All the birth data from 2013 is in, both national and state, but what about the names that are popular in your particular city or region? For most of you, I can’t really help out. But in those few cases where local papers published some statistics, they provided some interesting comparisons with the data overall.

In only a few cases does the information come from birth registries. Most of it is taken from birth notices, and you have to remember that not everyone puts a birth notice in the paper when they have a baby – these days many people prefer to use social media, or even just send everyone a text. It is also becoming less common for local papers to have a section in the paper for birth notices.

Information from hospitals can be incomplete too, because (apart from people having home births) parents haven’t always chosen a baby name in advance to give the paper. I notice from viewing baby photos released from hospitals that people from other cultures usually don’t give a name when they are photographed, and I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s usual to choose the name some time after birth, or whether it isn’t customary to tell strangers the name of a new baby.

So by no means official, but still worth a read, especially if you are from one of these areas.

In the Newcastle area, in the Hunter Valley region, the most popular boy’s name was William, and the most popular girl’s name was Olivia. Other popular boys’ names were Lachlan at #2, Charlie at #3, and Cooper and Darcy at #4 and #5. For girls, it was Lilly at #2, Lucy #3, Mia #4 and Ruby #5. During the year, I looked through all the baby photos released by Newcastle hospitals, and was surprised at how few Jacks and Charlottes there were, while Stellas and Calebs abounded.

The NSW birth registry revealed that the most popular names for babies in the Clarence Valley region around the city of Grafton were Harrison and Ruby, and there was an equal number of babies with either of these names.

In Tamworth, in the New England region, Lachlan and Matilda were the most popular names, and for boys, William and Liam were the next-most popular boys’ names. Popular girls’ names included Chloe, Elizabeth, Indi and Willow. There were significantly more boys in the paper than girls – 93 to 57.

In Orange, in New South Wales’ Central West region, the most popular baby names were James, Amelia and Annabelle. Other popular boys’ names were Isaac, William, Thomas and George, while popular girls’ included Isabella, Isabelle, and Lara.

In Mudgee, also in the Central West, the most popular baby name was Charlie as a boy’s name, with Archer, David, Logan and Liam all appearing more than once. There don’t seem to have been any girls’ names which appeared more than once.

I saw all the baby photos released from the hospital in the city of Queanbeyan, in the Eden-Monaro region, and the #1 baby name overall was Henry – 30% of all babies bore this name, with about two-thirds of the boys called Henry.

In Wagga Wagga, in the Riverina region, the most popular boy’s name was Brock (not in the Top 100), and the most popular girl’s name was Evie. Charlie, Darcy, Isaac, Jacob, Mason and Tom came second for boys, with Ivy the second-most popular girl’s name, and Matilda and Georgie tieing for third spot. There was no third place winners for boys.

In Albury and Wodonga, which straddle the border between New South Wales and Victoria, the most popular boy’s name was Jack, and the most popular girls’ names were Grace and Lily. Harry and Oliver were second for the boys, and Chloe for the girls. Patrick and William were third for the boys, while there was no clear winner for third place amongst the girls, with nine names receiving the same amount of use – Ella, Elsie, Evie, Imogen, Isla, Lara, Mia, Pippa and Scarlett.

In Ballarat, in Victoria’s Central Highlands, the most popular names for boys were Jack or Jackson #1, Tom or Thomas #2, Hudson and William #3, Cooper #4, and Harrison, Harry or Henry #5. For girls it was Charlotte and Ruby #1, Emily #2, Ella #3, Annabelle, Isabelle, Mila, Mia and Sophie at #4, and Ava, Isabella, Indianna, Matilda and Madison at #5. It was noted how the number of birth notices had dwindled over the years, with the rise of Facebook and other social media.

In Warrnambool, on Victoria’s south-west coast, William and Liam were the most popular boys’ names, with Matilda most popular for girls. Jackson, in all its spelling variants, was second for boys, and Charlotte second for girls.

In Hamilton in western Victoria, the most popular baby names were William and Mia, with other popular names for boys being Aiden and Thomas, while Amelia, Ava, Beatrice, Emma, Fiona, Grace, Lucy, Olivia, Jessica, Matilda, Ruby and Sophie were popular for girls. Hamilton also counts middle name usage, with Grace the most common middle name overall.

In the Wimmera region around the city of Horsham in western Victoria, the most popular boy’s name was Jack, and there was no clear winner for girls’ names, although Evie, Holly, Layla, Mia, Pippa, Zara and Zoe were all used more than once. There were more birth notices for boys – 107 boys to 80 girls.

In Queensland, birth registries made some note of regional popularity. Lachlan was the #1 name in Townsville, and tied with Jack for first place in Cairns and the Rockhampton area. Cooper was the most popular boy’s name name in Ipswich, while Hunter came first in the Wide Bay region. Mia was #1 in both the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast regions, Olivia was #1 for girls in Ispwich, and Ruby was #1 for girls in Cairns.

Hospitals in Mackay in Central Queensland revealed that the top names for boys were Braxton and Nate, while for girls they were Lilly and Seanna (which has never charted – is this a misprint for Sienna?).

In Port Lincoln, on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, the most popular names for boys were Noah, Levi and Hunter, while Ella, Olive and Mila were most popular for girls. The paper noted that two out of three of the Ellas had the same middle name – they were both Ella Michelle. The most popular middle name for girls was Rose, and William and James were the most popular middle names for boys.

(Photo is of the town of Mudgee)