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Tag Archives: Baby Center Australia

The Top 50 Names from Baby Center Australia for 2015 (Combined Spellings)

28 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

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Tags

Baby Center Australia, name trends, popular names

GIRLS

  1. Charlotte
  2. Olivia
  3. Amelia
  4. Ava
  5. Sophia
  6. Zoe
  7. Mia
  8. Lily
  9. Isla
  10. Evie
  11. Ruby
  12. Scarlett
  13. Maddison
  14. Sophie
  15. Emily
  16. Chloe
  17. Ella
  18. Ivy
  19. Matilda
  20. Grace
  21. Isabella
  22. Mila
  23. Emma
  24. Isabelle
  25. Layla
  26. Charli
  27. Harper
  28. Sienna
  29. Evelyn
  30. Zara
  31. Aria
  32. Annabelle
  33. Hannah
  34. Abigail
  35. Eva
  36. Willow
  37. Lucy
  38. Georgia
  39. Ellie
  40. Savannah
  41. Alexis
  42. Imogen
  43. Jasmine
  44. Poppy
  45. Piper
  46. Madeline
  47. Maya
  48. Hayley
  49. Mackenzie
  50. Eleanor
BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. Noah
  3. Jack
  4. Lucas
  5. William
  6. Jackson
  7. James
  8. Max
  9. Charlie
  10. Isaac
  11. Oscar
  12. Xavier
  13. Mason
  14. Harrison
  15. Thomas
  16. Liam
  17. Cooper
  18. Lachlan
  19. Alexander
  20. Hunter
  21. Levi
  22. Logan
  23. Elijah
  24. Ethan
  25. Riley
  26. Jayden
  27. Henry
  28. Archie
  29. Hudson
  30. Connor
  31. Sebastian
  32. Aiden
  33. Jacob
  34. Joshua
  35. Leo
  36. Finn
  37. Lincoln
  38. Luca
  39. Harry
  40. Eli
  41. Ryan
  42. Archer
  43. Jake
  44. Harvey
  45. Hugo
  46. Benjamin
  47. Daniel
  48. Samuel
  49. Patrick
  50. Kai

GIRLS

Fastest Risers
Mila (+23), Ivy (+22), Evie (+18)

Fastest Fallers
Mackenzie (-18), Abigail (-16)

New
Georgia, Savannah, Poppy, Piper, Madeline, Hayley, Eleanor

BOYS

Fastest Risers
Oscar, Levi and Finn (+13)

Fastest Fallers
Samuel (-21), Henry (-18)

New
Connor, Harvey, Hugo, Daniel, Patrick, Kai

Note: Baby Center Australia counts births reported by parents on its site.

Top 50 Baby Names of 2014 from Baby Center Australia

10 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

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Tags

Baby Center Australia, name trends, popular names

GIRLS

  1. Ava
  2. Amelia
  3. Charlotte
  4. Olivia
  5. Choe
  6. Ella
  7. Sophie
  8. Mia
  9. Emily
  10. Lily
  11. Zoe
  12. Sophia/Sofia
  13. Madison/Maddison
  14. Ruby
  15. Grace
  16. Isabella
  17. Matilda
  18. Abigail
  19. Harper
  20. Aria
  21. Annabelle
  22. Charlie
  23. Isla
  24. Hannah
  25. Isabelle
  26. Zara
  27. Scarlett
  28. Evie
  29. Emma
  30. Layla
  31. Mackenzie
  32. Imogen
  33. Audrey
  34. Sienna
  35. Alice
  36. Alexis
  37. Lucy
  38. Evelyn
  39. Addison
  40. Ivy
  41. Willow
  42. Eva
  43. Maya
  44. Alyssa
  45. Mila
  46. Elizabeth
  47. Jasmine
  48. Violet
  49. Summer
  50. Ellie
BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. Noah
  3. Jack
  4. Jackson
  5. William
  6. Thomas
  7. Mason
  8. Lucas
  9. Henry
  10. Liam
  11. James
  12. Alexander
  13. Lachlan
  14. Charlie
  15. Cooper
  16. Ethan
  17. Hunter
  18. Xavier
  19. Max
  20. Harrison
  21. Isaac
  22. Aiden
  23. Logan
  24. Oscar
  25. Jacob
  26. Archie
  27. Samuel
  28. Luca
  29. Hudson
  30. Sebastian
  31. Joshua
  32. Elijah
  33. Ryan
  34. Levi
  35. Archer
  36. Riley
  37. Jayden
  38. Leo
  39. Benjamin
  40. Harry
  41. Eli
  42. Dylan
  43. Flynn
  44. Jake
  45. Luke
  46. Lincoln
  47. Jordan
  48. Tyler
  49. Finn
  50. Matthew

