Baby Names
According to the Government 's National Statistics website, the most popular girls ' and boys ' names for 2005 were fairly traditional names.
| BOYS | GIRLS | | 1 | JACK | JESSICA | | 2 | JOSHUA | EMILY | | 3 | THOMAS | SOPHIE | | 4 | JAMES | OLIVIA | | 5 | OLIVER | CHLOE | | 6 | DANIEL | ELLIE | | 7 | SAMUEL | GRACE | | 8 | WILLIAM | CHARLOTTE | | 9 | HARRY | LUCY | | 10 | JOSEPH | KATIE | | 11 | BENJAMIN | ELLA | | 12 | CHARLIE | MEGAN | | 13 | LUKE | HANNAH | | 14 | MATTHEW | AMELIA | | 15 | CALLUM | RUBY | | 16 | JAKE | LILY | | 17 | ETHAN | AMY | | 18 | GEORGE | MIA | | 19 | LEWIS | ABIGAIL | | 20 | ALEXANDER | MILLIE |
GIRLS
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Parents are more adventurous when choosing names for their little girls. Girls' names move up and down the list more frequently than boys' names and there is far more variety in the names given to girls.
There are three new entries in the top 50 girls' names. Two of them - Keira, which has risen 13 places to 38, and Scarlett, which has jumped 25 places to 47 - are the names of popular Hollywood actresses - Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson. The other new entry, Libby, has been steadily moving up the top 100 since 2000. This year it climbed four places to 48.
Other notable climbers are the similar sounding names Evie (up 10 places to 29), Eva (up 32 places to 78) and Ava (up 65 places to 84).
BOYS
Jack is the most popular name for baby boys for the eleventh year running, although its popularity is declining: 14% fewer boys were called Jack this year than last. Will Jack fall down and lose his crown next year?
For the first time since 2002, there is a new entry in the top five names. Oliver has risen two places into fifth position, pushing Daniel outside the top five. Joshua, Thomas, James remain unchanged at number two, three, and four respectively.
Leo is the only new entry in the top 50 boys' names, jumping 20 places to 37 in 2005.
Television often influences our choice of baby names. Alfie, Jake , Demi, Aleesha, Ruby, Frankie are all soap star names which have proved to be very popular. Freddie Flintoff is supposedly responsible for bringing Freddie in at number 81! Unbelievably, Callum Best (star of Celebrity Love Island and son of the recently-deceased footballer George) is more than likely the reason why the name Callum climbed from 18 to 15.
Cool Celebrity Baby Names
What's hot and what's not in babies' names?
There seems to be a bit of a competition among celebrities - a competition to find the coolest, trendiest (daftest?) baby name!
What are us normal people meant to do? Are we meant to feel inspired to be a bit more adventurous in our choices of names. Just as celebrities influence our taste in clothes, hair and make-up, they also give us some new ideasfor baby naming.
Here are the coolest celeb baby names of recent years and the famous parents who chose them.
Alaia
Stephen Baldwin
Unusual.
Amandine
John Malkovich
A distinctive Gallic name with a French sense of style. An appealing nutty flavour!
Apple (and now Moses too)
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
The coolest parents around come up with a suitably hip name.
Assisi
Jade Jagger
Sir Mick's granddaughter was given this unique name, named after the lovely Umbrian hill town.
Atticus
Isabella Hoffman and Daniel Baldwin
Associated by most people with the noble lawyer in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Ava
Aidan Quinn/Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe/John McEnroe
One of the big celebrity favourites.
Banjo
Patrick and Rachel Griffiths
The name of one of the main characters in the classic comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner. Could be shortened to Jo.
Betty Kitten
Jane Goldman and Jonathan Ross
Could any pair of names give off a more retro-camp vibe than this? Siblings are Honey Kinney and Harvey Kirby.
Blue Angel
Dave Evans
U2's 'The Edge' made this fringe choice for his daughter.
Chester
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks
It's fashionable partly because they chose it.
Cosima
Nigella Lawson
Elegant and exotic just like Nigella herself.
Daisy Boo
Jamie Oliver
The playful middle name makes it stand out.
Dexter
Diane Keaton
A nerdy boy's name for a girl.
Dixie Dot and Bibi Belle
Anna Ryder Richardson
Strange!
Elijah Bob Patricus Guggi Q
Bono
No comment.
Gulliver
Gary Oldman
Mmmmm.
Iris
Sadie Frost and Jude Law
These cool baby namers picked an old-fashioned name and made it cool again.
Levi Roan Green
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke
Levi is one of the few biblical boys' names to remain cool
Mabel
Tracey Ullman
Cool or camp?
Maddox
Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton
A surname-name with a twist thanks to the final 'x'.
Milo
Ricky Lake
Jaunty.
Ocean, True and Sonnet
Forest Whitaker
Hippy days are here again.
Pilot Inspektor
Jason Lee
A character from a Disney cartoon?
Racer, Rebel, Rocket
Robert Rodriguez
This American film director is definitely of the school that believes in giving kids names they have to live up to - or live down.
Ripley
Thandie Newton
A powerful, androgynous name.
Rocco
Madonna
A muscle-bound he-man name cool outside Sicily.
Satchel
Spike Lee/Woody Allen
Revived from baseball history.
Seven
Erykah Badu
On Seinfeld, George once decided that the ultimate cool baby name was a number, Seven. Singer Badu apparently agreed.
Taj
Steven Tyler
Short, catchy and imaginative.
Tallulah
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis
This pair launched the cool star baby name concept when they chose Scout and Rumer as well as the more user-friendly Tallulah.
Truman
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks
Seriously cool.
Willow
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
A graceful natural name that also relates to Dad's name (as son Jaden's does to Mum's).
Zola
Eddie Murphy
Seductive and French.
And finally for now anyway .....
Name Trivia
The most popular names for the Maltese (June 2006) are Matthew and Maria.
Jack Fave Baby Name For 12th Year! |
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