The most popular baby names for 2017 in Victoria have just been released by the Victorian registry of births, deaths and marriages with Charlotte and Oliver reigning supreme.
Oliver has been the most popular name for newborn boys in Victoria every year since 2014, while Charlotte and Olivia have been consistently vying for the number one and two spots in girls’ names over the same period.
But while the list was populated with Anglo-Saxon names, a few Greek inspired names couldn’t help crop up also.
For the boys, try George (39), Theodore (43), Zachary (44), Nicholas (76) or Ari (98).
And for the girls, try Zoe (6), Elena (87) and Anastasia (94).
In fact, some of these trends are also evident for Greek names where the most common names for girls are Maria, and Aiketerini. George, John and Constantine lead the boys list.
With the booming Greek population Down Under (although to be fair Greeks account for 1.8 percent of the Australian population according to the 2016 census), you’d be forgiven for the brief confusion at the lack of Hellenic names on the 2017 list.
But popular names come and go.
The most popular girls’ names were very different 20 years ago, with none of today’s top ten appearing in 1997’s equivalent list.
Jessica, the most popular name in 1997, has fallen to 100th place today.
James was the most popular name for boys in 1997, followed by Joshua.
William was the second most popular boys’ name in 2017, while Jack (3), Thomas (5) and James (6) retained their places in the top ten since 1994.
And for those Hellenic names? Well, Nick (8) and Anthony (26) were the only ones on the list.
But what’s really in a name?
“While some baby names remain perennial favourites, other rise and fall in popularity, providing a fascinating insight into changing tastes and trends in Victoria,”Attorney-General Martin Pakula said.
There were more than 68,000 births in Victoria in 2017, with the most popular day for newborns being 13 April, when 279 new Victorians came into the world.
Boys made up 52 per cent of all births registered in 2017, with the number of births peaking in March following the arrival of just over 6,600 new babies.