The most popular baby names in Worthing revealed

The Office for National Statistics has revealed the most popular baby names for each area of Sussex

Last year 1,123 babies were born in the area, 574 boys and 549 girls.

Parents in Worthing didn’t follow the national baby-naming trend for boys, with Jacob proving the most popular.

Olivia, the nation’s favourite name for girls, topped the charts for Worthing parents last year, but had to share the top spot with Emily.

The second most popular name for baby boys was Oliver, followed by Arthur, Oscar and Theodore all in third.

For baby girls in the area, Ava took second place.

Nick Stripe, of the Office for National Statistics, said: “Although Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular baby names in 2017, some fascinating changes took place beneath them.

“Leo entered the boys’ top 10 for the first time, whilst Hunter rocketed into the top 100, also for the first time, reaching number 78.

“Sarah, the most popular name for baby girls throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since our records began in 1904. Brand new entries into the top 100 for girls include the names Aurora and Hallie.”

In England and Wales, royal references continue with Harry and George remaining the second and third most popular names respectively since 2016.

Amelia was the second most popular name for girls, with Isla moving up to third place.

Nearly 700,000 babies were born last year in England and Wales and over 63,000 unique baby names were registered.

New entries into the top 100 most popular boys’ names included Hunter and Ralph, Hunter for the first time and Ralph for the first time since 1944.

There were six new names in the 100 most popular girls’ names – Aurora, Orla, Edith, Bonnie, Lyla and Hallie.

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