Jack and Olivia are Scotland's most popular baby names

Olivia has overtaken Isla to become the top choice for girls and Jack stays at the top for boys for the 14th consecutive year.

Author: Callum McQuadePublished 7th Apr 2022
Last updated 7th Apr 2022

Olivia has beaten Isla to become the most popular name for a baby girl in Scotland, according to new figures by the National Records of Scotland.

Jack remained the most common name for a baby boy in Scotland in 2021 for the 14th year in a row followed by Noah and Leo.

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Lyla shot up 56 places in the top 100 girls’ names to 74th overall, while Blake rose 46 places and Rowan 41.

Carson has seen the largest increase in the top 100 boys’ names in 2021, rising 42 places to 83rd, while Struan has jumped 37 places and Myles is up by 35.

Director of Statistical Services, Pete Whitehouse said: “Beneath the headline figures the long term trend is for more names to be used each year, including some names only given to one baby in 2021.

“Almost 12% of baby girls were given a name that no other girl was registered with in 2021. Almost 9% of boys had unique names for births last year.

"Together with the growing range of names being used this means it’s far less common for children to share their name with their classmates than it was for their parents or grandparents.”

Music, film and television

Inspiration for names comes from a range of different places including TV, films and music.

Ezra has shot up in popularity following George Ezra's hit song 'Budapest' in 2014.

There were also 27 babies named Connell in 2021 after the release of the TV show Normal People in 2020 which featured a main character with the same name.

Pete is urging parents to take part in this year's census.

“I know the parents of young children, particularly those with babies, have busy lives but I ask them to make time to fill in the census form and record their growing families in the census.

“Like registering a birth, filling in the census form is a legal responsibility for every household and provides the Scottish Government, councils, the NHS and many others with data they need to provide services for the whole country from the very youngest to the oldest.”

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