Muhammad overtakes Noah to become the most popular baby name in England and Wales

Muhammed has overtaken Noah as the most popular name for boys in England and Wales, while Olivia remains the most popular name for baby girls,

Official figures for 2023 show the changes in the popularity of names, with Muhammed going from the second most popular name in 2022 to top-spot in 2023.

Olivia, Amelia and Isla held the top three spots for baby girl names for the second year in a row, with Olivia having been the top-ranked name since 2016.

The data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also shows that Muhammad was the most popular boys’ name in four out of nine regions in England and 63rd most popular in Wales.

Meanwhile, Olivia was the most popular girls’ name in five out of nine regions in England and the most popular in Wales.

Top ten girl's names

• Olivia
• Amelia
• Isla
• Lily
• Freya
• Ava
• Ivy
• Florence
• Willow
• Isabella

Top 10 boy's names

• Muhammed
• Noah
• Oliver
• George
• Leo
• Arthur
• Luca
• Theodore
• Oscar
• Henry

New entries to the top 100 include Hazel, Lilah, Autumn, Nevaeh and Raya for girls, as well as Jax, Enzo and Bodhi for boys.

Films and music inspire naming

Following summer blockbuster films Barbie (starring Margot Robbie) and Oppenheimer (starring Cillian Murphy), in 2023 there were an additional 215 baby girls named Margot and 14 baby boys named Cillian, compared with 2022.

There was also an increase in popular musical artists' names as baby names in 2023 including Billie, Lana, Miley, and Rihanna for girls, and Kendrick and Elton for boys.

Hear the latest news on Downtown on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.