The most popular baby boy and girls names of 2021 have been revealed

Would YOU call your baby after your favourite Netflix character? TV-inspired names such as Love and Otis soar in popularity in 2021 – but Olivia is back on top and Mohammed is still the most popular for boys in the UK

  • Muhammad and Olivia were the most popular name of 2021, BabyCentre said 
  • The UK parenting website surveyed the top 100 names registered by their users 
  • Marvel and DC heroes names and baby names inspired by locations topped list
  • But names like Piers, Elliott, Dwayne and Maud have fallen out of favour this year 

Whether it’s the endless hours spent watching Netflix when there was nowhere to go, or joy of emerging from lockdown and being able to travel again, the pandemic has certainly had an impact on thei year’s most popular baby names. 

British parenting website BabyCentre has revealed the top 100 boys and girls names registered by its users in 2021, with Muhammad and Olivia taking the top spots in each category. 

Olivia was briefly knocked off the top spot last year by Sophia, but is back at number one for girls. Meanwhile, Muhammad usually comes out on top when all the different spelling variations are combined. 

The website noted that following a period of uncertainty due to the coronavirus, hopeful parents opted for names synonymous with new beginnings, such as Aurora, throughout the year. 

In a year where people made the most of their streaming platforms’ releases at home, names made popular by Disney+ shows like Luca and Netflix series like Bridgerton’s Penelope and Sex Education’s Maeve also climbed up to the top 100. 

And following Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics, sports enthusiasts have also named their kin after this year’s athletes of the moment, including Jack – inspired by Jack Grealish – Jason – inspired by Olympian Jason Kenny – and Luke – after Luke Shaw – all making it into the top 100. 

However, the website noted the name Piers fell out of favour this year, alongside names like Maud, Elliott and Dwayne.  

British parenting website BabyCentre has revealed the top 100 names for boys and girls that were the most popular with parents in 2021, stock image

The top five for boys included Muhammad, a name of Arabic origin, as well as Noah, Oliver, George and Leo. 

Meanwhile, names ending in ‘a’ were a popular choice for girls, with Olivia and Sophia take the two top spots, followed by Lily, Amelia and Ava. 

BabyCentre also noted that as the coronavirus pandemic is still progressing, some names’ popularity is particularly telling. 

For instance, Sarah Gilbert, who developed the Oxford vaccine to fight the pandemic was a popular choice this year, with the name going up five places compared to 2020, to number 42. 

Optimistic parents also went for names such as ‘Aurora and Eden,’ symbolising new beginnings, for girls. 

Top 100 baby girls’ names of 2021 

1. Olivia

2. Sophia 

3. Lily

4. Amelia 

5. Ava

6. Mia

7. Isla 

8. Freya

9. Ella

10. Rosie

11. Aria

12. Ivy

13. Emily

14. Grace

15. Isabella

16. Poppy

17. Mila

18. Evie

19. Maya

20. Willow

21. Hannah

22. Sophie 

23. Luna

24. Zara

25. Florence

26. Layla 

27. Daisy

28. Elsie

29. Evelyn

30. Phoebe

31. Millie

32. Nur 

33. Sienna 

34. Charlotte 

35. Emilia

36. Zoe

37. Ada

38. Alice 

39. Fatima 

40. Eva 

41. Ruby 

42. Sarah 

43. Hallie 

44. Chloe 

45. Maisie 

46. Isabelle

47. Ayla

48. Emma 

49. Maryam

50. Scarlett

51. Matilda 

52. Ellie 

53. Lyla

54. Harper

55. Molly

56. Jessica

57. Eliza 

58. Thea 

59 Arabella

60. Eliana

61. Leah 

62. Violet

63. Maria 

64. Erin

65. Lucy 

66. Lottie

67. Holly

68. Aurora

69. Robyn 

70. Imogen

71. Penelope

72. Anna 

73. Bonnie 

74. Iris

75. Jasmine

76. Maeve 

77. Eleanor

78. Kiara

79. Gracie

80. Esme

81. Abigail 

82. Rose

83. Bella

84. Delilah

85. Nancy

86. Elizabeth

87. Amelie 

88. Orla

89. Amber 

90. Georgia

91. Gianna

92. Eden

93. Lola

94. Lara

95. Hazel

96. Clara

97. Summer

98. Mirha 

99. Elodie

100. Olive

 

