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The most popular UK baby names so far for 2022 have been released – with Lily knocking Olivia off the top spot for girls for the first time in seven years.
A list of the top 100 names for baby boys and girls in the UK has been released by BabyCentre which gives an insight into the on-trend names parents are turning to this year.
Although the top girls’ names have shifted, firm favourites for boys’ names have remained fairly stable, with Muhammad clinging onto number one.
While some trends remain strong, such as members of the royal family inspiring parents, other high-profile events appear to have affected parents’ decisions too.
The top baby names in the UK so far this year have been revealed by BabyCentre, which has identified trends in how parents name their children and where they take inspiration from
One such event making parents wince is the defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp following their bitter divorce in 2016.
Depp successfully sued his ex-wife Heard for defamation after she wrote an article in The Washington Post about surviving domestic violence.
She was ordered to pay Depp £8.43million ($10.35million) in damages after she was found to have defamed him.
And it seems the trial, which was televised throughout, has put prospective parents off the names Johnny and Amber.
After years of hanging around in the top 100 names for girls, Amber has dropped off the list for the first time.
BabyCentre also did not record any instances of parents registering their baby boys as called Johnny so far this year.
For boys’ names in particular, there was little change in the top spots, with Muhammad and Noah clinging to first and second place.
However Oliver, which had solidly occupied third place for several years, dropped down the list while Jack soared to take its place.
Freddie and Harry also fell out of the top 10 while Ethan and Oscar climbed up the ranks to occupy eighth and ninth place.
For the first time since 2015 a new name took over the top spot for girls’ names, with previous number one Olivia dropping down to third place.
Lily claimed the top spot instead, followed by Sophia in second.
Sarah Redshaw, managing editor for BabyCentre, shed some light on why she thought new trends were appearing.
In addition to the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial, Redshaw explained parents were also put off names like Coleen, Rebekah and Wayne due to the infamous Wagatha Christie trial.
One trend that appears to have stuck around is parents taking inspiration from members of the royal family.
George has remained a firm favourite in the top 10 while Louie – a cute play on Louis, held firm in the top 30.
In the year of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, it seems many parents have been inspired, with the name Elizabeth climbing two places in the top 100.
And it is thought the increase in popularity of the name Lily is down to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who named their daughter Lilibet in 2021.
Princess Charlotte appears to have given lots of parents food for thought as the name climbed four places to number 30 this year – while its diminutive form Lottie also climbed the ranks to sit at 52.
Some classic 70s names appear to be dying out altogether including Kelly, Gail, Brenda and Susie for women – while Keith, Leslie, Glenn and Terry have been shunned by parents too.
As popular Netflix show Stranger Things returns for its fourth series, names inspired by the cult programme have also increased in popularity.
Robin, Maxine, Elle, Mike, Billy and Steve (all names of main characters in the programme) saw a rise in popularity.
