The top baby names in the United Kingdom for 2024 have been revealed, with interesting comparisons to those in the United States.
The Office for National Statistics has released the most popular baby names in England and Wales for 2024, with firm favorites remaining on top, and others beginning to rise in popularity
In the U.S., the most popular boy’s name of 2024 was Liam, which landed in the top spot alongside Olivia, which proved the most popular girl’s name of the year, according to the U.S. Social Security website.
Classic and biblical names made up much of the boy’s top 10 in the U.S., with Liam followed by Noah, Oliver, Theodore, James, Henry, Mateo, Elijah, Lucas and William finishing the list.
For girls, Olivia was followed by classic feminine names Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Sophia, Isabella, Evelyn, Ava and Sofia.
The U.K.’s recently-released list showed much in common when it came to girls in England: Olivia was also the most-popular girl’s name across the pond, with 2,761 baby girls given that name in 2024: it has remained the most popular girl name in England for almost a decade.
Olivia also held the top spot in the U.S. in 2023, 2022, and 2021, overtaking Sophia, which until then had claimed the most popular girls’ name.
In England in 2024, Amelia, third in the U.S., came in second place, with the following names finishing the top 10: Lily, Isla, Ivy, Florence, Freya, Poppy, Ava and Elsie.
The top 10 boys’ names in England also had much in common with the U.S., with Noah, Oliver, and Theo each making it into both countries’ top 10.
However, while Liam has been the top boys’ name in the U.S. for several years, in 2024 it only reached 68 in England, while William was far more popular, in 27th place.
Muhammed was the top name for boys, with 5,721 baby boys given that name in 2024, followed by Noah, with 4,139, then Oliver, Arthur, Leo, George, Luca, Theodore, Oscar and Archie finishing the top 10.
The latter is royally approved, with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle naming their first-born son Archie in 2019, while Prince George is set to become king in the future.
Mohammed and Mohammad also appeared in the top 100: in 2014, Professor David Voas, expert in population studies from the University of Essex, told U.K. outlet Channel 4’s FactCheck that the reason for the popularity of these boys’ names in the U.K. is “relatively little variation” in Muslim names for boys.
He explained: “A higher proportion of Muslims give their male children the name Muhammad, in one variation or another. For non-Muslims, there is a huge range of everything.”
There were some new entries in the top 100 list of girls’ names in England and Wales, including Eloise, Nora, Athena and Myla.
For boys, new names in the top 100 included Austin, Nathan, Vinnie and Yahya.
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