Jack and Olivia most popular names with Preston rising fast give lists please Jack and Olivia are the most popular names for new babies, official statistics released yesterday confirm.
Preston, the name of the Ordinary Boys singer, was one of the biggest risers for 2006, up 767 places to 148 in the National Statistics rankings for England and Wales. In contrast, his wife Chantelle’s name has not made such an impact, rising just 13 places to 213 for 2006.
Success this year for Oscar-nominated Keira Knightley and Arsenal star Theo Walcott, a member of England’s World Cup squad, saw their names climb up the rankings. The name Keira was 33rd most popular and Theo hit the top 100 for the first time at 92.
Britney Spears was in good company in calling her three-month-old son Jayden as this name jumped 16 places to 68.
Overall, Jack is now the most popular boy’s name in England and Wales for the 12th year running. There were 6,928 boys in 2006.
Thomas, Joshua and Oliver filled the second, third and fourth spots.
Olivia, which entered the top five only last year, has knocked Jessica off the number one spot for girls’ names. There were 4,462 given this name in 2006.
Grace is now the second most popular girl’s name.
High climber Ruby, up 69 places since 2001, is fourth, ahead of Emily.
