The most popular baby names of 2024 - and the iconic name that's dropped out of the UK's top 100

There is no doubt baby names come in and out of favour with each passing year – and decade.

Recent years has seen a resurgence of some classic and vintage names, while once-popular monikers have disappeared from top 100 lists.

Now, the UK's leading parenting and pregnancy website, Babycentre, has revealed the most popular baby names of 2024 and the names that have fallen out of favour, including one that's set to exit the top 100 this year.

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Babycentre also uncovered a number of new trends, including surname-inspired boys' names, girls' names ending in an 'a' and boys' names with multiple derivatives.

Most popular

The UK's multicultural nature saw Muhammad once again crowned the most popular boys' name, alongside Olivia for girls.

The rest of the top 10 boys' names remained the same and in the same order, with Noah, Theo, Leo, Oliver, Arthur, George, Luca, Freddie and Jack rounding out the list.

According to Babycentre, the first change in the boys' list came in the 15th spot, which was claimed by Archie after it moved up two places.

The UK's 10 most popular girls' names remained unchanged, apart from the order.

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Lily moved up to third spot, pushing Isla to fourth, Ava stayed in fifth place while Grace rose five places to number six.

Sophia went up one spot to seventh place while Freya and Ivy rounded out the list, alongside Willow, which remained at number 10.

Going, going, gone

Lilly disappeared from the top 100 girls' names in 2024, as did Nova.

The once popular boys' name Jason also fell out of the top 100.

Moving up

Ryan had the biggest jump, rocketing 12 spots up the list to become the 53rd most popular boys' name.

For girls, Emma and Ariella made the biggest gains, each climbing 13 spots.

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Emma made it to 76 and Ariella climbed to 84 on the list of girls' names, while another old favourite, Sarah, gained 12 spots to end at number 55.

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Out of favour

There were some big drops recorded in 2024.

Amelie tumbled 12 places to 94 on the list, while Lucy fell 11 spots to 95.

For boys, Jaxon dropped 14 places to 64, while Austin fell 13 places to end at 91, with Babycentre predicting Austin will disappear from the top 100 in 2025.

This correlates with US trends. Nameberry says Austin was a top 10 name in the 1990s, only to lose favour. It finally exited the top 100 boys' names list in the US in 2022.

In Australia, the most recent McCrindle Baby Names Report, which examines official baby name data from across Australia for the previous year, placed Austin at 45th on the list of most popular boys' names in 2023, up 10 places from the previous year.

Austin was the 49th most popular boys' name in NSW in 2021.

New arrivals

A number of names debuted on the list.

Margot surged into the top 100 at 88 while Gabriella entered the list at 99. For boys, Matthew and Elliot entered the top 100 at 88 and 95 respectively.

A new trend

Almost half the girls' names in the top 100 this year ended in 'a', according to Babycentre.

As well as accounting for 46 names on the list, names ending in 'a' were amongst the biggest climbers, thanks to Emma, Ariella and Ariella.

Derivatives are big

Babycentre uncovered another growing trend among boys' names, with multiple derivatives of the same name all making the list.

Theodore, Theo and Teddy were all popular.

Thomas moved up one place to 25, while Tommy also appeared.

Other examples were Finley and Finn; Oliver and Ollie, and Alexander and Alex.

Surnames for first names

The top 100 boys' names were dominated by surnames such as Hunter, Hudson, Mason, Harrison and Logan.

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New spellings

While Lilly made way for Lily, both Sophia and Sofia were popular for girls.

There were also three different variations of the number one boys' name Muhammad, with Mohammad and Mohammed making the top 100.

Top boys' names in the UK

1. Muhammad
2. Noah
3. Theo
4. Leo
5. Oliver
6. Arthur
7. George
8. Luca
9. Freddie
10. Jack

Top girls' names in the UK

1. Olivia
2. Amelia
3. Lily
4. Isla
5. Ava
6. Grace
7. Sophia
8. Freya
9. Ivy
10. Willow

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