Top 10 Baby Names of Various English-Speaking Countries (2016)

Today the Office of National Statistics released the most popular baby names of England and Wales in 2016!  Here’s the combined top 10 for girls:

1. Olivia (+1 rank change); replaced Amelia as #1
   
2. Amelia (-1 rank change)
   
3. Emily (0 rank change)
   
4. Isla (0)
   
5. Ava (0)
   
6. Isabella (+2)
   
7. Lily (new; +6).  Lily expelled Poppy from the top 10…who knew Highlander jokes could apply to flower names?
   
8. Jessica (-1)
   
9. Ella (-3)
   
10. Mia (-1).
    

And the combined top 10 for boys:

1. Oliver (0)
   
2. Harry (+1)
   
3. George (+1)
   
4. Jack (-2)
   
5. Jacob (0)
   
6. Noah (+1)
   
7. Charlie (-1)
   
8. Muhammad (+4; new).  Replaces William
   
9. Thomas (0)
   
10. Oscar (0)
    

The ONS also releases separate English and Welsh top 100 lists.  

Here’s the top 10 for England:

Girls:

1. Olivia (+1)
   
2. Amelia (-1)
   
3. Emily (0)
   
4. Isla (0)
   
5. Ava (0)
   
6. Jessica (0)
   
7. Isabella (+1)
   
8. Lily (+5; new); replaces Poppy
   
9. Ella (-2)
   
10. Mia (0)
    

Boys:

1. Oliver (0)
   
2. George (+2)
   
3. Harry (+1)
   
4. Jack (-2)
   
5. Jacob (+1)
   
6. Noah (+2)
   
7. Charlie (-2)
   
8. Muhammad (+4; new); replaces William
   
9. Thomas (-2)
   
10. Oscar (0)
    

And for Wales:

Girls:

1. Olivia (+1)
   
2. Amelia (-1)
   
3. Ella (+3)
   
4. Ava (-1)
   
5. Isla (-1)
   
6. Emily (-1)
   
7. Evie (+4)
   
8. Mia (-1)
   
9. Lily (0)
   
10. Isabelle (+8); replaces Isabella.  An equal number of girls were named Sophia and Isabelle in 2016, but Isabelle lands herself in the top 10 through alphabetic seniority.

Boys:

1. Oliver (0)
   
2. Jacob (0)
   
3. Noah (+2)
   
4. Jack (0)
   
5. Oscar (+2)
   
6. Harry (+3)
   
7. Charlie (-4)
   
8. Alfie (-2)
   
9. George (0)
   
10. William (-2)
    

Scotland and Northern Ireland release their own lists at different points in the year despite belonging to the United Kingdom.

Scotland’s Top 10:

Girls:

1. Olivia (+2)
2. Emily (-1)
3. Sophie (-1)
4. Isla (0)
5. Ava (+1)
6. Amelia (+1)
7. Jessica (-2)
8. Ella (0)
9. Lucy (0)
10. Charlotte (+11; new); replaces Lily
    

Boys:

1. Jack (0)
2. James (+1)
3. Oliver (-1)
4. Lewis (0)
5. Noah (+10; new)
6. Logan (+2)
7. Harry (+9; new)
8. Alexander (-3)
9. Leo (+4; new)
10. Charlie (-4)

Noah, Harry, and Leo replaced Lucas, Harris, and Daniel.

Northern Ireland’s Top 10:

1. Emily (0)
   
2. Grace (+1)
   
3. Olivia (+2)
   
4. Anna (+2)
   
5. Sophie (-1)
   
6. Lily (+9; new)
   
7. Amelia (0)
   
8. Ella (-6)
   
9. Ava (+1)
   
10. Sophia (+2; new); replaces Aoife
    

Boys:

1. James (+1)
   
2. Jack (-1)
   
3. Oliver (+3)
   
4. Charlie (-1)
   
5. Noah (-2)
   
6. Harry (+2)
   
7. Jacob (+5; new)
   
8. Daniel (-3)
   
9. Matthew (-2)
   
10. Alfie (+3; new).
    

Jacob and Alfie replaced Thomas and Jake. 

Now let’s step outside the U.K. and look at the Republic of Ireland’s Top 10 Baby Names for 2016. 

Girls:

1. Emily (0)
2. Grace (+6)
3. Ava (0)
4. Lucy (+4)
5. Sophie (-1)
6. Amelia (0)
7. Emma (-5)
8. Mia (+2)
9. Hannah (+3; new)
   
10. Lily (+1; new)

Hannah and Lily replaced Chloe and Ella.

Boys:

1. James (+1)
2. Jack (-1)
3. Conor (+1)
4. Daniel (0)
5. Sean (0)
6. Noah (+1)
7. Adam (-1)
8. Oisin (+4; new); replaces Charlie. 
   
9. Michael (-1)
10. Luke (0)

New Zealand also has a list.

Girls:

1. Olivia (0)
2. Charlotte (0)
3. Isla (+4)
4. Harper (+1)
5. Ella (+1)
6. Amelia (+3)
7. Emily (-2)
8. Mia (0)
9. Sophie (-5)
10. Ava (+5; new); replaces Isabella
    

Boys:

1. Oliver (0)
2. Jack (0)
3. William (0)
4. Mason (+2)
5. James (-1)
6. Hunter (+1)
7. Noah (+4; new)
8. Lucas (+6; new)
9. Leo (+15; new)
10. Max (+3; new)

Noah, Lucas, Leo, and Max replaced Jacob, Liam, Charlie, and Benjamin. 

Unfortunately, neither Canada nor Australia have official national lists.  Individual provinces produce their data every year, but I don’t think they all do.  That said, we can always make comparisons with the U.S. list! 

U.S. Top 10:

Girls:

1. Emma (0)
2. Olivia (0)
3. Ava (+1)
4. Sophia (-1)
5. Isabella (0)
6. Mia (0)
7. Charlotte (+2)
8. Abigail (-1)
9. Emily (-1)
10. Harper (0)

Boys:

1. Noah (0)
2. Liam (0)
3. William (+2)
4. Mason (-1)
5. James (+2)
6. Benjamin (+4)
7. Jacob (-3)
8. Michael (+1)
9. Elijah (+2; new); replaces Alexander
   
10. Ethan (-4)

Thoughts?  It’s always interesting to see which names are especially popular in some places compared to others. 

Sources / Where you can find the data:

• Office for National Statistics (England and Wales)
• National Records of Scotland
• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
• Central Statistics Office (Republic of Ireland)
• Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)
• Social Security Administration (United States)