Top 100 baby boys’ names of 2021 

1. Muhammad 

2. Noah

3. Oliver

4. George 

5. Leo 

6. Theo  

7. Freddie 

8. Harry 

9. Jack 

10. Arthur  

11. Charlie  

12. Ryan  

13. Ethan 

14. Henry 

15. Archie 

16. Finley  

17. Lucas  

18. Oscar  

19. Jacob  

20. Thomas  

21. Isaac 

22. Adam  

23. Alfie 

24. Elijah  

25. Jaxon  

26. Aiden  

27. Louie  

28. Joshua  

29. Luca  

30. Tommy  

31. James 

32. Max  

33. Daniel  

34. Reuben  

35. Liam 

36. Teddy 

37. Arlo  

38. Alexander  

39. Logan 

40. Jayden  

41. William  

42. Michael  

43. Theodore  

44. Mason  

45. Yusuf  

46. Rory  

47. Ezra  

48. Albie 

49. Dylan 

50. Caleb

51. Nathan 

52. Roman 

53. Jude

54. Ollie 

55. Benjamin

56. Myles 

57. Ayaan 

58. Finn 

59. Zachary 

60. Zayn 

61. Joseph 

62. Samuel 

63. Hugo

64. Ali

65. Sebastian 

66. Reggie 

67. Hunter 

68. Kai 

69. Harrison 

70. Rowan 

71. David 

72. Edward

73. Alex 

74. Ronnie 

75. Toby 

76. Riley 

77. Jesse 

78. Luke 

79. Omar 

80. Ibrahim 

81. Frankie 

82. Blake 

83. Gabriel 

84. Jason 

85. Grayson 

86. Levi 

87. Jasper

88. Eli 

89. Milo 

90. Abdul 

91. Matthew 

92. Asher

93. John 

94. Hudson 

95. Carter 

96. Nathaniel 

97. Jake 

98. Leon 

99. Bobby 

100. Stanley

 

 

Sarah Redshaw, UK Managing Editor for BabyCentre, said: ‘Parents don’t just reflect popular trends with their baby name picks, what they don’t choose can be just as revealing. 

‘We predict there will be a rise in superhero names as Marvel and DC films continue to dominate and inspire many more parents to call their baby Thor, Thanos or Sylvie,’ she added. 

‘But despite all this inspiration it can take a long time for parents to decide on a name. 

‘Our poll showed that 8 per cent of parents were still undecided about what to call their baby more than a week after they were born. And however long it takes to decide, many parents – nearly 13 per cent – end up regretting their name choice.’ 

Top baby naming trends of 2021: New parents take inspiration from Netflix hits and sporting heroes, but old fashioned monikers like Bertha and Roger fall out of favour 

POPULAR CULTURE 

Without contest, 2021 was the year where pop culture was one of the biggest trend among baby names, with monikers inspired by Netflix shows breaking into the top 100. 

Maeve, Otis and Eric, made popular by the character from Netflix’s raunchy series Sex Education, entered the top 100, while YOU-inspired names Love and Henry moved up the charts. 

Penelope rose to number 71, perhaps influended by Miss Featherington in Bridgerton, names inspired by Made in Chelsea also rose in popularity, with Myles reaching number 56, Harry making it into the top ten, Millie in 31st position and Ollie climbing 13 places. 

SPORTING HEROES 

After a summer filled with sporting competitions including the UEFA European Championship which kicked off in June and the Olympics and Paralympics in July and August, sports enthusiasts took inspiration from their heroes as well. 

Harry Kane and Harry McGuire’s exploits during the Euros saw the name making it into the top ten, while Jack was also a popular option following Jack Grealish’s rise in popularity this year. 

Team GB had their second best Olympics ever in the Tokyo games this year, winning 65 medals.

Jason Kenny, first Briton to win seven Olympic gold medals with a spectacular defence of his men’s keirin title, saw the name Jason reach number 84 in the boys’ top 100 names list. 

TRAVEL

With international travel being a big topic of conversation this year, with restrictions being updated to reflect the stat of the pandemic, some parents opted for wanderlust names, picking patronyms like Ocean and Destiny making the girls’ top 100. 

GENDER NEUTRAL

Meanwhile, gender neutral names were also a popular trend of 2021, with Willow reaching number 20 in the girls’ top 100 list and climbing outside of the top 100 for boys as well. 

Noah was a big favourite for boys, making it to second place, and it climbed in popularity with girls too, as well as Blake.  

DEATH OF OLD-FASHIONED NAMES 

However, some names fell out of favour this year, with no new registrations recorded by BabyCentre. 

This was the case for Piers, as well as Elliott, Clive, Maurice, Roger, Clifford, Dwayne, Vernon and Daryl. 

Girls name that were not registered this year included Maud, Tina, Pauline, Doreen, Doris, Edna, Glynis, Bertha, Kerry and Gertrude.     

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