GIRLS

Biggest Risers
Harper (+21), Mackenzie (+18), Madison/Maddison (+14), Imogen (+12), Evelyn (+10)

Biggest Fallers
Ivy (-22), Sienna (-20), Maya and Lucy (-13), Emma (-12), Layla (-11)

New to List
Matilda, Aria, Charlie, Alexis, Addison, Willow, Elizabeth, Violet, Summer, Ellie

Gone from List
Ayla, Phoebe, Hayley, Sarah, Poppy, Indiana, Holly, Chelsea, Madeline, Georgia

BOYS

Biggest Risers
Luca (+19), Henry (+18), Hunter (+16), Mason and Sebastian (+13), James (+11)

Biggest Fallers
Benjamin (-21), Riley and Tyler (-12), Ethan and Levi (-11)

New to List
Logan, Hudson, Eli, Dylan, Jake, Luke, Jordan, Finn, Matthew

Gone from List
Connor, Kai, Nathan, Mitchell, Zachary, Ashton, Blake, Hayden, Zac

Baby Name Trends – This Year and Next Year

20 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

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Baby Center Australia, Mark McCrindle, name trends

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Baby Name Trends for 2015

Social researcher Mark McCrindle, whose company puts together the national Top 100, has been asked for his thoughts on next year’s baby name trends. He assures us that creative spellings and fad-driven names prompted by popular movies and television shows are on their way out (hm, really?). Instead, parents will start to look to the past, and choose names of substance that will last for a lifetime.

Here are his predictions for next year’s top five baby name trends:

1. Military Names
As it is the centenary of Gallipoli, our minds will be on all things military, and the names of famous diggers, and other people connected with the Gallipoli campaign, will be covered in the press.

2. Patriotic Names
As the cententary will have us reflecting on all things Australian, we should all be feeling more patriotic and sentimental towards our nation. Australian place names could become more prevalent.

3. Royal Names
The new royal baby in April will cause an upsurge in the names given to them, as well as in royal names in general.

4. The Hundred Year Rule
Many of the names which charted in 1915 should come back into style (and a stack of them have already). Expect to see more names like Ruth, Muriel and Dulcie for girls, and boys’ names like Stanley, Donald, and Basil.

5. More Surnames
Surnames have gone from an annoying fad to the new classic. Expect to see more of them, everywhere, on both sexes.

Baby Name Trends of 2014

Meanwhile, Baby Center Australia released its trends of 2014. They noted:

H Names for Boys
Big gains for names such as Henry, Hunter, Hudson, and Harrison.

Biblical Names a Mixed Bag
Many Biblical names for boys fell sharply, and Benjamin was the name which fell the most. Yet there were gains for James, Thomas, and Noah.

Unusual Names
Baby Center Australia noted boys named Purple and Genesis, and girls named Onyx and Pony.

Famous Name: Abigail

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Baby Center Australia, Biblical names, famous namesakes, hebrew names, modern classics, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, nicknames, popular names

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This month marks 37 years since the soap opera Number 96 left Australian television. It was wildly popular in the 1970s, and one of the country’s most controversial TV shows, featuring nudity and sex scenes, and covering topics such as racism, drug use, rape, adultery, and homosexuality. It was the world’s first TV show to depict a long-term gay male relationship as normal and a “non-issue”.

All the cast of Number 96 became household names, and one of its biggest drawcards was actress Abigail Rogan, who was originally from England, and always known by just her first name. Sultry, blonde, and curvaceous, she was Australia’s #1 sex symbol of the 1970s. She left the show in 1973, and although her acting career lasted another twenty years, she was never again the big star that Number 96 made her.

