The Australian Top 10

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2 Contents The Australian Top More babies, less convergence... 3 The Hundred-Year Return influences Australia s top baby names... 4 William first across four states but Oliver most popular across the nation... 5 Charlotte takes a strong lead 3 years in a row... 5 Top 10 boy trends and insights... 5 Top 10 girl trends and insights new boy names and 11 new girl names in Top 100 list... 6 Most significant leaps and declines... 6 There s a ring to it... 7 Boys names feature less syllables... 7 Gendered names triumph and popular boys names not just for boys... 8 Creative spellings prominent, especially for girls... 8 Australian states versus states... 9 Rising with the stars... 9 Religious influences strong and ongoing We ll never be royals, but we ll name our kids after them Most popular Australian royal names of 22 current royal names are top baby names too New Zealand s Top 10 Baby Names New Zealand baby names see royal influence decline Sources Contact Us Australia s Top 100 Girls Names Australia s Top 100 Boys Names New Zealand s Top 100 Girls Names New Zealand s Top 100 Boys Names

3 The Australian Top 10 Rank Boys Girls 1 Oliver Charlotte 2 William Olivia 3 Jack Ava 4 Noah Emily 5 Jackson/Jaxon Mia 6 James Amelia 7 Thomas Ruby 8 Ethan Sophia/Sofia 9 Lucas Chloe 10 Cooper Sophie Table 1. Top 10 most popular baby names in Australia, In 2013, 1 in 10 Australian babies were given one of the Top 10 most popular baby names 31,983 babies out of just over 300,000 births! There were more than 2,082 boys born named Oliver and 1,969 girls named Charlotte last year. More babies, less convergence While Australia is setting new records in the number of babies born per year having reached over 315,000 in 2013 parents are being more original in the baby names they choose with fewer babies being given one of the Top 20 names. While in 2012 the Top 20 baby names accounted for 28,301 baby girls and 29,083 baby boys, these figures dropped to 26,788 baby girls and 28,198 baby boys in the 2013 calendar year. Parents are congregating less around the most popular names as part of an ongoing trend towards choosing less common names for their newborns. In fact, 40.6% of babies born in the 2012 calendar year were named one of the Top 100 baby names, with this figure reducing to 39.6% for the 2013 calendar year. Parents are more likely to choose more common names for baby boys, with 9,267 baby boys in Australia given a Top 5 name in 2013, compared with only 8,239 baby girls given a Top 5 name. Growing is parental desire to impart uniqueness and individuality to their children, especially for baby girls! 3

4 The Hundred-Year Return influences Australia s top baby names The trend in baby-naming in Australia is for the traditional over the trendy. There is a Hundred-Year Return theme taking place in Australia, with many of the top names of today also in the top names of a century ago, while names of a few decades ago have fallen out of favour. Many of today s most common baby names were popular in the early 20th century and have seen a significant resurgence in the early 21st century. This is illustrated by the NSW Government, which records nearly two fifths (39%) of all of Australia s births, in an interactive baby names data visualisation. William is an example of the hundred-year return, having ranked 2 nd overall in NSW in the 1910s and ranking in top place again in NSW from 2009 onwards. Jack climbed up to 5 th place in the 1920s in NSW before seeing a steep decline from the 1940s to 1970s, with a marked resurgence between the year 2000 and Ruby was a popular girls name at the turn of the 20 th century, coming to a near decline from the 19050s to 1970s but climbing significantly in popularity since the 1990s. Figure 1 William s Hundred-Year Return, NSW, NSW Government Figure 2 Jack s Hundred-Year Return, NSW, NSW Government Figure 3 Ruby's 'Hundred-Year Return,' NSW, NSW Government 4

