Harper, Arlo and Albie: The baby names rocketing in popularity

There’s a natural ebb and flow to the popularity of baby names over the generations. At the turn of the last century Harold, Ethel and Walter were among the most popular, but are rarely heard these days.

Then there are some names that catch the zeitgeist and become the monikers that mark out a generation.

One such name, which has rocketed in popularity far more than any other over the last decade, is Harper, which has jumped a staggering 2,093 places in the baby name rankings since 2006 to become the 44th most popular girls name in England and Wales last year.

Its stellar rise may have something to do with David and Victoria Beckham deciding to name their now six-year-old daughter Harper Seven in 2011.

The other girls name that has made a dramatic ascent is Aria, which has climbed 1,213 places since 2006 to 67th place.

For boys names, Jaxon (now ranked 51), Arlo (49) and Albie (88) have enjoyed the most eye-catching growth in popularity, replacing names such as Callum, Connor, Jamie, Kian, Seth and Sonny in the top 100.

Some more traditional names have also been making in a surging comeback in recent years. Reggie, Teddy and Hugo have all jumped triple figures in the name rankings, whereas girls names such as Ivy (33), Penelope (63) and Felicity (97) have made similar progress.

Other names to rapidly gain popularity and make it into the top 100 last year included Luna, Arabella, and Willow for girls and Dexter, Austin and Jenson for boys.

Elsewhere one royal name gained significantly in popularity: Charlotte jumped from the 25th most popular name in 2015 to 12th in 2016 with 2,596 girls receiving the name.

In 2016 the trend of people giving their children names from the popular TV series Game of Thrones continued as over 300 baby girls were called Arya and 69 called Khaleesi.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity with young people doesn't appear to have translated with new parents as Jeremy fell from 497th place in 2015 to 647th in 2016 with only 54 babies becoming the Labour leader's namesake.

Although 18 sets of parents did see fit to give their newborns the first name 'Corybn' last year.

Theresa May's premiership hasn't had a huge impact on baby names this year either - with 19 girls called Theresa in 2016 (rank 1635), compared to 15 last year (rank 1865).

One politician who did buck the declining trend was Boris, whose name was given to 39 babies last year compared to 32 the year before.

The rankings, which were released today, showed that the two most popular baby names in England and Wales 2016 were Olivia and Oliver.

Nick Stripe, from the Office for National Statistics, said: “It's interesting how relatively stable the top 10 names have been over recent years.

“Olivia replaced Amelia as the most popular name for girls in 2016, returning to the top position it previously held between 2008 and 2010.

“Oliver remained the most popular name for baby boys born in 2016, having held the top spot since 2013.”