The most popular baby names of the last 20 years revealed… and it looks like parents are BIG royal fans

BABY name trends come and go, but some monikers come to define a generation.

While Olivia has topped the charts for girls’ names since 2016, Emily takes the generational crown after featuring in the top five every year between 1996 and 2018.

Jessica, Sophie and Chloe fill the rest of the first five spots.

For boys, Jack, Thomas, Harry, Oliver and Joshua top the charts.

Baby name expert and co-creator of , Pamela Redmond, says: “With boy names especially, you see some of the classics holding steady over the whole generation, a trend you'd see if you stretched the chart back a hundred years.

“Names like Thomas, James, William, and Daniel are never really in or out of style.

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“They command a top place on baby name popularity lists generation after generation.

“You see more movement with girls' names, even the classics you might think would be immune to fashion swings.

“Elizabeth barely sneaks onto the top 25 and Sarah has nearly fallen off the top 50.”

Using the latest Office of National Statistics data from 1996 to 2019, it’s possible to see which names rose and fell in popularity over the generation – and there appears to be a royal influence.

Charlotte leapt in popularity the year following Princess Charlotte’s birth and has stayed steady since, with between 2,000 and 2,500 girls named Charlotte in England and Wales every year.

While it’s another classic, George was ranked 10^th in the year Prince George was born but has steadily moved up the charts since, peaking in second place in 2018 and 2019.

Louis also grew in popularity the year after Prince Louis’ birth in 2018 and we can probably expect to see a similar trend for Archie who was born the following year – although it’s currently too early to tell.

Pamela says: “You can see some names that are on the upswing taking over for similar names that are losing their fashion edge.

“Sophia is the new Sophie, for instance, Amelia has taken over for Emily, Freya is the new Leah.

“For boys, Archie is moving up while Alfie is trending down. Leo is heading up while Liam is on the way down.

“Seeing these names together on the generational popularity list spotlights how connected many baby name trends are.”

In related news, we recently revealed the most popular baby names of this year so far – and, no, Olivia doesn’t make the top 10.

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