And the most popular baby names in the Highlands in 2023 were…
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The most popular baby names in the Highlands in the past year have been released by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).
The figures were published on Thursday as part of a wider update revealing the most popular names for newborns across the whole of Scotland in 2023.
Across the Highland Council area, the most popular names for boys and girls in 2023 were Logan (17) and Isla (also 17).
Scotland-wide the most popular name for boys was Luca, with 344 born in 2023, while the most popular name for girls across the whole country was Isla, with 274.
Scotland-wide, the most popular three names for girls were the same as in the Highlands - and in the same order - with Olivia coming in second and Freya third.
But Luca was far less popular a name for boys in the Highlands than it was nationally, finishing in joint 30th place across the local authority area instead of topping the list.
The top ten names in the Highlands for boys in 2023 saw Logan top the list, followed by Brodie in second place with 16, while Archie and Charlie were joint third most popular with 15 babies apiece.
The rest of the boys’ top ten were Alfie and James in joint fifth with 13 each, Noah in seventh with 12, and Finlay, Freddie and Oliver in joint eighth with 11 each.
The girls’ top three of Isla (17), Olivia (15) and Freya (14), were joined by Ella and Lily in joint fourth with 13 each; Ava, Emily, Grace and Willow in joint sixth with 11 each; and Isabella and Sophie in equal 10th with 10 entries apiece.
NRS statistician Phillipa Haxton said: “There are more names in use today than there were in previous generations.
“The number of different names for boys reached a new all-time high in 2023, as did the number of unique names given to only one child in the year.
“The same pattern was observed for girls’ names, and the variety of names given to girls is still greater than for boys.”
Some of the names rising in use are associated with movies. Luca is now Scotland’s top name for baby boys, rising from 43rd in the charts before the release of the 2021 Pixar movie of the same name. Meanwhile the names of actors in the summer blockbuster movies Oppenheimer and Barbie further increased in popularity, with Cillian up 24 to 99th in the list and Margot up 57 places to 106th.
New entrants in the top 100 names included Oakley, which rose 64 places to 87th and Mabel, which leapt 102 places to joint 93rd.
Choices for baby names differed across Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
But what about the rest of the Highland lists? Are the names of you and your loved ones on it, and if so where?
The full lists of boys and girls names were as follows:
Boys:
Girls:
