The Top 100 Analysis

The Rising Names

 

New Entrants to the Top 10

There was only one new entrant to the Top 10 for the girls  this year, with Poppy racing up 6 places to #7, replacing the once-darling of the flower world: Lily, who falls to #12.

As for the boys, Oscar races into the Top 10 to sit at #7, whilst George sneaks back in at #10. They replace Alfie and Riley.

New Entrants to the Top 100

On the boys side there was the most amount of movement into and out of the Top 100. In all, 6 names are new on the boys side:

• Teddy (now #86, up from #141, that’s a massive leap of 55 places)
• Ibrahim (now #89, up from #107)
• Ronnie (now #90, up from #105)
• Felix (now #91, up from #114)
• Austin (now #94, up from 108)
• Albert (now #99, up from #109, which has made me very happy)

As for the girls, there were only 3 new entrants:

• Victoria (now #88, up from #106)
• Darcy (now #93, up from #107)
• Beatrice (now #95, up from #114)

Big Jumps in the Top 100

With Teddy doing so well this year, it may not surprise you to hear that Theodore also made big leaps within the Top 100 after his first entrance last year at #97, jumping up about 20 places to #78. Other big rises for the boys are: Hugo; Reuben; Elijah; Oscar; and Blake, who all rose at least 10 places.

As for the girls, the highest rising name within the Top 100 was Elsie (for the second year rising) who rose about 20 places, also, to break the 50 mark at #47. Elsie first joined the Top 100 in 2011. Nature names fared well in the Top 100, with Willow (15 places), Violet, and Ivy (both 22 places, respectively) also being high risers.

The Falling Names

 

Exiters of the Top 100

And the names they’ve replaced are:

• Rhys (#101)
• Ellis (#103)
• Kayden (#104)
• Bailey (#113)
• Taylor (#118)
• Kyle (#120)

For the girls, this year Sara and Lydia shared the Top 100 spot, thus only two names fell out:

• Caitlin (#114)
• Keira (#110)

Big Falls in the Top 100

It may not surprise the British public to hear Cameron was one of the biggest fallers in 2013, falling 16 places to #93; at this rate, he may drop out altogether for the 2014 list. Other names falling far within the Top 100 are Callum, Liam, Tyler and Riley, all falling at least 10 places each.

For the girls, the big fallers were: Hollie (down 21 places to #75); Paige (down 18 places to #98); Madison (down 17 places to #92); and Amy (down 14 places to #76).

5 Super Cool Theo Names (But Not Theodore)

Growing up, I knew of a guy named Matt my age. Interestingly, he was always referred to as Matt, and I always assumed that Matt was short for Matthew.

Turns out his name was Matthias, and I was none the wiser for this.

I also knew a Theo, but I’m pretty certain that his name is just Theo, not Theodore. This train of thought took on a life of it’s own after a brief conversation with a French friend the other day, who during the course of this aforementioned conversation mentioned the psychologist Théodule Ribot.

I love the name Theodore as much as the next person, and indeed the same can be said for Theo, but it’s fun to look at some other names which could give rise to the nickname Theo.

The name Theodore comes of Greek origins and means gift of God. He’s relatively popular in England&Wales, having ranked at #124 in 2011 – but you’re more likely to meet a baby Theo than Theodore these days as Theo ranks higher at #50.

1. Théodule

The top name since he inspired this post, and as you might guess from the accent, is used in the French-speaking word, deriving from Greek and meaning slave of God.

2. Theodoric

Unlike the name above, this one has no connections to either Greece or France, instead being of Germanic origins and meaning ruler of the people.

3. Theodotus

This name does come from Greek, and means given to God. Notable for belonging to a handful of early saints and martyrs, but this hasn’t transferred into him being a popular name for the modern child.

4. Theophanes

Another name of Greek origin, this one means manifestation of God. We have both a 14th century Greek painter and an 8th century saint.

5. Theokleia

This is one for the girls, said either thee-oh-KLAY-ah or teh-oh-KLEH-ah. She also comes from Greek, meaning glory of God. An alternative version of the name is Thekla.

Babies in the early ’90s

Let’s number-crunch. Courtesy of my sister, I got my hands on the class lists for her year (grade) at school. The names totalled around 150, and when we factor in the sixth form class list, who are two years older, we have a reasonably sized data covering popular baby names for catholics (catholic school) in England in the early 1990s:

British Babies Born Circa 1990-1994

BOYS – ALPHABETICALLY

Aidan +Aiden

Alexander x3 +Alistair +Alisdair

Andrew x2

Ashley x2

Benjamin x2 +Ben

Bryn +Finn

Christopher x2

Connor +Conor

David x4

Hugo +Hugh +Huw

Jack x5

Jacob +Jakub

James x7

John +Jonathan

Joseph x7 +Joe

Joshua x2

Frederick + Freddie

Matthew x2 +Matteaus

Michael x4

Ryan x2

Theodore +Theo

Thomas x7

William x2 +Liam x2

BOYS – NUMERICALLY (3 or more)

Joseph et al = 8

James = 7

Thomas = 7

Daniel = 6

Alexander et al = 5

Jack = 5

Michael = 4

William et al = 4

Benjamin et al = 3

Hugo et al = 3

Matthew et al = 3

GIRLS – ALPHABETICALLY

Alexandra x2 +Alexa

Alice x2 +Alicia

Amy x2

Ana + Anne +Joanne +Leanne +Rhian +Roxanne

Beatrice +Beatrix x2

Cara +Clare +Clara

Caroline +Karolina

Chloe x3

Eleanor x3 +Ellen x2 +Helen x2 +Helena

Elizabeth +Eliza

Emma x2 +Emily

Esther +Esme

Eugenie x2

Frances x2

Hannah x2

Hayley x2

Jennifer x3

Jessica x3

Kathryn +Catherine +Katie x2

Laura x5 +Lauren

Lucy x4

Lily x2 +Lila +Lillian +Lilia

Maria x2 +Marie

Molly +Mollie

Natasha +Sasha x2

Olivia x3

Sarah +Sara

Sophie x3

Vanessa x2

GIRLS – NUMERICALLY (3 or more)

