‘Royal favourites’ Arthur and Harry hit top spot for boys’ names with Ivy and Holly being ‘festive favourites’ for girls for the second year running
For those babies due this festive season, over half of parents across the country have revealed that they will choose a traditional name for their winter-born bundle while less then half, but still a good amount of parents, will go for more modern and unusual choices. The new baby names survey, which quizzed hundreds of UK parents on their choice of baby name for this Christmas, was commissioned by Emma’s Diary, the essential support resource for mums to be and new parents.
Keeping traditional names alive and with more than a hint of ‘Royal influence’, the most popular boys name for this season is Arthur, closely followed by Harry. For girls, festive favourite Ivy, made the top spot again this year (having been voted the number one baby name for Christmas 2017) this was closely followed by Holly, which also took the number two spot for the second year running. In third place for boys names was biblical-inspired Joseph and for girls, Eva also made the top three.
The Royal trend continues to sweep the nation influencing many parents expecting babies this winter with George, William, Charlotte, Victoria and Meghan all making it into the top most popular names for girls and boys this year.
When it comes to seasonal influences, 43% of parents surveyed said the season and time of year could have an impact on the name they choose for their new arrival. In line with this, Christmas-themed names such as Nicholas, Gabriel, Angel, Star, Noelle and Robyn also made the list.
Choosing a baby name is an important and very personal decision and one that many people don’t want to rush into. In fact, many people don’t settle on a fixed name until after their baby is born. There are also a number of factors that influence parents in their decision, such as a sudden surge of popular names, name associations with people you know, whether the name suits the personality of the child, if the name you choose will be shortened to a ‘nickname’ etc. Almost one third of parents polled (30%) said they are influenced by their own traditional ‘family names’ too when making the choice, while 8% of parents say they’re influenced by their friends’ opinions. A whopping 60% say they simply choose names they like, and only 2% of us will admit to being influenced by celebrity baby names.
When asked if they know the ‘meaning’ of their chosen baby name, over half (55%) said they didn’t have a clue, while 45% said they had already looked it up when deciding.
TOP BOYS NAMES:
1. Arthur
2. Harry
3. Jospeh
4. George
5. Gabriel
6. Nicholas
7. Thomas
8. Matthew
9. Christopher
10. Noelle
11. William
12. Alfred
13. Olwen
TOP GIRLS NAMES:
1. Ivy
2. Holly
3. Eva
4. Alice
5. Charlotte
6. Robyn
7. Elsa
8. Meghan
9. Natalie
10. Angel
11. Victoria
12. Star
13. Eugenie
Faye Mingo, Marketing Director at Emma’s Diary commented: “Interestingly for girls names, Ivy and Holly remain ever-popular at this time of year, while the draw of more traditional names is growing too. Choosing a name for your baby takes a lot of thought and planning and as our poll shows, many of us are very much influenced by our own family name traditions too.”
