The least popular baby names of 2020 revealed

19 October 2021, 13:45

By Heart

@thisisheart

The least popular baby names for 2020 in England and Wales have been revealed by the Office for National Statistics.

A list of the least popular baby names has now been revealed, with some even going extinct.

The Office of National Statistics has published its annual list of the most used monikers in the UK for 2020.

And while some have remained very popular, others have fallen off the radar completely.

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In fact, last year there were no registered births of boys called Nigel, making it officially ‘unranked.’

The ONS only records names once there have been three or more births for data protection purposes, so there could have been up to two babies named Nigel in 2020.

Brad, Billie and Greg were also only given to three babies each last year.

Use of the name Piers has also declined massively over the past 10 years, going from 296 in 1998, to just four, while eight children were named Stuart.

When it comes to girls, Carol has also become ‘unranked’, while just three girls were named Cheryl and six called Lorraine.

Unsurprisingly, Oliver is still the most popular name for boys in England and Wales for the eighth year in a row, while Olivia tops the girls' list for the fifth year.

But they are slowly declining, with 4,225 babies named Oliver in 2020, down from 4,932 the previous year.

3,640 newborn girls were named Olivia last year, down from 4,082.

The name of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son, Archie, has also increased in popularity and reached the top ten for the first time.

There were 2,944 babies named Archie in 2020, up from 2,544 in 2019.

Meanwhile, Ivy and Rosie have replaced Grace and Freya in the top 10 for girls.

Sian Bradford, of the ONS, said: "Oliver and Olivia held on to the top spots as the most popular boys' and girls' names in 2020 but some interesting changes took place beneath them.

"We continue to see the age of mothers having an impact on the choice of baby name.

"Archie jumped into the top 10 boys' names for the first time, driven by younger mothers as well as the obvious royal link, while on the girls' side, Ivy rose to sixth place.

"Popular culture continues to provide inspiration for baby names, whether it's characters in our favourite show or trending celebrities.

"Maeve and Otis, characters from the popular programme Sex Education, have seen a surge in popularity in 2020, while the name Margot has been rapidly climbing since actress Margot Robbie appeared in the popular film The Wolf Of Wall Street."