Eleanor et al = 8

Ana et al = 6

Lily et al =5

Kathryn et al = 4

Lucy = 4

Alexandra et al = 3

Beatrice et al = 3

Cara et al = 3

Chloe = 3

Emma et al = 3

Jennifer = 3

Jessica = 3

Natasha et al = 3

Olivia = 3

Philippa = 3

Sophie = 3

MALE/FEMALE

Daniel x6 +Danielle

George x2 +Georgina

Harry +Hattie +Harriet

Phillip +Philippa x3

Valentino +Valentina

THE IRISH GANG

Sean x2 +Shaun +Sian

Sinead +Seamus +Roisin +Bronagh +Lorcan +Ciara x2 +Niall

Patrick x2

THE NOTABLES

The prevalence of Irish names is not taken as uncommon in a catholic school.

Jack was outnumbered by several names: Joseph, James and Thomas. He began his stay at the top of the UK Top 100 list at the end of the decade. Two of the Jacks had the same surname.

Both of the Ashley’s, born when America embraced the name as a female one, were male.

The Eugenie’s were born just after Princess Eugenie, and the Beatrice/trixes born after Princess Eugenie’s sister: Princess Beatrice.

Non of the Lucy’s were a Lucille, Lucienne etc. They were all just Lucy.

The Emma’s outnumbered the Emily.

From personal knowledge:

-None of the Philippa’s in the list shortens their name to Pippa.

-All of the Eleanor’s were nicknamed Ellie.

* In the interests of not boring you all to death with an endless list of data, any name on the class lists which appeared once, without a similar name has been omitted from the data. This accounts for around 30 names out of the roughly estimated 240 names.

Names Tipped For Stardom

What names are looking like they might explode over the coming years.

Well, one of the major factors in a names popularity depends on the current trend in names. For female names at the moment, people are choosing between the girly (Isabella, Ava) and the not-so-girly (Harper, Finley). Currently, it’s the girly names that dominate the top spots. But, could all that change? As for boys, well, there are names that are consistently in the top spots each year (James, Matthew) and then there are the wildcards (Aiden) that appear due to a sudden preference for that name.

What characteristics will place a name in a likely position for a comeback? Well, if the name is similar to another popular name (Such as how Maribelle is similar to Isabella) it will begin to rise in the name charts, as parents who love the top name look for alternatives.

Another is that of names that have been unpopular for decades, and are beginning to look much more appealling nowadays to parents. These are names such as John and Mary. These names were once top spot names; they have since fallen very much down the name charts. Does this place them in favour for a comeback?

Also, sounds are very important in name, especially for girls. We like how Sophia sounds, so will that mean we’ll begin to like Sylvia soon too? We love Jack and Jacob, so will this mean we’ll start to go crazy about Jake too?

So, here are a list of names I believe are poised to become popular:

Eve, an alternative to Ava and Eva. It has biblical roots, which could help for when people start to turn from the made-up names towards more traditional names once more.

Amelia, it’s similarity to top names Emma and Emily mean it’s bound to start climbing. Amelia is already in the top 20 in Europe, and European trends tend to be a few years ahead of American ones this name looks set to storm the USA.

Violet, Floral names such as Lily are popular, and this name is certainly enjoying more popularity than before.

Lila, the two ‘l’s make it a perfect replacement for Ella. It’s also similar to Lily, another name currently big in Europe.

Verity. We love Grace at the moment. Could this be its successor?

Ivy, another floral name.

Nancy and Wendy. Old-school favourites. Perhaps ready to make a comeback?

Sylvia or Sylvie. Both similar sounding to current favourite Sophia.

Ruby, like Amelia, this name in hot in Europe at the moment.

Leonie, a hot favourite in Germany, could this name’s popularity spread?

Matilda, this name has a lot going for it. It can be shortened to either a boyish nickname such as Mattie, or a girly one such as Tilly.

Harper and Scout. The novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ could help boost both these names. These names are both part of the trend of giving girls more boyish names, and the literary association can only boost their popularity further.

Camden, it’s similarity to Charles and Charlie may place it in a good spot to become their replacement. It’s also a place name.

Milo, could the ‘o’ ending place this name in favour? The similar sounding name Leo has recently started to climb, will the same happen for this name?

Theodore, this name has been low for a few years now, it’s nickname of ‘Theo’ means that this name has the potential to start climbing.

Xavier. The ‘x’ at the start of this name gives it a rather unique feel to it. Names such as Felix and Max are climbing, perhaps due to their ending of ‘x’, so Xavier should start rising as well soon.

Ryder and River. Ryder is a surname that has started to leap up the name charts for boys, as names such as Harper and Sawyer start to drift towards becoming feminine, this puts Ryder in a good position to replace them. River is a name with links to the natural world, as the world’s population face Climate Change, people are starting to become more ‘in-tune’ with the world around them. Could this translate into names?

Kai. It has roots in many cultures, and as people are more likely to have a partner of another race due to the surge in movement of people between countries, its likely that names that appeal to many cultures will become more popular.