5 William first across four states but Oliver most popular across the nation Oliver has emerged as Australia s top boy baby name for the first time in Australia s history. Climbing steadily from a rank of 4 th in 2010, 5 th in 2011, and 3 rd in 2012, Oliver has leaped to 1 st place in 2013, overtaking both William (1 st in 2010 and 2012) and Jack (1 st in 2011). Oliver was the top boys name in three states/territories (QLD, SA, TAS), while William topped the list in four states/territories (NSW, ACT, VIC, and NT) and Jack took the lead in WA. While William topped the list across more states than any other boys name, numerically there were 37 more occurrences of Oliver than William across the nation. In 2013, there were 2,082 babies named Oliver, 2,045 named William, and 1,909 named Jack. While Jack is currently in 3 rd place, the strength and popularity of the name is highlighted by the rise of Jackson/Jaxon making its way into the Top 5 for the first time (and into the Top 10 for the first time in 2012)! If the names Jack, Jackson, and Jaxon were to be combined, they would tally 3,481 baby boys clearly the most popular name! Charlotte takes a strong lead 3 years in a row Since 2011 Charlotte has taken the lead in girls names, remaining strong in 1 st place and the choice for 1969 girls in The popularity of the name Charlotte is evident while last year Charlotte outnumbered the 2 nd place name Ruby by only 47 occurrences, this year Charlotte tops the list with an astounding 355 more occurrences than Olivia in 2 nd place. Top 10 boy trends and insights All of the Top 10 boys names from 2013 have held on to their Top 10 ranking in 2014, with the most notable rise by Jackson/Jaxon climbing from 10 th to 5 th place. James saw a rise of two places while Noah held 4 th place for the second year. Thomas and Cooper both dropped by one place, Lucas dropped by 2, and Ethan dropped 3 places in the Top 3 list. Top 10 girl trends and insights Sophia/Sofia has entered the Top 10 girls list in 2013 for the first time, ahead of Sophie by two places. If the names Sophie, Sophia, and Sofia were to be combined, they would tally a total of 2,899 baby girls in 2013 and be the clear first in girls names! Ava has had the most significant increase in popularity since 2012, climbing 7 places from 10 th to 3 rd. Emily, Mia, and Amelia have each climbed by 3 rankings and Emily climbed by 2 ranks from 6 th to 4 th. 5

6 The most significant decrease in popularity of the Top 10 girls names was experienced by Lily/Lilly, dropping from 3 rd place in 2012 to 12 th in Ruby remained in the Top 10 list but dropped by 5 places from 2 nd to 7 th and Chloe and Sophie both dropped by 2 rankings. 8 new boy names and 11 new girl names in Top 100 list The Top 100 list saw 8 new boys names and 11 new girls names enter the list. The names Louis, Nathaniel, Felix, Aaron, Lewis, Parker, Jett, and Seth entered the Top 100 in place of Declan, Cameron, Zac, Gabriel, Christopher, Callum, Andrew, and Muhammad which dropped out of the Top 100. The shift in baby girl names saw an entrance into the Top 100 list of Penelope, Ayla, Harriet, Daisy, Elsie, Indie, Pippa, Indigo, Nevaeh, Payton, and Ariana, which replaced 11 names which dropped below 100 th : Amy, Tahlia, Kayla, Gabriella, Josephine, Mariam, Angelina, Elise, Ebony, Lacy and Lauren. Most significant leaps and declines Ryder, Hudson, and Lincoln had the most significant increases in popularity among boys names Ryder leaped 21 places to 65 th, Hudson jumped 18 places to 33 rd, and Lincoln moved 17 places to 50 th. Leo and George also increased their ranking by more than 10 places Leo jumping to 39 th from 54 th and George taking 60 th place from 71 st in the previous year. Hamish was not so lucky, experiencing the largest drop of the boys, falling 17 places to 89 th. Dylan and Hayden shared in their misfortune, both names plunging 16 places to 56 th and 68 th, respectively. The most significant leap in girls names was found among Aria which rose 26 places to 57 th overall. Eloise, Lillian, and Evelyn saw increases of 19, 18, and 16 places, respectively. Molly experienced the biggest decline in popularity from 2012 to 2013, dropping 19 places to 57 th. Jade and Caitlin both dropped 15 places and Rose, which saw a rise of 19 places from 2011 to 2012, fell 13 places in 2013 to sit at 76 th. 6

