In my community, a newborn baby is named after the last beloved relative, of the same gender, to pass away. Thus I was called Helen after my late grandmother Hinde, and my son was called Peter in honour of my beloved grandfather Pinchas. The only argument between the spouses is usually which grandparent to honour first.
Although it was only 12 years ago, I was interested to read the names we gave to our newborn babies back in 2012. Now I have read McCrindle Research NSW reported the following 10 most popular names for baby boys and girls in Australia, as chosen in 2024.
Oliver
Noah
Henry
Leo
Theodore
Hudson
Luca
William
Charlie
Jack
Isla
Amelia
Charlotte
Olivia
Mia
Ava
Matilda
Harper
Lily
Hazel
Oliver continued its 11-year reign as the #1 boy’s name in Australia with 1,906 occurrences and has now been on top for 11 years. While Oliver’s total number of occurrences in the top ten reduced since 2022, Oliver is still the #1 baby name overall. Demonstrating the popularity of this name, the shortened nickname Ollie has now entered the top 100 in its own right, debuting at #84.
The top baby girl name was contested between Isla and Charlotte for a number of years, but Isla is back at #1 with 1,249 occurrences. Isla has been particularly popular among parents of Generation Alpha, as Isla was in position #34 in 2010 at the conception of Generation Alpha and made her way to the top ten by 2016. Ever since, she has consistently been hovering at the top. Harper makes another entrance into the top ten, having featured in 2017, 2018 and 2019, while Hazel makes her debut to the top ten after residing in the top 100 since 2014 (debuting at #88). Lily has been a popular girls name for the last decade, happily for me. Willow, Ella and Grace moved out of top ten positions for these entrants.
Ten names have entered the top 100 baby names in 2023, highlighting shifting naming trends among new parents. While this year there are less entrants into the top 100 baby name list compared to earlier entrants, these new names reflect how naming inspiration can change in just one year. See Miles who makes the strongest male entrance at 48, plus Owen and August. For girls, note the new appearance of Lottie, Cleo and Riley. Fewer baby boys will be named Connor, Charles and Remy, and fewer girls will be named Eden, Claire and Gracie.
Thank you to Baby names for boys and girls, Australia Report 2024 by: McCrindle Research NSW
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28 comments:
Every country must have different tastes, even if they are English speaking. At the end of 2024, USA Today wrote:
"For girls, the top 100 names list brims with new popular choices like Evelyn, Brooklyn, and Madelyn, BabyCenter said, and other rising stars including Adalee, Avalynn, Lakelyn, Rosalee and Maelynn".
We have very different names for baby girls.
Deb,
Me too. I don't recognise those names except for Evelyn which has been a popular name here in most years since 1910.
That reminds me of American family friends who called their baby Madison because it is much loved over there. It is a name I haven't seen used here.. yet:)
The preference for names shifts with each passing year. Within my family lineage, we have an established tradition of assigning a specific second name to each successive generation.
roentare
I think having the _second_ name being the one passed on, rather than the first name, is an excellent idea. My mother and her five first cousins were all named after their shared grandmother, and all went to the same school. Imagine 6 girls having the same _first_ name!
Every parent tries to choose names for their children that will mark them out. I was interested to read the lists of popular names - among my grand and great-grandchildren we have Charlie, Jack and Luca, and Isla. Isla is insanely popular in UK.
jabblog
perfect... the grandchildren have four of the most popular first names in this entire continent,,, and in Britain as well, I am assuming. Great names.
I just want to check where choosing names that will _mark the children out_ means "popular, common names" or "different, attention grabbing names". I liked my name, but there were so many Helens in my school that I turned around as soon as any Helen was called. On the other hand, If I was called Zixuan, I would have been helping people spelling my name all day long.
Well my family gives the middle name of the grandparent to the next generation. My daughter however was named Karen, and now at 56 years old gets cross with me for her name. As 'Karen' has become a negative name to describe a certain type of women.
