William and Amelia were the most popular baby names in the ACT in 2018.
Royalty and reinvention seem to be the winning formula behind Canberra’s most popular baby names for 2018 with William and Amelia taking out top positions in the name stakes.
But while Amelia is a modern favourite name of Canberrans – being consistently ranked in the top 10 since 2011 – William is the enduring favourite, even making into onto the top 10 list of ACT baby names back in 1950.
The classic name which apparently means ‘strong-willed warrior’ or ‘resolute protection’ (depending on your source), is said to have been one of the most popular names in the English-speaking world for the last 400 years. Its popularity in more recent times has been aided by Britain’s high-profile Prince William as well as by the modern shortened form, ‘Will’ – replacing ‘Bill’ or ‘Billy’.
The Victorian name Amelia is said to mean ‘industrious’ or ‘work’ and to be a blend of the medieval names Emilia and Amalia.
Made famous by the likes of aviator Amelia Earhart, the name Amelia also seems to be a reinvention or update of previously popular names such as Emily and Amanda. Shortened forms of Amelia include ‘Amy’, ‘Mel’, ‘Milly’ and ‘Emma’ – giving new parents a wide range of options.
ACT Minister for Regulatory Services and ‘Baby Names’, Gordon Ramsay, said that other popular names this year are Ella and Olivia, ranking equal second place for girls’ names and Noah in the second spot for boys.
“Looking at some of the most prevalent names in different areas, it was interesting to see that Oliver was the most popular boy’s name in Gungahlin while Lucy was the favourite in the Woden, Weston Creek and Molongolo area,” he said.
Slightly more boys than girls were born in the ACT this year. As of 10 December 2018, 5,900 births had been registered – with 2,903 baby girls and 2,997 baby boys.
Mr Ramsay said improvements had been made in the past year to make it simpler for parents to register the birth of their newborn.
“We recently introduced our online birth registration form, saving parents from attending an Access Canberra Service Centre in person,” he said.
“It has proved very popular – in the first month of this new service, more than 300 births were registered online.”
For more information on registering the birth of a newborn or to see the top 10 baby names since 1930 visit www.act.gov.au/birthregistration
The top 10 baby names for girls in 2018 were:
Amelia (first)
Ella and Olivia (tied for second place)
Ava (fourth)
Evelyn and Zoe (tied for fifth place)
Chloe (seventh)
Matilda and Mia (tied for eighth place)
Charlotte (tenth)
The top 10 baby names for boys in 2018 were:
William (first)
Noah (second)
Oliver (third)
Henry (fourth)
Jack and Thomas (tied for fifth place)
Ethan (seventh)
Alexander (eighth)
Leo (ninth)
Lucas (tenth)
Are you surprised that William and Amelia topped the baby names list? What do you look for in choosing a name? Let us know in the comments below.
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