This was originally posted on December 12, 2013
2013 has been an exciting year for baby names, with changes being obvious throughout the year, so much so that the top 40 has changed a bit since our update in April, and the influence of popular culture continuing it’s success. That being said our top 40 boys and girls names might surprise you, 2013 is the year of both classic and unique names.
Who’s that Girl?
There is no doubt that 2013 has been a year where classic names have dominated the top 40 for girls. With names such as Freya, Olivia, Alice and Sophia all featuring. That being said these names are not your ‘typical’ classics – Ava, Isla, Ella and Esme might not have been perennially popular names but they aren’t the new inventions that we’ve seen populate the charts in recent years.
Darcey has caught us by surprise at the tail end of the year, as it just reaches our top 40 – possibly due to the current TV series Strictly Come Dancing and judge Darcey Bussell. The classic ‘grandparent’ names can’t be underestimated though, and Abigail, Rose, Ivy and Florence all show us that if you want a trendy baby name right now that is the way to go.
The Boys Are Back in Town
Noah tops the chart, and is joined by names such as Oscar, Oliver, Jacob and Arthur in the top 40. Perhaps it is no coincidence as well that George and Alexander finish up 22nd and 23rd respectively – not the most popular names in the year, but obviously influenced by the royal baby. George is an interesting name, whilst it may have finished up 22nd overall this year, it was the 5th most popular name in April, suffered a slight fall in the months before the royal baby and then recovered to 24th in July – in December it is outside the top 100 names, clearly parents do not want to be accused of copying Wills and Kate.
Whilst in recent times popular culture has really influenced names, perhaps only Finn, a character from Breaking Bad, is the only name influenced directly by TV to enter the top 40. The rise of the ‘grandparent’ names, as with the girls, is clear to see though as Sebastian, Jasper, Toby and Leo all reach the top 40 this year.
Growing in Popularity
We’ve also picked out a few names which reveal the changing trends, and give us a clue for 2014. Esme grew in popularity from 46th in January, to 15th in December, and Jonah was not even in the top 100 in January but has now reached 41st this month. Similarly Addison, a really unique name, has risen from outside the top 100 at the beginning of the year to 50th place in the last month. It shows us that names in 2014 whilst still being ‘traditional’, might not be the names that you’d expect. Poppy has continued to rise in popularity to reach 5th place recently (48th in January), whilst Reuben continues on a march to the top settling at 18th place in December.
Read our charts below to find out which other baby names reached the top 40 this year.
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