Wales

Baby names: Olivia and Oliver stand strong in Wales

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Image caption Something to cry about? Bob, Pat and Amy are not in the top 100 names in Wales

The top choices for baby names in Wales remain solidly Oliver and Olivia, according to latest registration statistics.

But Rosie and Elsie have both jumped into the top 20 for girls.

Noah, Jacob and George remain unchanged as the next favourite boys' names.

There are still strong regional differences - Caio and Tomos for boys and Megan for girls are top rankings in Gwynedd whereas Osian and Lili are favourites in Ceredigion.

Ruby was the favourite girl's name in Wales 10 years ago, but is now in 16th position, in statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Ava leapfrogged Amelia into second, behind Olivia.

Most popular girls names in Wales

Live births registered in 2018

RankNameNumber2017 rankRank in England
1Olivia26411
2Ava17533
3Amelia17122
4Ella164510
5Isla15944
6Mia12896
=7Elsie1272124
=7Lily1271413
9Emily11965
10Freya1181319
11Poppy1121011
12Evie110816
13Rosie1102226
14Willow1091620
15Harper1051827
16Ruby1041732
17Phoebe1011821
18Aria991844
19Grace99159
20Sophia9778
Source: ONS, August 2019

TV drama Peaky Blinders has been credited with growing popularity for the name Ada - ranking at 45 in Wales, up from 155th in 2017 and even more pronounced than the jump in England.

Mabli, Annabelle, Ayla, Lyla, Cora and Lois are other new entries in the top 100.

But Megan, third in Wales in 2008, is now outside the top 30, along with Seren (32nd) while Ffion has slipped from 8th to 29th.

Most popular boys names in Wales

Live births registered in 2018

RankNameNumber2017 rankRank in England
1Oliver31711
2Noah25724
3Jacob234311
4George20642
5Oscar202119
6Theo200519
7Jack19865
8Alfie180916
=9Charlie178710
=9Leo17876
11Harry176103
12William1661314
13Archie1641517
14Thomas1521412
15Isaac1501722
16Freddie1402018
17Logan1321223
18Arthur128237
19Harri121181,019
20Finley1202031
Source: ONS, August 2019

Little is happening with the top rankings for boys' names - Sebastian has crawled into the top 30, while Hunter has been gathering pace (up 42 places to 36th).

The Welsh name Macsen - popularised by the legend of Macsen Wledig in The Mabinogion - is also moving up, to 51st.

Brody and Grayson have both broken into the top 100 and new parents in Wales are Keeping Faith with Evan, up seven places to 32.

Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Swansea all had both Olivia and Oliver as their most popular names.

Oscar was also the joint most-popular baby name for boys born in Blaenau Gwent, while Leo and Ava were favourites in Wrexham.

Published statistics do not include baby names with a count of two or less.

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