It's that time of year again, and no, I'm not talking about how the Christmas season is upon us... it's the big unveiling of the top 100 names of 2022. BabyCentre has released its list of the most popular monikers for baby boys and girls, as well as the biggest naming trends parents have been following.
Tens of thousands of mums and dads have registered their baby name choices on the pregnancy and parenting site and the experts have used the data to see where inspiration may have been coming from - and it seems parents have been loving throwbacks to the 90s and the reality stars of Love Island.
This year the biggest changes can be seen in the top names for girls, with Olivia being officially knocked off the number one spot from 2021 and replaced by Sophia - which was recently also crowned the 'most beautiful name' of the year by scientists. The top 10 had a bit of a reshuffle, with Olivia dropping down to third place and being overtaken by Lily. The ninth and 10th spots also welcomed new names for 2022, with Maya jumping up 10 places to number nine and Ivy also moved up two spots to enter the top 10.
According to BabyCentre's research, the sudden popularity of the name Maya could be due to presenter Maya Jama being named as the new Love Island host for 2023. Love Islanders past and present seemed to have a big impact on names across the board, with many being the highest climbers of the year.
Luca (Bish), the name of the 2022 runner-up leapt 21 places into the top 10 boys' names and was followed closely by 2021’s Toby (Aromolaran) which rose 20 places. Fellow runner-up Chloe (Burrows) also went up a place.
Other Love Island names storming the charts included Millie, Liam, Teddy, Alex, Zara and Theo. While names such as Maura (Higgins) and Ovie (Soko) saw a number of registrations for the very first time this year.
BabyCentre also noted that parents seemed to be returning to the 90s when naming their little ones over the last 11 months, with mums and dads opting to name their little ones after some of the decade's biggest icons, like Gabrielle and Aaliyah.
The names of Friends stars like Matthew (Perry/LeBlanc), Lisa (Kudrow) and David (Schwimmer) also had an uptick in registrations, in addition to other popular 90s monikers including Thomas, Jack, Daniel, Liam, Charlotte, Emily and Jason.
The research also found that the names of the England Women's football squad were winning over parents after becoming UEFA Champions, with Leah (Williamson), Gabby (Logan) and Alexandra (Alex Scott) surging in popularity.
Interestingly, with all the royal news from the year, the experts noted that there didn't seem to be much of an increase in the use of names from Britain's most famous family - like Lilibet, William, Kate, Harry, Meghan or Charlie.
Even Elizabeth, which rose up the charts for the half-year data, didn't see much of an improvement in the full-year results, following the death of Her Majesty the Queen in September.
Sarah Redshaw, UK Managing Editor for BabyCentre, said: "Love Islander names are definitely parents’ type on paper. And BabyCentre parents haven’t been putting all their eggs in the 2022 Love Island basket either. It’s possible that the islanders’ continued fame on social media and more reality TV is causing this surge. We now want to keep a watch on the names of 2022 winners Ekin-Su and Davide to see if they become more popular as they go on to bigger things."
And speaking of the 90s revival, she added: "We wonder if parents are just excited to be dusting off their bucket hats or if 90s babies are now starting to have their own and giving into nostalgia when it comes to naming their little ones!"
Here's a look at the full list of top 100 names for boys and girls for 2022.
Top 100 baby girls' names of 2022
1. Sophia
2. Lily
3. Olivia
4. Isla
5. Ava
6. Amelia
7. Freya
8. Aria
9. Maya
10. Ivy
11. Emily
12. Isabella
13. Mia
14. Grace
15. Evie
16. Zara
17. Millie
18. Ella
19. Hannah
20. Daisy
21. Rosie
22. Elsie
23. Willow
24. Luna
25. Poppy
26. Zoe
27. Isabelle
28. Sophie
29. Sienna
30. Ada
31. Nur
32. Florence
33. Charlotte
34. Evelyn
35. Emilia
36. Maryam
37. Fatima
38. Harper
39. Phoebe
40. Ayla
41. Mila
42. Maisie
43. Chloe
44. Hallie
45. Eliana
46. Layla
47. Lyla
48. Emma
49. Erin
50. Eva
51. Alice
52. Aurora
53. Aaliyah
54. Ruby
55. Matilda
56. Leah
57. Bella
58. Thea
59. Nora
60. Molly
61. Anna
62. Darcie
63. Lottie
64. Eleanor
65. Robyn
66. Violet
67. Maeve
68. Anaya
69. Maddison
70. Arabella
71. Maria
72. Holly
73. Ellie
74. Penelope
75. Imogen
76. Lucy
77. Talia
78. Rose
79. Mirha
80. Bonnie
81. Eliza
82. Iris
83. Abigail
84. Nova
85. Aisha
86. Nancy
87. Orla
88. Gabriella
89. Gracie
90. Esme
91. Jessica
92. Scarlett
93. Amira
94. Elizabeth
95. Jasmine
96. Olive
97. Lara
98. Lola
99. Mabel
100. Harriet
Top 100 Baby Boys' names of 2022
1. Muhammad
2. Noah
3. Theo
4. Leo
5. Oliver
6. Jack
7. George
8. Luca
9. Ethan
10. Freddie
11. Arthur
12. Ryan
13. Harry
14. Oscar
15. Henry
16. Charlie
17. Archie
18. Teddy
19. Thomas
20. Adam
21. Aiden
22. Alfie
23. Louie
24. Finley
25. Liam
26. Jacob
27. Lucas
28. Daniel
29. Caleb
30. Joshua
31. Jaxon
32. Max
33. Isaac
34. Elijah
35. Zayn
36. Theodore
37. Reuben
38. Arlo
39. Jayden
40. James
41. William
42. Jude
43. Tommy
44. Mason
45. Ali
46. Albie
47. Ezra
48. Alexander
49. Nathan
50. Dylan
51. Yusuf
52. Kai
53. Rory
54. Logan
55. Toby
56. Roman
57. Samuel
58. Michael
59. Elliot
60. Myles
61. Ayaan
62. Sebastian
63. Finn
64. Kian
65. Harrison
66. Alex
67. Jesse
68. Jason
69. David
70. Grayson
71. Levi
72. Benjamin
73. Hunter
74. Hudson
75. Gabriel
76. Ollie
77. Rowan
78. Zachary
79. Asher
80. Ibrahim
81. Riley
82. Brodie
83. Eli
84. Oakley
85. Abdul
86. Luke
87. Matthew
88. Joseph
89. Milo
90. Hugo
91. Reggie
92. Edward
93. Ronnie
94. Aaron
95. Jasper
96. Omar
97. Zion
98. Bobby
99. Abdullah
100. Syed
Did your child's name make the list? Let us know in the comments below.
