Baby names: Oliver knocked off top spot by Noah

London, Oct 5 (PTI) Noah has replaced Oliver to become the most popular name for baby boys in the UK, the media reported on Wednesday.

According to official birth data for 2021 in England and Wales, Olivia remained the most popular name for girls for the sixth year in a row while Noah replaced Oliver which held the top spot for eight years.

New top 10 entries included Willow and Henry, kicking Jack out of the top 10 for the first time since 1996, the BBC reported.

The data said Brody and Olive, rising 36 and 25 places respectively from 2020, were the big movers into the top 100.

In all, 4,525 baby boys were named Noah last year, moving it to the top spot, from fourth place in 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows.

Meanwhile, the name Olivia was given to 3,649 baby girls. It has been the most popular girl's name since 2016, according to the ONS.

Freya, Florence, and Willow replaced Isabella, Rosie, and Sophia in the top 10 names for girls, the data said, adding that it is the first time since 1996 that Florence and Willow have appeared in the top 10.

Lara, Beatrice and Sara were new entries in the top 100 for girls.

In the boys' list, Brody and Rupert made it into the top 100 names for the first time, along with Kai, Tobias, Nathan, and Blake.

Regionally, Muhammad was found to be the most popular boy's name in four regions while Olivia was the most popular name in Wales and every English region except the East Midlands, where Amelia came top.

On the endangered names in the list are Glenda and Kerry, says the ONS, as fewer than five girls were given these names every year since 2018.

Clifford, Nigel, and Norman have also fallen out of favour with 10 or fewer boys taking the name. Leslie is among the least popular with fewer than seven babies given that name each year since 2018.

The ONS also found older mums continue to give their babies more traditional names and younger mums go for more modern names or shorter versions of traditional names, part of a long-running trend.

While it is not clear exactly what is behind parents' baby-naming decisions, popular culture seems to play a part, with Hollywood a major influence, a BBC report said.

James Ticker, from the ONS, said: "Popular culture continues to influence parents' baby name choices." Disney Pixar's 2021 film Luca may have helped the name jump to the 28th most popular. It was given to 1,807 babies last year, compared to 1,323 in 2020.

Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon movie, also released last year, saw registrations of the name more than double in one year to 251 births.

Popstars also seem to be influencing a rise in less common names. There were 14 times the number of baby boys named Ezra - the second name of singer George Ezra - in 2021 compared to a decade ago.

As many as 885 baby girls were called Mabel - with the Finders Keepers singer possibly providing the inspiration, while Bowie and Ziggy, which have been growing in popularity since the death of late pop legend David Bowie and his alter-ego being Ziggy Stardust, continued to rise for both boys and girls.

The Duke of Sussex's second child Lilibet born last year appears to be behind eight Lilibets being registered, compared to fewer than three in each of the previous seven years.

Reality TV royalty, the Kardashians, could have inspired an increase in the name Saint, the child of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West as 59 babies were given that name in 2021, compared with five in 2015 when he was born. PTI PY AKJ PY PY