UK’s 100 most popular baby names revealed – with new boys’ name stealing first place

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released its annual Christmas present for curious parents-to-be for parents-to-be.

The information was gathered the year before, making the list is the top 100 names for boys and girls during 2023, The Mirror reports.

The most popular baby names in Scotland are compiled by the National Records of Scotland, and in Northern Ireland that work is carried out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, which is why they’re not included in the ONS data. Scotland’s list of popular baby names is released every April, rather than December.

However, the ONS report, which covers England and Wales, is still a substantial and fascinating document that sheds a lot of light on British baby name trends. In fact, some might surprise you.

This year, Muhammad has overtaken Noah as the top name for baby boys, with Noah dropping to second place.

Noah came in first in 2021 and 2022, with Muhammad being the second most popular name last year, so they’ve basically swapped places, though Muhammad has been in the top 10 consistently since 2016.

Noah comes from the Hebrew Noach, which means “rest” or “repose”, according to Parents.com, while Muhammad is famously the name of the founder of Islam. Muslim parents often name their sons Muhammad to show their commitment to their religion.

The situation with girls’ names is a bit more stable – there have been no changes to the top three names for baby girls, with Olivia, Amelia and Isla still taking the top spots. Interestingly, Olivia has stolen the crown as the most popular baby girl’s name for the eighth year in a row.

The name Olivia is derived from the Latin name for an olive tree, and first rose to popularity in the 1600s when Shakespeare used it as the name for a character in his play Twelfth Night, according to BabyCenter.com. If you’re a primary school teacher, it must be getting increasingly hard to keep track of all of the Olivias.

Amelia means “industrious” or “hardworking,” while Isla is a Scottish name originally derived from “Islay”, one of the Western Isles.

The report also sheds light on some fascinating regional variations. For example, Olivia was the most popular girl’s name in five out of nine regions in England and the most popular in Wales, while Muhammad was the top moniker for boys in four out of nine regions but only ranked 63rd in Wales.

There have also been some more quite unusual names joining the top 100 list. The new additions to the girls’ list include Hazel, Lilah, Autumn, Nevaeh and Raya.

The name Autumn appeared more popular during September, October and November and ranked 96th overall. Hazel was ranked 91st, Lilah was 95th and Nevaeh and Raya in the last two spots.

Nevaeh is “heaven” spelled backwards.

Jax, Enzo and Bodhi joined the boys list, with Jax soaring to 87th despite being its first year on the report. Enzo came 95th while Bodhi was ranked 100th. There were actually more unique names and spellings for girls than boys overall, suggesting parents are choosing from a smaller pool of names for baby boys.

Bodhi is a Buddhist term, which means “awakening,” or “enlightenment” in Sanskrit.

Royal names were less popular this year, showing the variety of modern influences on baby names. Poppy was the most popular name in November, likely because of the connection with Remembrance Day and poppies.

Parents also continued to pay tribute to the Kardashian-Jenner family, with Reign and Saint appearing on the list, and other celebs such as Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, and Margot Robbie also seem to have inspired some names.

Top names for baby girls

1. Olivia
2. Amelia
3. Isla
4. Lily
5. Freya
6. Ava
7. Ivy
8. Florence
9. Willow
10. Isabella
11. Poppy
12. Sophia
13. Evelyn
14. Elsie
15. Sienna
16. Mia
17. Daisy
18. Grace
19. Sofia
20. Phoebe
21. Rosie
22. Harper
23. Charlotte
24. Evie
25. Millie
26. Bonnie
27. Ella
28. Emily
29. Maya
30. Matilda
31. Aria
32. Delilah
33. Penelope
34. Hallie
35. Mila
36. Maeve
37. Ada
38. Luna
39. Ruby
40. Mabel
41. Maisie
42. Violet
43. Arabella
44. Margot
45. Emilia
46. Isabelle
47. Esme
48. Lottie
49. Aurora
50. Alice
51. Sophie
52. Eva
53. Layla
54. Ayla
55. Rose
56. Orla
57. Olive
58. Eleanor
59. Imogen
60. Eliza
61. Iris
62. Harriet
63. Thea
64. Robyn
65. Chloe
66. Erin
67. Bella
68. Elizabeth
69. Ottilie
70. Nancy
71. Emma
72. Scarlett
73. Zara
74. Ophelia
75. Elodie
76. Lyla
77. Maryam
78. Maria
79. Lola
80. Lyra
81. Nova
82. Ellie
83. Jessica
84. Gracie
85. Fatima
86. Summer
87. Eden
88. Molly
89. Amelie
90. Clara
91. Hazel
92. Darcie
93. Lara
94. Hannah
95. Lilah
96. Autumn
97. Nellie
98. Jasmine
99. Nevaeh
100. Raya

Top names for baby boys

1. Muhammad
2. Noah
3. Oliver
4. George
5. Leo
6. Arthur
7. Luca
8. Theodore
9. Oscar
10. Henry
11. Theo
12. Freddie
13. Archie
14. Arlo
15. Jude
16. Alfie
17. Charlie
18. Jack
19. Thomas
20. Finley
21. Harry
22. Albie
23. Teddy
24. Jacob
25. Lucas
26. Tommy
27. Isaac
28. Mohammed
29. William
30. Edward
31. Elijah
32. Roman
33. Rory
34. Alexander
35. James
36. Louie
37. Reuben
38. Ezra
39. Oakley
40. Joshua
41. Adam
42. Sebastian
43. Hudson
44. Max
45. Louis
46. Ronnie
47. Ethan
48. Hugo
49. Harrison
50. Mason
51. Rowan
52. Reggie
53. Benjamin
54. Joseph
55. Albert
56. Sonny
57. Hunter
58. Jaxon
59. Jesse
60. Daniel
61. Zachary
62. Samuel
63. Frederick
64. Gabriel
65. David
66. Logan
67. Dylan
68. Mohammad
69. Frankie
70. Otis
71. Liam
72. Caleb
73. Felix
74. Kai
75. Jasper
76. Alfred
77. Toby
78. Grayson
79. Yusuf
80. Riley
81. Rupert
82. Brody
83. Ibrahim
84. Finn
85. Musa
86. Carter
87. Jax
88. Michael
89. Chester
90. Stanley
91. Leon
92. Milo
93. Bobby
94. Elliot
95. Enzo
96. Elias
97. Ellis
98. Ralph
99. Myles
100. Bodhi

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