What are the most popular names in Scotland?
What does Horatio, Ziggy, Ultan, Munro, Wanda and Khloe all have in common? They were all babies that were born in Scotland in 2017 and they are one of a kind. Well everyone is unique but what I mean by that is that theses are some of the names that only one baby was given in Scotland last year.
When I was at Primary School there were 2 Lynnes in my class although the other one actually spelt her name, "Lynn". However we were always known as Lynne G and Lynn W. I always wished just to be known as Lynne. In fact the year I was born there were 332 of us born in Scotland so it was no wonder that through Senior School, University and work I would usually meet someone with the same name as me. However If I had been born after 2013 I would have been unique too! There have been no baby Lynnes in Scotland since then!
According to the National Records of Scotland, 52,874 babies were born last year. Of those babies 8.1% of boys and 11.6% of girls had unique first names. For me, in the personalised gift industry business, this is wonderful news!
Indeed more and more parents now look for unique names or spelling that no one else will have whilst nearly 10% of parents to be, ensure that their chosen name is not a "Top 100 choice".
Can you guess the most popular names in Scotland last year? It was exactly the same as 2016 = Jack was the most popular boy name and Olivia was the most popular girl name. What I did find really fascinating was the difference between regions. In Edinburgh the most popular names last year were Alexander and Isla, In Dundee Noah and Amelia were the favourites, Falkirk saw Oliver and Lily hit number one as the most popular name in that area, Fifers preferred Jack and Emily, Muhammad and Olivia were the top names in Glasgow and Oliver and Olivia were the most common names in Aberdeen.
And what about 2018? What are the potential trends in Baby names this year? Well you are going to have to wait until next months Blog when I reveal what I have heard so far in the naming world!
Since writing this, the National Register of Scotland released the most popular names in Scotland for 2018. Jack continued to be the most popular name with Oliver and James tied in second place and then Logan. Olivia continued to be the most popular baby girl name in Scotland with Emily in 2nd place and then Isla - the same order as 2017. I wonder if it will be the same for 2019?