Of the 10 most popular girls’ names in 2016, Olivia, Emily, Lily and Jessica demonstrated their enduring appeal; they were also in the top 10 a decade ago. Further down the list there has been a changing of the guard as previously popular names such as Joshua, Samuel, Grace and Ruby have been discarded in favour of the avant-garde. “The most popular new boys names are from a galaxy far, far away. Holly was the eighth most popular girls’ name during December yet it only ranks 52nd overall. More than 696,000 babies were born in England and Wales in 2016, sharing 64,000 different names between them.

Source: The Guardian September 20, 2017 09:47 UTC