Baby names Australians no longer want revealed in 2022 report
There’s been a dramatic shift at the top of Australia’s baby name charts, with the number one girl’s name finally dropping after seven years.
The baby names Australians no longer want to give their kids have been revealed in a new report – and there’s a surprising decline in rank for one popular moniker.
McCrindle’s 2022 Australian Baby Names report has shown parents are turning their backs on the names Lara, Summer and Emma for girls while its Luke, Nicholas and Matthew that have fallen out of favour for boys.
The names that have had the most dramatic fall in our top 100 chart are Jasmine, dropping 55 places to 78, and Connor, ranking at 98, down 68 places.
But there’s also been an unexpected shake up in Australia’s top 10 names, with Charlotte – that has topped the girls names since 2015 – losing its top spot, falling to position 2.
Interestingly, William has dropped from spot 3 in the boys top 10 to position 5.
While they’ve not moved far, the data shows the reign of regal inspired names is waning.
In Charlotte’s number 1 spot is now Isla for girls, while Oliver remains firm favourite for boys for its ninth year at the top.
The rest of the top 10 names remain mostly unchanged, though Chloe has dropped out to number 12 after being eclipsed by Ella. Over in the boys chart, Henry as risen from sixth place to spot 4.
Traditional names on the decline
The research company said part of the reason for the drop in traditional names is down to parents wanting “uniqueness” – especially for girls.
This is partly due to the fact children born today – known as Generation Alpha – are the children of the Millennials, and often the younger siblings of Generation Z, McCrindle said.
“Prior to the baby name books of the 80s, baby names were influenced by family and religious traditions,” the report reads.
“In recent years the internet has facilitated an explosion of blogs, websites and even baby naming apps. Therefore, parents today have more access to information than at any other time in history, and are inundated with options, research and meaning when it comes to naming babies.”
The report goes on to explain that while Generation Alpha haven’t finished being born yet, there are “clear trends” when it comes to the most popular baby names for this generation.
“Of this years’ Top 100 list, almost half (47) of the girls’ names did not feature on the list back in 2010, compared to a third (33) of boys’ names,” it states.
“This shows the trend of more variety in girls’ names than boys’.”
This can be seen in the rise in popularity of names such as Hazel, Florence, Daisy, Frankie, Luna, Ayla, Sadie, Billie, Millie, Aurora and Mila for girls in the last decade. While new boys names the past 10 years include Theodore, Hudson, Arlo, Archer, Harvey, Carter, Arthur, Sonny and Asher.
Names to watch in the coming years
The report also detailed a string of names that were up and coming, predicting they’d be topping the charts before too long.
These included Remi, which ranked 60th in the girls list this year, and Maeve – currently placing 70th. However emerging boys names aren’t debuting on the list as strong as the girls names, the report said.
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