Having recently covered the classic children’s novel Playing Beatie Bow in the Girls Name from Australian Children’s Literature list, you might remember the main character was named Lynette, but chose a new name for herself. Because her grandmother says she looks like “a little witch”, she asks her mother to suggest “an old witch name” for her, and eventually her mum says Abigail, which is accepted. Her mother reacts with horror, saying Abigail is “so plain, so knobbly, so … so awful”.

Playing Beatie Bow was published in 1980, and the story takes place in 1973, so it seems strange Abigail is seen as a plain, knobbly, awful name suitable for an old witch. Presumably the “witch” comment is because of Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, but the actress Abigail, in the top-rating TV show of the day, had given it a sex kitten image by 1973. Even today, I sometimes hear older people say that Abigail is “too sexy” a name for a little girl.

In the Old Testament, Abigail was the beautiful wife of Nabal, a wealthy but surly man who owned land and livestock around the town of Carmel in Judea. At the time, David, who was destined to be king, was living in the wilderness with a band of men. They had all been outlawed by King Saul, and provided protection to the local shepherds.

During the festivities surrounding the sheep shearing season, David sent a small group of men to Nabal to remind him that his profits from the wool trade were so great partly because of the protection they had been giving his shepherds, along with many fine compliments as to Nabal’s nobility and high lineage, and asking for provisions. Nabal didn’t feel like ponying up the protection food to the Outlaw Mafia, and sent back an extremely rude reply.

Uh oh. Nobody insults Don David, the Sheep Father! Seeing things were going to get sticky, one of David’s men privately saw Nabal’s wife Abigail, telling her of the situation, and explaining what a great job they’d been doing protecting the shepherds (for food out of the kindness of their hearts ). Being not only beautiful, but also intelligent, Abigail saw what a stupendous goof Nabal had made.

While David was on the march with 400 armed men, ready to give Nabal what for, Abigail went to meet him with a retinue of servants laden with provisions. She pleaded with David to accept the gifts she had brought with her, asking that there be no bloodshed, offering to take the blame for Nabal’s actions on herself, and telling David that God would make his dynasty long-lasting, and that David was both sinless, and divinely protected.

Because of her intervention, David realised he was about to commit a terrible deed, and sent Abigail home with many blessings for her advice. Abigail did not tell Nabal what she had done until the following day, as Nabal had been carousing a little too heavily at the sheep-shearing festival to be able to listen. When she did tell him the news, the shock (or the carousing) gave him a heart attack or a stroke, and he died ten days later.

When David heard about Nabal’s death, he realised that God had struck him dead in punishment, and asked Abigail to marry him. She replied by bowing to him with her face on the floor and saying, “Let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord”. Let’s hope he didn’t take that literally; I feel a simple “Yes please that will be lovely” would have sufficed. Because she called herself a handmaid, abigail became a common term for a waiting woman, in use from around the 17th century to the early 20th century.

The Bible praises Abigail for her beauty and brains, and she is seen as a prophet because she recognised David as a future king. She was certainly very brave in confronting a vengeful man leading his own personal army, and a skilled diplomat who had a way with words (a necessary knack for the wife of a grouch like Nabal). Abigail’s name also has a beautiful meaning: it’s from the Hebrew avi (“father”), and gil (“joy”), and can be translated as “father’s joy”.

Abigail first joined the Australian charts in the 1960s, debuting at #652. It rose in the 1970s (a boost from the actress?), then fell to #686 in the 1980s, its lowest point. It began rising steeply in the 1990s, and joined the Top 100 in 2001 at #88. By 2007 it was in the Top 50 at #48, and peaked in 2010 at #24. Currently it is #28 nationally, #28 in New South Wales, #27 in Victoria, #24 in Queensland, #27 in Western Australia, #74 in Tasmania, and #23 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Gail, a short form of Abigail, was on the charts from the 1930s to the 1980s, peaking in the 1950s at #26. However, it is the Ab- shortenings which have been successful more recently, as Abby, Abbie, and Abbey all began charting in the 1980s. Abbey reached highest, rising steeply to peak in the early 2000s at #39, while Abby peaked at the same time at the more modest #75 (but Abby is now the more popular). Abbie peaked at #144 in 2009, and if all spellings were added together, Abigail short forms would be in the Top 50, so a lot more popular than they might otherwise seem.

