Bad news for Sophia, good news for Olivia
It's the moment we've all been waiting for: BabyCentre’s top 100 baby names of 2015 have been announced, and we're all frantically scrabbling to see if our name is on there.
Olivia has regained the top spot for girls’ names, nabbing it from Sophia and jumping up three places, while in the boys’ chart, Muhammad held the top spot as the most popular boys' name for the second year running.
The other names in the boys’ top five also demonstrated their staying power, with Oliver, Jack, Noah and Jacob all non-movers at places two to five - and as for the girls' top five, Sophia, Lily and Emily joined Olivia in the top four of the girls’ list for the third year in a row.
'While some parents still like to be creative in their choice of baby names, the most popular girls’ names are becoming increasingly concentrated on variations of a very small number of firm favourites,' said Sasha Miller of BabyCentre. 'The girls’ top 10 now boasts Sophie in addition to Sophia, Isabella and Ella along with Isabelle, and both Emily and Amelia.'
As always, name choices were pinned on what's going on in the world, from the General Election to the Kardashian clan.
'Whether it’s Ella Henderson topping the charts or Deliciously Ella cleaning up our eating habits, popular celebrities have a clear influence,' Miller added. '2015 has been a huge year for the name Zoe, which leapt a whopping 44 places to number 32 in the chart. With Zoella continuing to lead the vlogger charge, Zoe Kravitz back on the big screen, Zoe Ball on our screens every night on It Takes Two and Zooey Deschanel starting a family, it’s not hard to see why. Darcey jumping into the top 100 at number 60 is further evidence of the Strictly effect.
'The quest for alternative and one-off names is here to stay too – this year we’ve seen a heavenly theme in parent’s choices with names such as Luna, Aurora, Angel, Angelo and even Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards) starting to place in the charts. Parents are obviously looking for unique names that are out of this world.'
Parents were also influenced by politics, with David and Cameron both jumping in the charts, as well as Edward, which was up by two places. Names beginning with 'K' fell in popularity, perhaps due to the omnipresence of the Kardashians, with the only two ‘K’ names in the girls’ top 100, Kayla and Katie, both dropping steeply - and no ‘K’ names at all in the boys’ chart.
However, names ending in ‘a’ were massively popular, especially for girls, making up half the top 10, more than half the top 20 and six of the 10 highest climbers. Aria leapt 36 places to 36, Layla and Thea jumped 33 and 27 places respectively to 23 and 46, while Martha, Sara, Orla and Alexa were new additions to the top 100 (at 77, 84, 96 and 98).
Parents are less likely to be influenced by the Royal Family when it comes to girls, with Charlotte, Elizabeth and Victoria all falling from favour - but George and Harry both jumped places this year.
Check out the top ten - and how it compares to last year - below...
Where does your name fare in the chart? Let us know @marieclaireuk
