The National Records of Scotland have just released data about the nation’s most popular baby names of 2016.
From the data collected, it seems as if a number of influences, from politics to places to popular culture, have helped sway baby name choice.
In the world of politics, ten baby girls were called Nicola and two were named Theresa. Five babies have also been named Ruth (which is a name that has been declining in popularity over the years), presumable after Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson.
There was also one baby boy called Clinton – perhaps influenced by Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign? – and seven boys called Donald.
The baby boy name Arlo also made a huge leap, up 100 places from last year to settle at 94th. This might be due to the animated film “The Good Dinosaur,” whose main character was called Arlo. There was also one baby boy called Bowie and two named Ziggy, probably after David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona.
Place-inspired names were also a popular choice this year, with 16 baby girls called Paisley (after the town in Scotland), and one each called Boston, Vegas, Denver, Paris and Rio. One baby boy was called Cairo and another, Carlisle.
As for the top ten boys and girls names, all of them are very traditional names and have quite a few similarities to the latest data released by the Office of National Statistics. For boys, Jack, Oliver, Harry and Noah are in both the top ten lists. For girls, there are even more similarities and the only names that didn’t make both lists are Charlotte, Lucy and Sophie.
Check out Scotland’s top 10 boys and girls names below!
TOP 10 BOYS NAMES
1) Jack
2) James
3) Oliver
4) Lewis
5) Noah
6) Logan
7) Harry
8) Alexander
9) Leo
10) Charlie
TOP 10 GIRLS NAMES
1) Olivia
2) Emily
3) Sophie
4) Isla
5) Ava
6) Amelia
7) Jessica
8) Ella
9) Lucy
10) Charlotte