A while back, I picked Abigail as having the potential to eventually reach #1 – with the data I now have at hand, I can see that probably isn’t going to happen, as it has already peaked. Just to confuse things though, Abigail was one of the fastest-rising names at Baby Center Australia last year, so if you’re in that demographic, you may indeed feel there are more baby Abigails around lately.

But isn’t it interesting that Abigail is popular at all? So many of the popular girls names now are soft and fluid, and yet Abigail is quite strong-sounding, perhaps even harsh to some ears, while Abigail is few people’s chosen Bible heroine.

Strangely enough, in some ways Roxanne, which was covered last week and doesn’t chart at all, seems more like the currently fashionable girl’s names than Abigail! Although Abigail is a beautiful and sophisticated choice, I suspect it’s mostly because of Abigail’s cute short forms that it’s managed to become such a favourite.

POLL RESULTS
Abigail received an excellent approval rating of 75%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2014. People saw the name Abigail as beautiful or pretty (24%), strong and wholesome (18%), and intelligent and professional (17%). However, 8% of people thought it was harsh and ugly. Nobody thought the name Abigail was “too sexy”.

(Picture shows cover of Abigail’s 1973 best-selling “scandalous” autobiography, Call Me Abigail; copies can now sell for hundreds of dollars to collectors)

The Top 50 Most Popular Names from Baby Center Australia for 2013

13 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Baby Center Australia, name trends, popular names

GIRLS

  1. Charlotte
  2. Ava
  3. Chloe
  4. Emily
  5. Olivia
  6. Zoe
  7. Lily
  8. Sophie
  9. Amelia
  10. Sophia
  11. Ella
  12. Isabella
  13. Ruby
  14. Sienna
  15. Mia
  16. Grace
  17. Emma
  18. Ivy
  19. Layla
  20. Abigail
  21. Isla
  22. Hannah
  23. Zara
  24. Lucy
  25. Evie
  26. Annabelle
  27. Madison
  28. Alice
  29. Georgia
  30. Maya
  31. Madeline
  32. Audrey
  33. Scarlett
  34. Isabelle
  35. Chelsea
  36. Mila
  37. Holly
  38. Indiana
  39. Poppy
  40. Harper
  41. Sarah
  42. Alyssa
  43. Jasmine
  44. Imogen
  45. Hayley
  46. Phoebe
  47. Eva
  48. Evelyn
  49. Mackenzie
  50. Ayla
BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. Jack
  3. Jackson
  4. William
  5. Ethan
  6. Charlie
  7. Lucas
  8. Cooper
  9. Lachlan
  10. Noah
  11. Liam
  12. Alexander
  13. Max
  14. Isaac
  15. Thomas
  16. Xavier
  17. Oscar
  18. Benjamin
  19. Aidan
  20. Mason
  21. Samuel
  22. James
  23. Levi
  24. Riley
  25. Harrison
  26. Ryan
  27. Henry
  28. Jacob
  29. Joshua
  30. Leo
  31. Zac
  32. Harry
  33. Hunter
  34. Flynn
  35. Archie
  36. Tyler
  37. Elijah
  38. Hayden
  39. Jayden
  40. Blake
  41. Archer
  42. Ashton
  43. Sebastian
  44. Zachary
  45. Lincoln
  46. Mitchell
  47. Luca
  48. Nathan
  49. Kai
  50. Connor

GIRLS TRENDS

Biggest risers: Layla (+19), Ava (+18), Abigail (+13), Evie (+11)

Biggest fallers: Isabelle (-26), Mackenzie (-21), Scarlett (-17), Madison and Jasmine (-16), Eva (-12)

New to list: Ivy, Alice, Georgia, Maya, Madeline, Audrey, Holly, Indiana, Poppy, Harper, Alyssa, Imogen, Hayley, Phoebe, Evelyn, Ayla

