Choosing a name for your baby is one of the first decisions you’ll ever make as a parent – and it may be the most important.
Over the past 22 years, monikers inspired by world-renowned fashion and beauty labels have become extremely popular in the UK.
Earlier this month, Magazine Style Etc looked back at the Office of National Statistics data from 1999 to 2021 to determine the favorite designer-inspired baby names.
Over the 22-year span, 84,887 babies were nicknamed Chloe – making it the most popular designer baby name.
Babies given this popular name have the same name as the French fashion house founded in 1952.
The most popular names inspired by fashion were Chloe and Louis while the beauty names that came out on top were Anastasia and Max
Meanwhile, 25,528 British parents chose to give their son the same name as French designer Louis Vuitton.
In addition, the luxury fashion houses of Chanel, Armani, Dior and Dolce were also often adopted as bolder baby names.
Beauty brands have also been a source of inspiration for parents in England and Wales, with over 50,000 boys named Max – brought to the forefront by the Max Factor brand.
The publication revealed that Anastasia was at the top of the beauty brand-inspired names – after the American label Anastasia Beverly Hills.
However, a select few parents were even more adventurous – four named their sons Avon and another three chose Rimmel.
In addition, 26 parent couples also chose the name NYX for their baby girls – like the American beauty brand.
Data from the Office of National Statistics showed that Noah and Olivia were the most popular names for boys and girls in 2021.
Oliver dropped to second place after being the most popular boys’ name for eight years, while Olivia topped the girls’ list for the sixth year in a row.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also shows that Henry replaced Jack in the top 10 names for boys, while Freya, Florence and Willow replaced Isabella, Rosie and Sophia for girls.
Mothers over the age of 35 were more likely to give their babies traditional names such as Thomas, while younger mothers were more likely to use shortened versions such as Tommy.
Olivia was the most popular girl’s name in every region of England and Wales, except in the East Midlands, where Amelia was the most popular girl’s name.
Muhammad was the most popular boy name in four of the nine regions of England.
New to the top 100 were Lara, Beatrice and Sara for girls, and Blake, Brody, Kai, Rupert, Tobias and Nathan for boys.
James Tucker, from the ONS, said: ‘Noah has replaced Oliver as the most popular name for boys in 2021, bringing Oliver down to second place and ending an eight-year reign at the top.
Olivia remained the most popular girl name in 2021, having held the top spot since 2016. Interestingly, Noah didn’t top in any of the English regions, but has risen to the top overall position in most regions since last year.
While Noah and Olivia enjoy their place at the top, some names are in danger of falling out of favour.
Leslie has had relatively little popularity in recent years with fewer than seven boys named each year since 2018. Others, like Clifford, Nigel and Norman, haven’t fared much better with 10 or fewer guys being named.
‘Girl names’ such as Glenda and Kerry, which used to be more common, are also under threat and as of 2018 fewer than five girls are named each year.
Popular culture continues to influence parents’ choice of baby names. Today we also published an analysis exploring cultural influences that could be inspiring baby name trends, from popular TV shows to musical icons.”