The ‘John Lewis’ effect has led to gender-neutral baby names becoming more mainstream than ever before.
Parenting website BabyCentre has revealed the top 100 boys’ and girls’ names of the year – revealing what is inspiring parents in 2017.
According to research carried out by the site, the gender debate has led to parents increasingly choosing names that are suitable for both boys or girls – with Riley, Frankie and Harley coming out on top.
Frankie proved a popular choice for both boys and girls this year. Pictured: Singer and Strictly star Frankie Bridge, left, and jockey Frankie Dettori, right
Only a few years ago Harley (as made famous by the fictional character Harley Quinn, pictured) was predominantly seen as a boys’ name but, in 2017, 49 per cent of BabyCentre registrations were for girls
BabyCentre studied tens of thousands of parents’ choices for their new arrivals over the past year, to reveal the latest trends as well as more unusual naming choices.
According to the site,parents are ‘sitting up and taking notice of conversations about gender stereotyping’, with gender-neutral names on the rise in this year’s charts.
Inspired perhaps by John Lewis’ decision to remove girls and boys labels from their children’s clothing range, BabyCentre claims parents have increasingly chosen names that are suitable for both boys or girls.
The gender-neutral names chart includes each name which had at least a quarter of its registrations to both sexes.
The most popular of these was Riley, with just under two thirds of boy registrations and just over a third of girls.
This was closely followed by Frankie, where the share was reversed.
The name with the most balanced split between the sexes was Harley, which was the third most popular gender-neutral name.
Only a few years ago Harley was predominantly seen as a boys’ name but, in 2017, 49 per cent of BabyCentre registrations were for girls.
This graph shoes the top BabyCentre names where at least 25 per cent of registrations were for boys, and 25 per cent for girls
And East End gangsters are also proving inspirational. Reggie and Ronnie – notably the infamous Kray twins – are steadily climbing up the boys’ charts, while Violet, the Krays’ mother, and, Nancy, the tragic gangster’s moll in Oliver Twist, are growing in popularity for girls.
Peaky Blinders characters are also having an effect on the charts with Tommy and Arthur rising one and seven places respectively this year, while fellow Peaky Blinder name Alfie retained a firm position in the top 100.
ITV’s Love Island has also influenced the names that parents are choosing for their baby girls, with Olivia holding firm to the top spot and Montana, Camilla and Gabby all enjoying more registrations in 2017 than in previous years.
For boys, Theo remained a top 30 favourite and Harley jumped 33 places into the top 100 at number 71.