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Emily and Archie top baby names in Highlands


By Alistair Whitfield

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Emily and Archie are the most popular baby names in the Highlands, according to statistics published by the National Records of Scotland today.

Across the whole of Scotland Isla has toppled Olivia as the most popular name for girls

Meanwhile, Jack remains the most popular boy's name, holding on to the top spot for the 13th consecutive year.

Last year saw the highest ever level of different names – a trend that has continued for some time now.

Children nowadays are therefore much less likely to share a name with classmates than their grandparents were.

The girl's name Maeve made a massive leap of 130 places up to 86th place.

Ayda is the second highest climber for girls' names, rising 63 places to the 91st spot.

The biggest increases for boys were Roman, which jumped up 68 places to 33rd, and Finley, which rose 48 places to 88th.

Julie Ramsay, a statistician with the records office, said: "We can see from the 2020 names lists that different generations of parents have different preferences for naming their babies.

"Isla, the most popular name for girls in 2020, was the most popular name with mothers aged 35 and over, but it only ranked 7th with mothers aged under 25.

"However, Olivia, the most popular girls name of 2019, was ranked 1st by younger mothers and 6th by older mothers.

"Jack, the most popular name for boys in 2020, was the 2nd most popular name with mothers aged 35 and above, and only 17th with mothers aged under 25.

"James was the most popular name for boys with older mothers while Noah was ranked 1st for younger mothers.

"Popular culture often affects how people name their babies.

"The name Billie rose in popularity by 79 per cent in the past two years with 34 baby girls being given this name in 2020.

"In the same time, Google searches in the UK for 'Billie' and 'Billie Eilish' spiked, with the singer having her first number one single in the UK in early 2020.

"Tommy, a name occurring in the popular TV shows Peaky Blinders and Love Island, has doubled in popularity in the last two years.

"Our data shows it is more popular with younger mothers than with older mothers."

Ella is the most popular name for girls over in Moray , while Archie is also in first place for boys.

See the full rankings and statistics here.


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