BOYS TRENDS

Biggest risers: Alexander (+14), Charlie, Isaac and Riley (+13), Jack (+12)

Biggest fallers: Nathan (-18), Joshua and Luca (-16), James (-15), Thomas and Jacob (-11), Connor (-10)

New to list: Levi, Leo, Zac, Archie, Tyler, Elijah, Hayden, Archer, Ashton, Sebastian, Zachary, Lincoln, Kai

Name News Round Up

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Baby Center Australia, birth data, birth registries, celebrity names, choosing baby names, fictional namesakes, French names, Kidspot, middle names, name meaning, name trends, names from television, naming laws, popular names, rare names, Starts at Sixty

News

Baby Center Australia has released its most popular names for 2013, with Oliver and Charlotte taking the #1 positions. Names with a strong V featured prominently, including Ava, Evie and Ivy, and X, with Jaxon and Jaxson included along with Jackson. Less common names from the site: Blue, Chevy, Blip and Daxx.

Meanwhile, News Limited looked at data from birth registries all over Australia to see how popular culture is affecting name choices. Some names from Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Downton Abbey, Mad Men, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, and The Big Bang Theory are up, or appearing for the first time. There’s some rubbery figures, with whole groups of names being counted together, and even quite common names like Abby and Catelyn being counted as “pop culture”. Numbers are statistically significant, but overall very low, so no need to panic in regard to popularity. Most interesting factoid: Dexter peaked in 2010 at 67 births, so the chances of this name hitting the Top 100 are slipping away. Also the fairly ridiculous assertion that “popular culture” names will put your child in hospital … Health Department, please release a health warning on names!

Sabrina Rogers-Anderson from Kidspot is French Canadian by origin, and wanted a French middle name for her daughter, so she and her husband chose Fée – French for “fairy”, and pronounced FAY. Unfortunately, when they went to register the baby’s name in New South Wales, they were told that all accents and diacritical marks were forbidden. Rather than name their baby Arabella Fee, they changed the spelling and went with Fae. However, Sabrina believes that the rule is culturally insensitive, as it disallows valid names and spellings from other countries.

Rebel Wylie from Kidspot is expecting baby number three, a boy, and finds that all is not going well in choosing the name. In her tongue-in-cheek article, she claims her husband Andy is not playing fair in the baby name discussions, because he rejects every name she comes up with, but never suggests anything himself. After moaning about it to her girlfriends, it turns out The Sisterhood believes that the mother gets automatic naming rights as the one bonus of an otherwise miserable pregnancy. Rebel enthusiastically becomes a supporter of this theory, and chooses the name herself. She says Andy only gets a say-so if he can come up with something (she likes) better. A lot of angry comments from people who didn’t find it funny, but some interesting ones too.

Starts at Sixty website looked at the top baby names of 1950, with Jennifer and Peter leading the pack. The author of the article opines that in the past, parents were much more interested in tradition and the meanings of names, and chose accordingly, while today parents choose names from favourite places, TV stars, and brand names. I’m not convinced that parents don’t care about name meaning today – I get so many search terms from people looking for a name with a particular meaning. Lots of interesting comments from the 60+ crowd on how their names were chosen – including a Julie who had her name picked out of a hat (meaning and tradition?!) There were also plenty named after film stars, showing that celebrity name inspiration is no new phenomenon.

The Logan Reporter mourns the days when Sally, Jane, David and Brian were popular names. Newsflash from Logan – the 1960s are over. They’re still coping with the time-lag, including some problems with multicultural Australia. Oh dear.

