The 2018 Baby Names Report is here

Around one in ten of Australia’s 300,000 babies born in the last year were given one of the top ten baby names, with Oliver and Charlotte continuing their reign from last year as the top baby names in Australia for boys and girls respectively.

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Charlotte has been crowned the top baby girl name in Australia for the third year in a row, exceeding Olivia – who held the top rank in 2014.

Maintaining the top spot since 2013, Oliver is the top baby boy name in Australia for 2017.

Mark McCrindle spoke to The Today Show about Australia’s top baby names.

Names entering and exiting the Top 100

In 2017, seven new boys’ names entered the Top 100 list:

  • Arthur (83rd)
  • Bodhi (93rd)
  • Jude (94th)
  • Asher (97th)
  • Leon (100th)
  • Aaron (98th)
  • Harley (99th).

These names enter at the expense of Chase, Nathan, Christian, John, Lewis, Maxwell, Marcus and Hayden.

For girls, five new names have entered the Top 100 for the first time including:

  • Freya (66th)
  • Luna (83rd)
  • Harlow (85th)
  • Elena (94th)
  • Millie (96th).

A royal influence

The original category of celebrities – the royals – have not only captured the loyalty and affections of modern Australians but continue to significantly influence their choice in baby names.

The younger generation of the Royal family have resonated with their contemporary Generation Y’s in Australia (aged between 24 and 38) who are now also in their family forming life-stage. The births of Prince George (born 2013) and Princess Charlotte (born 2015) have contributed to the popularity of these names. Like George’s rank which increased from 71st in 2012 to 35th in 2017, in 2015 we saw the name Charlotte overtake Olivia as the nation’s most popular baby girl name, where she has since maintained her reign as number one.

After the birth of Prince Louis in 2018, sibling of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, it will be no surprise if the 2018 Baby Name data shows Louis has stepped up the ranks from his current position at 73rd.

As Prince Harry (formally known as Prince Henry) has recently captured the hearts of many Aussies due to increased exposure around the Royal Wedding which took place in May 2018, it is no surprise to see that Henry has entered the Top 10 for the first time in over six years, after steadily increasing year by year (32nd in 2011 to 8th in 2017).

Following the recent Royal Wedding, it will be interesting to see whether Meghan Markle, the now Duchess of Sussex, will have an impact on the popularity of the name Meghan, which has not featured in the Top 100 for over six years.

In addition to George, Charlotte, Louis and Henry, other well-known royal names that feature in the Top 100 include William, Edward, Charles, Elizabeth, Zara and Victoria.

Download the report

For further commentary, and to see the full Top 100 list of baby names, download the 2018 Baby Names Report here.

For media commentary contact us on 02 8824 3422 or at [email protected]

Tags: baby names | Mark McCrindle | McCrindle Speakers | media |

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