the release of Netflix's Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, the name Charlotte soared to number 25, and Violent went up 19 places.
It turns out the UK's spectacular hosting of Eurovision 2023 has also inspired parents, with fan favourite and 2022 runner-up Sam Ryder's name soaring up to the top 100 as a new entry. Meanwhile, the name Maeve (the full name of 2023's UK entrant Mae Muller) has leapt up five places to 62.
However, there are always some non-movers that always feature on the much-anticipated list. Muhammad, Noah, Theo, Leo and Oliver are hanging on tightly to their top five positions.
In the girls chart, we have a new top name, Lily, which jumped one spot, knocking off previous chart-topper Sophia. Olivia hangs on to the third most popular name, followed by Amelia and Freya.
For the full list, see our guide for the top 100 baby names in the UK for 2023.
Were you surprised by any of these findings? Let us know in the comment section below.