The Top 40 Names at Baby Center Australia for 2012

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

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Tags

Baby Center Australia, popular names

Now that all the official data is out, here are the most popular names from parenting website Baby Center Australia, which has expanded their list from a Top 20 to a Top 40. It counts up the birth announcements from the site’s members, so although it is a national list, it only gives you an idea of name trends amongst the type of parents who join parenting websites (which is really helpful if you happen to fit that demographic yourself). Unlike the data from states and territories, Baby Center combines spellings, so that Isabelle, Isabel, Isobel and Izobelle etc all count as one name

GIRLS

  1. Amelia
  2. Lily
  3. Isabella
  4. Emily
  5. Chloe
  6. Charlotte
  7. Zoe
  8. Isabelle
  9. Olivia
  10. Sophie
  11. Madison
  12. Ruby
  13. Ella
  14. Sienna
  15. Isla
  16. Scarlett
  17. Sophia
  18. Mia
  19. Grace
  20. Ava
  21. Emma
  22. Matilda
  23. Lucy
  24. Hannah
  25. Zara
  26. Abby
  27. Jasmine
  28. Mackenzie
  29. Hayley
  30. Mila
  31. Annabelle
  32. Chelsea
  33. Abigail
  34. Addison
  35. Eva
  36. Evie
  37. Savannah
  38. Layla
  39. Molly
  40. Sarah

BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. Lucas
  3. Ethan
  4. Thomas
  5. Noah
  6. Cooper
  7. James
  8. Jackson
  9. Liam
  10. Xavier
  11. Lachlan
  12. William
  13. Joshua
  14. Jack
  15. Benjamin
  16. Max
  17. Jacob
  18. Samuel
  19. Charlie
  20. Mason
  21. Daniel
  22. Aiden
  23. Ryan
  24. Harrison
  25. Oscar
  26. Alexander
  27. Isaac
  28. Harry
  29. Henry
  30. Jake
  31. Luka
  32. Eli
  33. Flynn
  34. Jayden
  35. Hunter
  36. Lincoln
  37. Riley
  38. Mitchell
  39. Blake
  40. Connor

Name Trends from Baby Center Australia – Girls

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

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Tags

Baby Center Australia, name trends, popular names, Twilight names

Biggest Movers Up

  1. Amelia +11
  2. Isabella +10
  3. Isabelle +9
  4. Zoe +8
  5. Madison/Maddison +7

Also Up

Isla, Scarlett, Emily, Sophia, Lily

Amelia gained the most popularity, going up 11 places to make #1. This does remind me of an article from last year, which said that Amelia proved an across-the-board favourite in Sydney. This name is increasingly rapidly in popularity in the US, and is already #1 in the UK, so it doesn’t seem outrageous to predict it reaching that position here too. Isabella and Isabelle also did very well, after Isabella had a fall last year (said to be because Twilight came to an end; no word on what has made it more popular again). New to the Top 20 – Isla, Scarlett and Sophia.

Biggest Movers Down

  1. Charlie -21 at least
  2. Ava -13
  3. Lucy -9
  4. Ruby -9
  5. Mia and Sophie -8

Also Down

Ella, Chloe, Hannah, Olivia, Grace, Sienna, Charlotte, Emma

Charlie has fallen dramatically, not just off the Top 20, but right off the Top 40. Interestingly, Charlotte fell slightly too. Lucy, Emma and Hannah also left the Top 20. Ava dropped more than 10 places; maybe Eva is rising to take its place?

New to the Top 20

  • Isla #15
  • Scarlett #16
  • Sophia #17

Gone from the Top 20

  • Lucy #14
  • Emma #19
  • Charlie #20
  • Hannah #20

Name Trends from Baby Center Australia – Boys

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

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Tags

Baby Center Australia, celebrity baby names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, name trends, names from movies, popular names, surname names, unisex names

Biggest Movers Up

  1. James +14 at least
  2. Cooper +11
  3. Xavier +9
  4. Jackson +8
  5. Liam and Thomas +6

Also Up

Benjamin, Lucas, Samuel, Ethan, Mason

James returned to the Top 20 after dropping off it in 2011 – Baby Center suggests the 50th anniversary of James Bond films may be a factor, which doesn’t seem too implausible. Samuel is also back on the list, no theories as to why. Xavier was new to the list last year, and continues his ascent; Benjamin was new too, and went up slightly. Baby Center believes this because of model Gisele Bundchen’s son Benjamin, born in 2009. Cooper and Jackson are two surname names doing well, with Mason new to the Top 20. Liam made modest gains, which Baby Center attributes to the success of One Direction. As Harry is suddenly doing really well in the official data, this seems fairly convincing.

