Most popular names for baby boys and girls in 2023 revealed

Muhammad was the most popular name for baby boys in England and Wales in 2023, figures show.

Muhammad had been the second most popular boys’ name in 2022, up from fifth place in 2021, and has been in the top 10 since 2016.

Noah, 2022’s most popular boys’ name, came in second, with Oliver in third.

Olivia, Amelia and Isla held the top three spots for baby girl names for the second year in a row, with Olivia having been the top-ranked name since 2016.

The rankings were created using the exact spellings of names given at birth registration, meaning similar names with different spellings were counted separately.

Three variant spellings of Muhammad made the list of the top 100 baby boys’ names in England and Wales in 2023.

Muhammad ranked first with 4,661 boys being given the name, while Mohammed came in 28th with 1,601 and Mohammad came 68th with 835.

The data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also shows that Muhammad was the most popular boys’ name in four out of nine regions in England and 63rd most popular in Wales.

Meanwhile, Olivia was the most popular girls’ name in five out of nine regions in England and the most popular in Wales.

Olivia has been in the top three for girls’ names every year since 2006.

New entries into the top 100 baby names include Hazel, Lilah, Autumn, Nevaeh and Raya for girls and Jax, Enzo and Bodhi for boys.

For baby girls, seasonal names were more popular, with Autumn and Summer increasing in popularity, particularly during their respective seasons; both names are in the top 100.

In contrast, in December the names Holly, Robyn and Joseph were more popular.

Pop culture also appeared to play a role in baby names.

Following the summer blockbuster film Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, there were an additional 215 baby girls named Margot compared with 2022 and the name ranked 44th out of the 100 most popular baby girl names.

There was also an increase in pop music artists’ names in 2023, including Billie, Lana, Miley, and Rihanna for girls, and Kendrick and Elton for boys.

However royal names fell in popularity in 2023.

George ranked fourth with 3,494 babies being given the name and William came in 29th.

Louis came in 45th for boys and Charlotte ranked 23rd for girls.