Baby names: Amelia and Oliver top

England and Wales list

17 August 2015

From the sectionUK

Oliver and Amelia were the most popular baby names in England and
Wales in 2014 for the second year running.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 6,649 baby boys were
named Oliver, while 5,327 girls were called Amelia.
Jack, Harry and Jacob were the runners-up among the most popular boys' names,
and Olivia, Isla and Emily for girls.
Characters from TV show Game Of Thrones have been inspiring some parents, with
babies named Arya, Khaleesi and Tyrion.
Oliver topped the boys' table in Wales and seven of the nine English regions,
with Muhammad heading the London list.
New entrants to the top 100 included Robyn, Nancy and Lottie for girls and
Jackson, Joey and Ellis for boys.

What's in a name?
Olivers - most popular boys name
Amelias - most popular girls name

For boys, Dexter has seen the largest increase in popularity over the past decade,
and Kian had the biggest jump since last year.
Harper, the name David and Victoria Beckham chose for their daughter in 2011,
has seen the largest rise in the girls' list. The name was 89th most popular in 2014
(up 3,636 places since 2004).

The top 10 baby girls' names were:

Amelia

Olivia

Isla

Emily

Poppy

Ava

Isabella

Jessica

Lily

Sophie

The leading boys' names were:

Oliver

Jack

Harry

Jacob

Charlie

Thomas

George

Oscar

James

William

Source: ONS

Can you name your child anything?

Laws on registering births in England and Wales do not include rules on what
names can and cannot be used
The General Register Office advises registrars that names "should
consist of a sequence of letters" and should not be "offensive"

If registrars have "concerns" over a name they should "point out the
problems the child may face" and ask the parents to reconsider

The only restriction on the length of names is that they must fit "in the
space provided on the registration page"

1. Discuss these questions: Is your name traditional or modern? Does your

name have a translation in other languages? Does anyone in your family share
your name? Do you know any famous people with the same name as you? How
do people in your country usually choose a childs name?