7 There s a ring to it The rise of gentle, softer-sounding names for girls and firmer sounding names for boys is an ongoing trend with baby names in Australia. 95% of the girls names (19) in the Top 20 list end with a vowel or y, with over half (11) of these ending with the letter a, producing the gentle ah finish. Only 1 of the Top 20 names ends with a consonant Maddison/Madison. On the boy s list, however, 90% of the top 20 names end with a consonant sound! N is most popular ending consonant for 5 names in the Top 20, and just two names in the Top 20 boys list Noah and Joshua feature a soft a or ah ending. Figure 4. Name Sounds and Endings in Top 20 Baby Names List, Boys names feature less syllables Parents are increasingly choosing longer, flowing names for their daughters and shorter, solid-sounding names for their sons. Eight girls names (i.e. Indianna/Indiana, Elizabeth, and Penelope) have 4 syllables while only 1 boys name (Alexander) on the Top 100 list features 4 syllables. Boys are twice as likely as girls to have a single-syllable name, and girls are twice as likely as boys to have three syllables in their name. Names most commonly have just two syllables, with two thirds (67%) of boys names and just over half (54%) of the girls names on the Top 100 list comprising of double syllables. Figure 5. Number of Syllables in Top 100 Baby Names List,

8 Gendered names triumph and popular boys names not just for boys Only one name in the Top 100 appears on both the girls and boys list in its unchanged form Charlie (21 st on the boys list and 71 st on the girls list when combined with Charli and Charlee). Charlie is commonly considered to be interchangeable between the two sexes. While all of the names except Charlie are most often distinctly boys or girls names, a number of girls names from the Top 100 can be interchanged for boys names these include Harper, Jade, and Mackenzie. In similar fashion, parents are increasingly using popular boys names when naming their daughters names such as Riley, Jayden, Tyler, Leo, Dylan, Hayden, Jordan, Luca, Ashton, Kai, Bailey, Alex, and Jesse are oftentimes used for girls. Creative spellings prominent, especially for girls Not content in simply finding a distinctive name for their newborn, parents are often turning to the use of apostrophes, hyphens, or emphasised phonetic spellings to make their baby s name unique. In our Top 100 list, we have combined the occurrences of names which are phonetically identical but unique in their spelling. Parents tend to take greater liberty in amending their baby girl s name than boys name, featuring the following examples in the Top 100 list: Sophia/Sofia (8 th ) Lilly/Lily (12 th ) Maddison/Madison (16 th ) Isabelle/Isabel (23 rd ) Milla/Mila (36 th ) Madeleine/Madeline (58 th ) Indiana/Indianna (62 nd ) Charlie/Charli/Charlee (71 st ) The presence of double letters is also an occurrence more frequently observed in popular girls names, as evidenced in 28 girls names and just 11 boys names in the Top 100 list: Girls: Charlotte, Isabella, Lilly, Ella, Sienna, Maddison, Emma, Isabelle, Hannah, Scarlett, Willow, Milla, Summer, Jessica, Savannah, Annabelle, Stella, Bella, Poppy, Holly, Ellie, Alyssa, Indianna, Anna, Molly, Lillian, Harriet, and Pippa. Boys: William, Cooper, Harrison, Harry, Flynn, Connor, Matthew, Mitchell, Finn, Jesse, and Jett. 8

