By Rhodri Morgan, data journalist, and Theo Wolf and Stephen Matthews for Mailonline
14:23 June 30, 2024, updated 14:33 June 30, 2024
Have you ever wondered how common your name is?
Well, now you can find out.
MailOnline has today created a search tool that shows exactly how many boys and girls born in the last 30 years have your name.
It shows not only the absolute numbers, but also whether popularity has increased or decreased over time.
The most popular baby names in all 330+ authorities in England and Wales are also displayed today in interactive maps.
Noah – officially the most common boy’s name – tops the list in around 75 local authorities, while Muhammad comes in at 45th and Oliver at 24th.
For girls, Olivia came first, with 69 local authorities voting for this name, followed by Amelia with 42 and Isla with 30.
Olivia also dominated the different age groups of mothers and was the most popular name in three of four age groups (25-29, 30-34 and over 35).
Noah, meanwhile, came out on top in only one demographic, the under-25s, while Muhammad performed better in both the 25-29 and over-35 age groups, and the 30-34 age group preferred the name Oliver.
In the Office for National Statistics (ONS) district rankings, only 35 different boys’ names appeared, compared to 58 for girls.
For the boys, Osian (joint leader in Carmarthenshire) and David (Harrow) are on the list.
Click here to resize this module
Click here to resize this module
Data suggests that several counties have clearly felt the pull of the celebrity world when choosing their baby names in 2022.
Pop superstar Dua Lipa has taken Greater Manchester’s Oldham district by storm as the most popular girl’s name for 2022 (12).
The 28-year-old, who has won seven Brit Awards and three Grammys, was born in the London district of West Hampstead to Kosovo-Albanian parents.
‘Dua’ is derived from the Arabic word for ‘prayer’ and first appeared in the ONS annual records in 1999, when three children in England and Wales were given this name.
Its popularity grew modestly but remained in single figures until 2005, when it reached number 13 across England and Wales, jumping to 115 in 2018. That year, their mega-hit “One Kiss” featuring DJ Calvin Harris was released, the best-selling song of 2018.
Since then, the name’s popularity has only increased; in 2022, 322 girls were named Dua.
Meanwhile, Australian box office phenomenon Margot Robbie appears to have been a particular success in the ceremonial county of Rutland in the East Midlands.
Five girls in the area were given the same name as the eye-catcher from Barbie and the Wolf of Wall Street in 2022, making a total of 810 in England and Wales this year.
Robbie’s big break came in 2013 alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s hit “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Click here to resize this module
And the data shows that the film’s release had a strong impact on naming: The number of babies named Margot almost doubled year-on-year, from 55 in 2013 to 104 in 2014.
In 2022, 810 babies were born and named Margot, the second highest number ever after 892 in 2021.
Dr Rebecca Gregory, assistant professor of historical linguistics and onomastics at the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline that the idea of naming children after famous people dates back centuries.
“We can trace this trend from around the 16th century, when church records began to circulate. Whether it was a local figure or a member of the royal family, people have always named their children after influential people,” she said.
While in times past the lord of the manor or the duchess might have been chosen, today people draw inspiration from the stage, the screen and sport.
