The top ten girls’ names for 2013 were: Charlotte, Emily, Ruby, Sophie, Olivia, Isla, (Eye-la – sometimes pronounced Eyes-la or Is-la) Amelia, Ava (or Ar-va), Isabella, and Ella
Most of the top 10 names have been in the top 10 for the last few years. Charlotte was the most popular name in 2006 and has been in the top 5 names for the last 10 years. It was number 1 again last year.
However, Ava was number 50 and Isla was number 92 in popularity ten years ago but they both moved up gradually over the last few years.
The top ten boys’ names for 2013 were: Oliver, Jack, James, William, Mason, Liam, Samuel, Lucas, Noah, and Thomas.
Oliver and Jack have been in the top 5 for several years. Jack has been number 1 six times in the last 10 years. Liam was the most popular name for 2 years recently. The popularity of William may be because of Prince William. However George, the royal baby’s name, was only number 35 in New Zealand. Perhaps it was more popular in the UK.
Listen to January 15th 2012 to hear more about babies’ names.
Vocabulary
- popular (adj) – liked by many people; (compare famous – known by many people)
- gradually (adv) – little by little (often used in recipes e.g. add milk gradually)
- recently (adv) – in the last few years
Pronunciation
- pronounce (v), pronunciation (n) the 2nd syllable does not have an ‘o’
- popular (adj)- stress is on the 1st syllable; popularity (n) – stress is on the 3rd syllable