Hello Hels, Well, names do go in cycles, with new ones occasionally introduced. Some names get incredibly old-fashioned and even gain a quite negative reputation (e.g., Matilda, Agatha, Bertha, Irving, Wilbur), but given more time are renewed and popular again. So many surnames are introduced as given names, and these are often used for girls. But I still can't understand why Hudson is a boy's name while Madison is for girls.
--Jim
p.s. I'm sure those other seven Helens were all pale imitations of the Real Thing!
I have a Lily, Mia, Charlie (girl), Willow and Harper, all under ten years old. There is also a Ruben, apparently named after a South American football player.
I really like the name Isla.
Hello, Helen! It's interestng to learn many excellent English names for girls and boys!
thelma
Karen is a gentle, beautiful name for a daughter, but we never know when a perfectly fine name can be made ugly by being attached to a wicked person or a wicked character. She should call herself Kari, in the meantime.
Bertha was a fine name until World War I when Big Bertha was a large-calibre German howitzer, a killing machine. Elmer was popular until he became a cartoon character. But why did Karen become negative?
Those names, a return of the old names. Jack in my book is short for John. Some of those names you mentioned are beautiful names and I wouldn't have a clue what to call my children if I had them today.
Parnassus
We have all had experience seeing that names go in cycles and that perfectly lovely names can become disliked or unpopular. Or vice versa. But there doesn't seem to be an explanatory pattern so that young parents can predict what will happen to their babies' names in 25 years.
I understand why Adolf and Benito were barely used after WW2 ended. And I realise why Isis was negatively associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. But what happened to Tamzin and Chelsea, for example?
Andrew
I really like those names too. Fortunately they are in the top list of baby names for girls. And I love Reuben because 1] he was a wonderful Biblical person and because 2] his birth is delightful for the dad meaning "a beautiful son" :)
Irina
I hope that whatever we call our new children and grandchildren, everyone else will be very respectful of those names. 50 years ago, I chose two names for my two daughters _before_ they were born - Sharona and Naomi. But I didn't have any daughters!
Margaret
Even if you DO know exactly what you would call your children if you had them today, that doesn't mean they will love their names! Would you be happy if they changed their names at, say, 18?
And what happens if you call your daughter after your loved mother, and the children at her school laugh at her eg Bernadette.
I had no idea what I would do, if my sons disliked their names.
In my mother's family tree her grandparents were named Bernhard and Emma, they had a son, named him Bernhard and he later married another Emma. My own middle names are Emma and Maria, one for each grandmother. I didn't even give a single thought to popular names for my own children, M was the only M around where he was born but when we moved to Sydney and he started school there were four other M's in his class. My mother was disappointed that I chose such "Australian" names but I didn't want them being laughed at in school like my sister and brother were.
I have always wondered how Jack can be short for John when both have four letters.
River
as I understand it, Jack is a nickname and not an abbreviation for John, Jonathan, Jacques etc.
aRiver,
family names are , in my opinion, the perfect way to honour the earlier generations. I understand why your mum was disappointed with Australian versions of the family names, but the children will thank you. My ancestor was called Pyotr in Russian, so my son's generation were very happy to be called Peter.
Interesting to learn the popular names. Love the photo of your gorgeous grand children.
It wasn't Australian versions of family names, but completely new names more suited to being an Australian family.
Boa tarde de quinta-feira minha querida amiga. Confesso que não sei os nomes mais escolhidos no Brasil.
When it comes to naming a baby some people chose odd names, my sister, daughter and a granddaughter all have the name Mae or May after my mum whose name was Mavis but was always called Mae.
diane
they were so gorgeous back then *sigh of pleasure*.
Strapping uni students and teenagers now!
River
nod.. understood.
Luiz
is your first name popular in Brasil? Is it a family name or did your parents select Luiz based on something else eg a loved soccer player or film star?
Jo-Anne
Look at Deb's comment! At the end of 2024, USA Today wrote:
For girls, the most popular choices include Madelyn and Maelynn. Perfect timing :)
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