Researchers at the National Record of Scotland have revealed their latest report into baby names, and one of the things they looked at were the most popular girls' names from 1974 to 2019.
It seems that- when it comes to naming baby girls - little has changed in 45 years. The names have remained enduringly popular in Scotland. Some might call these names common, but that's a bit rude. We prefer to think of it as being on the path to world domination.
In the 70s and 80s a name had to be given to a lot of babies to reach number one. The most popular names for those decades are Nicola, Claire, Laura, Lauren, Chloe, Emma, Sophie, Emily and Olivia.
There were over 1,000 babies given the name Laura each year when the name hit peak popularity in the early 1980s. In comparison, Olivia has been the top girls’ name for the last four years but the name was given to an average of 450 babies each year.
The nine girls' names have occupied the top spot over the last five decades.
Some names have had a long run at the top – such as Laura (11 years) and Sophie (9 years) whereas others (Claire, Lauren and Emily) have made only a brief appearance at the top of the list.
And Olivia is still making waves: the name is the most popular girls' name in Scotland yet again, with 370 little girls given the name in 2019 for the second year - so it looks like the domination of Olivias is set to continue.
You can read the full report at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
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