Babies
Statistics gathered by a popular baby-naming website have found that Ethan and Eva are the top two names for newborns in 2012 in a list dominated by old-fashioned and traditional names.
BabyNames.co.uk found that boys’ names such as Oliver, Charlie and Jack continued to dominate parental choices throughout the year, as did the ever-popular Amelia, Alice and Ella for girls.
All eyes, however, will be on the name William and Kate choose for the royal baby, which will be certain to spark a rush at registry offices in the second half of the year.
BabyNames.co.uk Chief Editor Siobhan Thomas said: "Since 2011, vintage names such as Eve, Ava, Benjamin, Max, Harry and Poppy have been on the rise and this is set to continue in 2013. However, we think that this will be the ‘last wave’ for this trend, and old fashioned names may fall out of favour."
The bottom end of the list sees the recent rush for unusual names finally coming to an end, with the likes of Gracie-Mai, Charlee, Truman and Trent falling out of fashion.
Siobhan added: "We're also seeing fewer hyphenated names this year," said Siobhan, "and there are far fewer names involving strange spellings with apostrophes all over the place. We're sure school teachers and exasperated relatives will be heaving sighs of relief at that news."
"The trend for unisex names like Stacey and Jordan also seems to have disappeared in the last year. It looks like traditional names for boys and girls are here to stay."
Top twenty Most Popular on the BabyNames.co.uk website for 2012 (from 1-20)
Ethan, Eva, Leo, Dylan, Jacob, Oliver, Noah, Ella, Alfie, Amelia, Mia, Isla, Max, Charlie, Alice, Joshua, Jack, Oscar, Isabella, Imogen.
Top 20 Least Popular on the Babynames.co.uk website for 2012 (from 1-20)
Gracie-Mai, May, Filip, Sheikh, Fatma, Davinia, Adem, Safah, Truman, Keely, Fujiko, Aniya, Malak, Alexi, Adnan, Miller, Charlee, Trent, Siya, Lizzie.
For a list of the best celebrity baby names, click here
For a list of the worst celebrity baby names, click here
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