Queensland

Queensland's most popular baby names: Top 100 includes Nevaeh, Peyton and Bodhi

In the race to gift their offspring with unique monikers, such as Nevaeh or Peyton, Queensland parents are inadvertently following popular trends, with their creative names still making the top 100.

And others are opting for a blast from the past, choosing baby names from a century ago.

The top 100 baby names in Queensland during 2016 reveal that Charlotte and Mia steal the top spots for girls and Oliver and William are the most popular boys' names.

But further down the list are some more creative choices, including some that feature an unusual spelling of common names.

Earlier this month, the top 10 baby names for 2016 were revealed, with Isla and Evelyn joining the list and Ella and Ruby falling out of fashion.

Last year, there were 213 girls named Willow, 100 named Mila, 89 named Aurora, 79 named Peyton, 79 named Eden, 74 named Thea, 70 named Brooklyn, 66 named Aaliyah, 63 named Quinn, 63 named Ayla, 61 named Indie, 50 named Indi, 49 named Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backwards) and 49 named Marley.

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Among boys, 154 were named Finn, 140 named Jaxon, 121 named Arlo, 102 named Jayden, 102 named Chase, 98 named Ryder, 96 named Braxton, 89 named Beau, 70 named Bodhi, 69 named Jett and 64 named Sonny.

Demographer Mark McCrindle said there was a phenomena known as the "100 year returns", with names that were in vogue 100 years ago coming back, such as Audrey.

"Thomas, Oliver, William, James, Levi and Henry and Samuel - this could have been read straight off the list from the early 1900s," Mr McCrindle said.

"So parents, in an effort to find some new names, are returning to the names of grandparents or earlier to find something that's a bit more unique than maybe the current, popular names of today."

Some babies received names previously considered nicknames - there were 251 boys named Charlie, 167 boys named Nate, 167 boys named Archie, 237 girls named Evie and 116 girls named Frankie.

Mr McCrindle said other parents opted for surnames instead of first names, with 106 girls named Mackenzie and 248 boys named Hudson.

Other names, such as Aurora or Willow, were an example of parents making a unique choice by using a word that already existed as a name, Mr McCrindle said.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said trending baby names were often a popular conversation starter and it was always interesting to see what names were registered at Queensland's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages each year.

"The top 100 names for 2016 are now publicly available and people are also able to access the same data from the last decade and see how these names have changed over the years," the spokeswoman said.

"For example, it was interesting to see that 10 years ago in Queensland, Ella and Jack were the most popular names while last year it was Charlotte and Oliver."

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