9 Australian states versus states William topped the list in four states and territories New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT, and the Northern Territory whereas Oliver topped the list in three states Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania. Jack took first in Western Australia, coming a close second in Victoria and Tasmania. NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT William William Oliver Jack Oliver Oliver William William Oliver Jack William Oliver William Jack Lachlan Cooper Jack Oliver Jack Noah Noah William Oliver Oliver Noah Ethan Cooper William Ethan Noah Thomas Lucas James Thomas Noah Lucas Jack Thomas James John Table 2. Most popular baby boy names by state and territories in Australia, Charlotte emerged as the defined winner across the states and territories, topping the girls list in 6 states and territories and taking second in the ACT and Western Australia. Chloe took first in the ACT and Olivia, second overall, took 1 st place in WA. NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte Olivia Charlotte Charlotte Chloe Charlotte Olivia Ava Ruby Charlotte Ava Ruby Charlotte Olivia Amelia Olivia Emily Ava Ruby Amelia Ava Amelia Chloe Mia Mia Emily Emily Ella Olivia Ruby Mia Emily Amelia Ruby Grace Mia Amelia Chloe Table 3. Most popular baby girl names by state and territories in Australia, Rising with the stars Actors, actresses, sports and music stars continue to significantly influence the popularity of babies within Australia. Mason (rising to 13 th from 17 th last year) and Penelope (having entered the list and jumped to 81 st place) are the children of reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian (born 2009 and 2012). Harper (rising to 27 th from 35 th last year) is the daughter of David and Victoria Beckham (2011). Willow (rising to 29 th from 40 th a year ago) is the daughter of pop musician Pink (2011) and the name of Will Smith s 13-year-old daughter. Noah (remaining strong in 4 th place) was born to Michael Bublé in Elijah was chosen by Elton John for his second son in 2013 (rising to 36 th from 44 th ) and Lincoln (50 th up from 67 th ) was born to actress Kristen Bell (2013). Olive (77 th up from 90 th ) is the daughter of Drew Barrymore (2012) and actors Sacha Baron and Isla Fisher (2007). 9

10 Influences from popular culture are seen among Australia s most popular baby names, with characters such as Emily and Jack from the television series Revenge making it to the Top 10 list, Braxton from Home and Away in 46 th place and Charlotte from Sex and the City in 1 st place. Popular movies such as Ruby Sparks (2012) and Noah (2014) also feature some of today s Top 10 names. Religious influences strong and ongoing While Australia has seen an increase of baby names that are indecipherably spelled and incongruously pronounced, the Top 100 list also shows a strong pull towards more traditional names with Biblical origins, especially in the boys list. More than 1 in every 4 boys names (27) in the Top 100 list are derived from the Bible, including four of the Top 10 names Noah (4 th ), James (6 th ), Thomas (7 th ) and Ethan (8 th ). Less common Biblical names such as Caleb, Eli, Levi, Nathaniel, Felix, Jesse, Abigail, Phoebe, and Chloe are also present on the list. The following Biblical names have increased in popularity since 2012: Joshua (12 th up from 13 th ), Alexander (15 th up from 16 th ), Isaac (23 rd up from 25 th ), Levi (29 th up from 31 st ), Elijah (36 th up from 44 th ), Michael (42 nd up from 49 th ), Joseph (57 th up from 64 th ), Jesse (87 th up from 91 st ) and John (92 nd up from 99 th ). Arabic names are also seeing an increase, with Layla at 30 th (up from 32 nd ) and Zahra approaching the Top 100 list in 108 th place. Ali rose to 93 rd place (up from 97 th ). While Muhammad didn t quite make the list this year, he is not far behind in 101 st place, down from 100 th last year. We ll never be royals, but we ll name our kids after them The original category of celebrities the royals have not only captured the loyalty and affections of modern Australians but continue to significantly influence their choice in baby names. Prince William s popularity first placed William in the Top 10 in 2001 and the name s popularity has grown significantly since then. In 2011, the year of the royal wedding, William became the most popular boy s name Australia-wide and maintained this position until While William is the 2 nd most popular name overall, it is still the most popular boy s name in New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT, and the NT. The birth of Prince George (George Alexander Louis) in July 2013 has positively impacted the use of George by Australian parents, increasing George s rank from 71 st to 60 th its highest ranking since the 1970s. Alexander s popularity has also been impacted with an increase in rank from 16 th to 15 th in