Biggest Movers Down

  1. Riley -25
  2. Charlie -11
  3. William -9
  4. Aiden -8
  5. Alexander and Jack -8

Also Down

Lachlan, Max, Jacob, Joshua, Noah

Riley really stood out, diving 25 places right off the Top 20, and Charlie also fell more than 10 places, so it became less popular for both sexes. Old favourites William and Jack took a bit of a tumble, while Alexander, new to the Top 20 last year, left it this year. Oliver was the only name to stay at the same position, maintaining his presence as the #1 name. Baby Center noted that there were fewer alternative spellings for boys’ names in 2012, suggesting a shift back to basics.

New or Returned to the Top 20

  • Samuel #18
  • Mason #20

Gone from the Top 20

  • Riley #12
  • Alexander #18

No Change in Position

  • Oliver #1

Baby Center Australia Releases Its Name List for 2011

10 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by A.O. in Name Data

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Baby Center Australia, Biblical names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, name data, name popularity, name trends, nature names, nicknames, popular culture, popular names, royal names, unique names, unisex names

There have been several stories in the press about how babycenter.au has revealed the top names of 2011. What they don’t say is that this isn’t based on birth data from registries, but just on names chosen and made public by the members of the website.

Baby Center also combines spelling of names, which in some ways gives a more accurate impression of the most popular names; on the other hand, it won’t necessarily gel with what the official data says. So yes, take notice of these trends (especially as they are the closest thing we have to a national survey) but they are not the final word on the subject by any means.

Most Popular Girls’ Names

  1. Chloe
  2. Sophie
  3. Ruby
  4. Charlotte
  5. Olivia
  6. Lily
  7. Ava
  8. Ella
  9. Emily
  10. Mia
  11. Sienna
  12. Amelia
  13. Isabella
  14. Lucy
  15. Zoe
  16. Grace
  17. Isabelle
  18. Maddison
  19. Emma
  20. Charlie (tied with Hannah)

Most Popular Boys’ Names

  1. Oliver
  2. Noah
  3. William
  4. Lachlan
  5. Ethan
  6. Jack
  7. Lucas
  8. Charlie
  9. Joshua
  10. Thomas
  11. Max
  12. Riley
  13. Jacob
  14. Aiden
  15. Liam
  16. Jackson
  17. Cooper
  18. Alexander
  19. Xavier
  20. Benjamin

Trends in Boys Names

Jack declines in popularity, and loses his position at #1 to Oliver. Old Testament names for boys continue to increase in popularity; big risers include Jacob, Noah and Joshua. William went to #3, which they attribute to the Royal Wedding, although William has been extremely popular for many years.

Dropping from the list are James, Samuel and Ryan, to be replaced by Alexander, Xavier and Benjamin. If Ryan really does drop significantly it will be interesting, as it has remained stable for around two decades.

Trends in Girls Names

Chloe moves into the #1 spot, while Lily declines in popularity. Isabella falls further down the charts, which Baby Center assures us is due to the Twilight series coming to an end. I’m not sure how they make this tally with the fact that Isabella was popular in the 1990s, while the first Twilight novel wasn’t published until 2005. Nor does this explain the increasing popularity of Jacob, which is also a name from Twilight.

Baby Center places Charlie for girls in the Top 20, because they combine it with the spellings for Charli. Although I think Charlie will be in the Girls Top 100 for 2011, I don’t think it will be Top Twenty. Baby Center also assures us most girls named Charlotte (#4) will be called Charlie in everyday life. I’m not sure where they have gained this information from.

Matilda and Georgia have dropped off the list altogether.

Unique Names

So if these are the popular names, what about the names that were given to only one baby on the website?

Boys: Audi, Brisbane, Fonzie, Harlem, Hawk, Haze, Hendrix, Hercules, Matisse, Rocky, Rome, Spirit, Toohey, Voltaire, Westin

Girls: Breeze, Clover, Deep, Halo, Justice, Lake, Oceana, Rain, Rainbow, Sailor, Serenity, Spring, Star, Storm, Vanilla, Zen

I somehow think that more than one baby received at least some of these names this year, although I expect all of them will be rare.

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