Coming up with a name for your child (let alone one both you and your partner agree with!) can be one of the toughest decisions you need to make before your little one’s arrival. To help get you started and give you some inspiration, we’re taking a look at the Top 100 Baby Names in Australia for 2014.
Last year in Australia around 1 in 10 babies born were given a name which featured in the Top 10 baby names of the year – that’s a total of 30,581 babies!
The most popular names
For the boys, Oliver took out top spot with 2,189 babies given this name and Olivia took out the top spot for the girls with 1,796 little girls given the name last year. Charlotte slipped to second spot after holding the number one position between 2011 – 2013, however with the arrival of Princess Charlotte, that’s likely to change.
Image Credit: McCrindle
The Top 10 varied across the states, with Olivia being the most popular baby girls name in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, Charlotte the most popular in South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory, Emily the most popular in Western Australia and Amelia topping the list in the Australian Capital Territory.
Oliver was the most popular in all Australian states, while in the two territories, William was number one.
There were also a number of new names which entered the Top 100 in 2014, with eight boys and nine girls names making an appearance for the first time in the Top 100 list.
For the Boys, Harvey, Gabriel, Muhammad, Phoenix, Theodore, Maxwell, Carter and Fletcher all moved into the Top 100 and Frankie, Eleanor, Emilia, Hazel, Lexi, Elise, Sadie, Natalie and Lacey were new for the girls.
There is no denying the influence celebrities have on the popularity of baby names, with some interesting trends noted:
- Penelope rose from 81st to 79th place after the birth of Kournty Kardashian’s duahgter in 2012.
- The number of babies being named George has risen dramatically since Prince George’s arrival in 2013. In 2012 just 364 babies were named Geroge compared to 640 in 2014.
- Liam, Harry and Luis (all members of One Direction) all increased in popularity last year.
It seems we are a little more conservative than in the United States, where some of the more unique names to break into their Top 1000 list included:
Anniston – named after Jennifer Aniston.
Holland – named after Holland Taylor from Two and a Half Men.
Jessa – named after Jessa Johansson of Girls fame and Jessa Duggar from 19 Kids and Counting
Dash – inspired from the Incredibles movie.
To view the complete Top 100 list of Australian Baby Names for 2014, visit McCrindle.com.au
What are your children’s names?
