PARENTS IN Scotland have proved to be traditionalists, with Jack and Sophie once again revealed as the nation’s most popular baby names.
The National Records of Scotland announced that Jack remained the top boy’s name, with Lewis in second place both for a fifth consecutive year.
Sophie is the most popular name for a girl with parents for the eighth consecutive year.
Riley was in fact the sole new entrant to the boys’ top 10, though the name rose 11 places to third, while there are two new entrants in the girl’s top, with Amelia climbing 20 places to ninth and Mia four places to tenth.
In all, around 27,700 boys and 26,400 girls were registered between January and December 1 this year.
The top 50 boys’ first names accounted for 44% of all those registered and the top 50 girls’ first names accounted for 41% of the registrations.
Despite the traditionalism apparent at the top of the charts, Scots parents did however choose 7,400 different first forenames for their children during 2012 and of those nearly 4,800 were unique.
James, Logan and Daniel are the fourth, fifth and sixth most popular boys’ names respectively, while Ethan, Harry, Alexander and Oliver make up the rest of the boys’ top 10.
Dundee favourite Max moved into the top 20 alongside Tyler, Alfie, Mason and Liam, while Ryan, Cameron, Matthew, Aiden and Jayden all fell down the rankings.
In the girls’ list Emily climbed four places to second, while Olivia, Ava, Lucy and Isla were third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Lily experienced a drop in popularity, falling from second to seventh, while Jessica, Amelia and Mia completed the girls’ top 10.
Names including Erin, Kayla, Abbie and Megan are less popular than last year, while Laura no longer even features in the top 100.
mmackay@thecourier.co.uk