11 Despite having only influenced parents for a period of less than 6 months in the 2013 calendar year, the number of baby boys named George increased from 364 in 2012 to 490 in Most popular Australian royal names GIRLS BOYS Rank Name Royal Heritage Rank Name Royal Heritage 1 Charlotte Prince Charles 2 William Prince William 47 Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth II 22 Henry King Henry I - VII 69 Alexandra Princess Alexandra 59 Edward Prince Edward 71 Charlie (Charles) Prince Charles 60 George King George I - VII 79 Victoria Queen Victoria 81 Charles Prince Charles Table 4. Royal name popularity among Australian baby names. 12 of 22 current royal names are top baby names too Of the 22 names present within the current British royal family, 12 are in the Top 100 current baby names lists. Indeed the number of royal names in the Top 100 is an indication of the influence the British royals still have on baby naming trends, and this trend is looking strong, particularly with the influence of the next generation of royals. Title Queen Elizabeth II Duke of Edinburgh Prince of Wales Princess Anne Prince Andrew Prince Edward Prince William Full Name Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Philip Charles Philip Arthur George Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise Andrew Albert Christian Edward Edward Antony Richard Louis William Arthur Philip Louis Duchess of Cambridge Catherine Elizabeth Prince Harry Prince George Henry Charles Albert David George Alexander Louis Table 5. Names of Royal family members in the top 100 baby names in Australia,

12 New Zealand s Top 10 Baby Names Rank Boys Girls 1 Oliver Charlotte 2 Jack Emily 3 James Ruby 4 William Sophie 5 Mason Olivia 6 Liam Isla 7 Samuel Amelia 8 Lucas Ava 9 Noah Isabella 10 Thomas Ella Table 6. Top 10 most popular baby names in New Zealand, As close geographical neighbours, the ties between the most popular names in New Zealand and Australia are strong, and the Top 10 lists of both countries closely correspond. Oliver and Charlotte both take 1 st place in New Zealand Oliver winning with just 6 more occurrences than Jack, and Charlotte having just 19 occurrences more than Emily. The boy names Mason, Liam, and Samuel are found in the NZ Top 10 boys list but not on the Australian list, as are the girls names Isla, Isabella, and Ella. New Zealand baby names see royal influence decline There has been a decline in the popularity of common royal names in New Zealand, as is evidenced by a drop of the number of babies named George, William, and Harry in the last year. George has seen the most significant down-shift in ranking to 35 th place from 26 th a year ago, with 29 fewer boys taking Prince George s name. William has declined from 3 rd in 2012 to 4 th in 2013 as well as decreasing in number 267 boys in 2013 in New Zealand were named William, compared to 317 the previous year. Harry has also declined decreasing from 135 occurrences in 2012 to 123 occurrences in 201 and thus moving from 37 th to 40 th place. The name Kate has had a consistent tally at 50 occurrences for the last two years, but has been declining overall in ranking since 2010 sitting at 25 th in 2008, 38 th in 2009, 53 rd in 2010, 71 st in 2011, 90 th in 2012 and 81 st in Based on these trends a New Zealand royal tour is overdue and no doubt the April 2014 royal tour will lead to a reversal in these trend lines. 12

13 Sources Baby Names Australia is the only analysis of all of the registered baby names across the 8 Births, Deaths and Marriages offices in Australia and in New Zealand. The data which we have analysed has been provided by the following government departments: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths, & Marriages NSW Government ( Hundred-Year Return Graphs) ACT Births, Deaths, & Marriages Births, Deaths, Marriages Victoria SA Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Office QLD Births, Deaths, and Marriages WA Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages TAS Births, Deaths, and Marriages NT Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs Australian Bureau of Statistics (Australian Birth Numbers) Contact Us blog.mccrindle.com.au mccrindle.com.au Facebook: /McCrindleResearch YouTube: /McCrindleResearch 13

