Most popular baby names 2020

ended 18. October 2021

This morning, the Office for National Statistics published the most popular first names for baby boys and girls in England and Wales in 2020. The full results are >> here. Key points:

  • Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular names for boys and girls in England and Wales in 2020 for the fifth consecutive year.
  • Ivy and Rosie replaced Grace and Freya in the top 10 girls’ names, while Archie replaced Charlie in the top 10 boys’ names.
  • Mothers aged 35 years and over continued to choose more traditional names, while younger mothers opted for more modern and shortened names.
  • Despite Oliver being the top boys’ name for England and Wales, regionally it was only top in the North East.

Statistician’s comment

“Oliver and Olivia held onto the top spots as the most popular boys’ and girls’ names in 2020 but some interesting changes took place beneath them. We continue to see the age of mothers having an impact on the choice of baby name. Archie jumped into the top 10 boys’ names for the first time, driven by younger mothers as well as the obvious Royal link. While on the girls’ side Ivy rose to sixth place.

“Popular culture continues to provide inspiration for baby names, whether it’s characters in our favourite show or trending celebrities. Maeve and Otis, characters from the popular programme ‘Sex Education’, have seen a surge in popularity in 2020. While the name Margot has been rapidly climbing since actress Margot Robbie appeared in the popular film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’."

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Ruth Bradford
Owner/founder/creator at The Little Black & White Book Project
"Baby names will always be a huge point of conversation but rarely will anyone ever say to your face that they hate the name you've chosen. We made sure to keep ours a secret because literally everyone will have an opinion before the baby is born. Being in the over 35's category, we did end up being quite traditional with both our kids' names."
Dee Featherstone
Founder at The Little Sensory Box
Interestingly I've just ran a social media post about this. I read through some data and found that the name Tiger was on the rise in 2020. However on putting it out to 45,000 followers on Instagram not one came forward with the name Tiger. I'm not sure I would be swayed by the name Tiger no matter how much I was addicted to Tiger King.