The list of the most popular baby names for 2016 has been revealed by the Office for National Statistics, revealing that Olivia was the most popular name for girls and Oliver for boys. Olivia replaced Amelia, returning to the top position it previously held between 2008 and 2010, while Oliver has remained the most popular boys' name since 2013.
The other top names for girls in order were: Olivia, Amelia, Emily, Isla, Ava, Isabella, Lily, Jessica, Ella and Mia. Meanwhile for boys, the most popular names were: Oliver, Harry, George, Jack, Jacob, Noah, Charlie, Muhammad, Thomas and Oscar. William dropped to eleventh most popular name in the boys' list.
George was the third most popular name
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When compared with 2006, the boys' names with the greatest increase in popularity in the top ten in 2016 were Noah, Oscar and Muhammad. The largest decrease was for Daniel, down 20 places in the rankings since being in the top ten in 2006. When comparing girls' names with 2006, the biggest increases in popularity were Isla and Ava, while Ellie saw the largest decrease in popularity.
Celebrity names continue to have an influence. Harper, the name of David and Victoria Beckham's daughter, has seen the biggest rise in popularity. In 2011, the year Harper was born, 42 other girls were given the same name. Flash forward to 2016 and Harper is proving to be the 44th most popular girls' name, given to 1,256 babies.
Harper is the 44th most popular girls' name
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There were four new entries in the top 100 most popular girls' names in 2016 in England and Wales: Felicity, Iris, Luna and Lydia. Luna is the name of John Legend and Chrissy Teigen's daughter. For boys, there were six new entries into the top 100 most popular boys' names in 2016 for England and Wales: Albie, Arlo, Ezra, Finn, Jasper and Jesse.