14 Australia s Top 100 Girls Names Name Occurrence 1 Charlotte Olivia Ava Emily Mia Amelia Ruby Sophia/ Sofia Chloe Sophie Isabella Lilly/Lily Ella Grace Sienna Maddison/ Madison Isla Matilda Zoe Emma Ivy Lucy Isabelle/ Isabel Hannah Scarlett Evie Harper Zara Willow Layla Abigail Georgia Eva Imogen Jasmine Milla/Mila Summer Jessica Alexis Savannah Sarah Mackenzie Evelyn Annabelle Alice Stella Elizabeth Bella Chelsea Audrey Violet Poppy Addison Holly Paige Ellie Aria Madeleine/ Madeline Phoebe Alyssa Hayley Indiana/ Indianna Maya Anna Eden Lola Eliza Eloise Alexandra Piper Charlie/ Charli/ Charlee Claire Lara Samantha Molly Rose Olive Aaliyah Victoria Amelie Penelope Lillian Eve Jade Mikayla Amber Ayla Heidi Harriet Daisy Elsie Skye Leah Indie Pippa Indigo Nevaeh Peyton Caitlin Ariana 88 14

15 Australia s Top 100 Boys Names Name Occurrence 1 Oliver William Jack Noah Jackson/ Jaxon James Thomas Ethan Lucas Cooper Lachlan Joshua Mason Liam Alexander Samuel Harrison Jacob Max Benjamin Charlie Henry Isaac Xavier Hunter Riley Oscar Harry Levi Daniel Ryan Jayden Hudson Logan Tyler Elijah Flynn Sebastian Leo Blake Jake Michael Connor Archie Zachary Braxton Luke Eli Matthew Lincoln Aiden Patrick Nate Nicholas Archer Dylan Joseph Chase Edward George Mitchell Finn Nathan Beau Ryder Angus Hugo Hayden Jordan Luca Ashton Caleb Owen Louis Kai Toby Bailey Adam Nathaniel Austin Charles Jasper Marcus Christian Alex Felix Jesse Darcy Hamish Dominic Jett John Ali Aaron David Seth Lewis Parker Anthony Jonathan

16 New Zealand s Top 100 Girls Names Name Occurrence 1 Charlotte Emily Ruby Sophie Olivia Isla Amelia Ava Isabella Ella Chloe Grace Mia Lily Emma Sophia Lucy Mila Harper Zoe Georgia Paige Hannah Aria Jessica Eva Madison Maia Scarlett Eden Bella Zara Willow Mackenzie Sienna Summer Maddison Elizabeth Ivy Poppy Hazel Abigail Alexis Pippa Isabelle Samantha Violet Holly Lilly Leah Sofia Indie Olive Jasmine Alice Aaliyah Stella Layla Molly Addison Caitlin Anna Annabelle Peyton Piper Brooklyn Rose Ayla Evelyn Nevaeh Natalie Victoria Nina Ellie Sarah Alyssa Charlie Phoebe Lola Keira Kate Alexandra Isabel Amber Jade Hayley Taylor Brooke Florence Millie Imogen Esther Aurora Madeleine Matilda Claire Faith Mikayla Kayla Indi 42 16

17 New Zealand s Top 100 Boys Names Name Occurrence 1 Oliver Jack James William Mason Liam Samuel Lucas Noah Thomas Hunter Ethan Jacob Benjamin Daniel Max Joshua Ryan Cooper Blake Lachlan Charlie Levi Leo Elijah Jackson Jayden Alexander Braxton Riley Luke Isaac Tyler Oscar George Henry Nathan Caleb Eli Harry Carter Joseph Connor Harrison Finn Toby Jaxon Flynn Logan Dylan Xavier Jake Matthew Luca Alex Zachary Archie Sebastian Charles John Austin Cameron Louis Ryder Michael David Hugo Fletcher Edward Lincoln Adam Jordan Felix Jesse Andrew Ashton Aiden Maxwell Joel Patrick Beau Sam Phoenix Declan Arlo Kingston Theodore Jonathan Aaron Marcus Angus Aidan Isaiah Roman Archer Christian Gabriel Vincent Tyson Dominic 50 17