Top baby names of 2021

The time has come to unveil the top baby names of 2021! We’ve scoured the data and crunched the numbers to find the most popular baby names and the hottest naming trends of this year. Not only have we got the full rundown of top 100 boys' and top 100 girls' names chosen by BabyCentre parents, but our trendspotters can also reveal the names to watch and those that fell down the rankings. Plus, you can check out what names BabyCentre parents ditched this year. Spoiler alert: Piers is on our extinct list!

Most popular baby names of 2021

There was a change at the top of the girls’ chart as Olivia reclaimed the top spot after falling back to second place last year. Muhammad held strong for another year in pole position as it proved to be the most popular boys name again with parents.

The baby names trends of 2021

This year, sources of inspiration were as diverse as superheroes, sporting heroes plus a greater move towards gender neutrality as unisex names surged. Parents also looked to hopes of a new beginning and dreams of travel after a year that started with lockdown.

New dawn names

As we started 2021 in lockdown, parents looked to names that symbolised new beginnings for their babies. With schools closed, travel banned, hospitals at full capacity, and the cold weather extending the January blues way into March, the hope of a new dawn was reflected in name choices.

Both meaning new, Nova for the girls and Neo for the boys were popular choices outside the top lists. Rising from the difficult times at the start of the year, Phoenix went up for both boys and girls. Despite falling this year, Aurora and Eden still held strong inside the top 100, inspiring parents with their meanings of dawn and paradise. Eve and Blossom also rose in registrations for the girls, reflecting parents’ desire for new beginnings.

In another year where the coronavirus pandemic was the biggest story, we’re not surprised that parents were influenced by the news. The coronavirus vaccine set the UK on a path to freedom and one of the women who made it possible was Sarah Gilbert, who helped to develop the Oxford vaccine. This made Sarah a popular choice this year, up five places to number 42.

Tiny superheroes and other TV and film names

Superhero names went flying up our registrations in 2021 as Marvel and DC dominated film and TV. Even Marvel itself made its mark as the number of baby boys named after the franchise soared. Loki doubled in registrations outside the top 100 while Loki TV series character Sylvie climbed in the girls’ rankings. And it wasn’t just this new series that wielded their superhero power. Tony (Ironman), Steve (Captain America), Scott (Antman) and Thor all triumphed outside the top 100. There was even one registration for supervillain Thanos, after it appeared for the first time in the registrations last year.

The influence of Disney+, home of Marvel, didn’t stop there as new animations Luca, and Raya and the Last Dragon saw Luca hold strong at number 29 in the boys’ chart and Raya climb for girls outside the top 100.

Other streaming services got in on the action too, with Netflix’s smash hit of the festive season Bridgerton sending Penelope flying up 18 positions in the chart to number 71. Could Bridgerton fans send Daphne soaring up the charts when the second season hits our screens in 2022?

Parents may even have been inspired by Squid Game, which overtook Bridgerton as Netflix’s biggest ever series launch, after Abdul broke into the top 100 at number 90. Other Netflix favourites You and Sex Education brought us binge-worthy baby names too - Love, Henry, Theo, Otis and Eric all climbed the charts and Maeve burst in as a new entry at 76.

Reality TV wasn’t absent from the baby names charts either with seven stars of Made in Chelsea up in the top 100 lists: Myles went up 15, Maeve was a new entry, Hugo climbed up 10, Millie held strong at 31st position, Harry crept up 3, Ryan soared up 31 and Ollie sped up 13.

Wanderlust baby names

Parents put travel inspired names on the green list this year. From local staycations to international destinations, place names and names that reminded parents of jetting off somewhere special were a popular choice. Devon and Skye climbed up outside the top 100 lists and flew the flag for UK holidays. Rio, Jordan, Cairo, Israel, Milan, Orlando, Jericho, Everest and Jett took flight for the boys. Afrika has had its first appearance this year. Florence, India, Ocean and Destiny were the holiday inspired names climbing the charts for the girls this year.

Sporting heroes of 2021 baby names

The Euros filled the summer with excitement as we watched the England men’s football team reach the final of the competition. Gareth Southgate’s men proved a popular choice with parents this year. Captain Harry Kane and centre-back Harry Maguire scored Harry a place inside the top 10 this year as it went up three places to number eight.

Inside the top 100, Jesse (Lingard), Jack (Grealish), Benjamin (Chilwell), Luke (Shaw) all tackled their way up and John (Stones) was a new entry at 93. We saw a rise in registrations for Jadon (Sancho), and after his remarkable campaign to provide free school meals in the holidays was rewarded with an MBE, Marcus (Rashford) also grew in popularity and hit the back of the net with parents.

And it wasn’t just football that provided sporting baby name inspiration. Team GB had their second best Olympics ever in the Tokyo games this year, winning 65 medals. Olympian Jason Kenny became the first Briton to win seven Olympic gold medals with a spectacular defence of his men's keirin title and sent Jason speeding up three places to number 84.

Ryan Owens joined Jason Kenny to gain a silver medal in the men’s cycling and his name won the gold medal for highest climber in the chart as Ryan soared up 31 places to number 12. Women’s BMX champion Bethany (Shriever) and athletics star Laura (Muir) also rose up outside the top 100.

Gender neutral baby names

Gender neutral names have been favourites for BabyCentre parents for a while now and this year’s list was no exception. We predicted a rise in gender neutral names this year and the data didn’t disappoint. Willow went up four places to number 20 in the top 100 girls’ chart and climbed outside the top 100 for boys too.

Blake soared up 12 positions to number 82 in the boys’ chart and was up for girls outside the top 100. Could parents have been inspired by actress Blake Lively? Sometimes all it takes is a celebrity baby name or famous face to change your perception and see a name working for any gender. Noah was also a big favorite for boys and girls this year, holding on to second position in the top 100 for boys and up outside the top 100 for girls too.

Some unisex baby names were more popular with boys than girls this year, with Harper down 10 at 54 in the top 100 for girls but rising outside the top 100 for boys, Eden down five in the top 100 at 92 for girls, but again climbed for boys outside the top 100. Reign went up outside the top 100 for boys but down for girls. Have parents been inspired by Kourtney Kardashian’s son Reign?

Top 100 baby boys’ names of 2021

There’s no change at the top of the boys’ chart this year. Muhammad retained the crown for the fifth year running and Noah and Oliver held steady at second and third positions. Arthur dropped six places but clung on to the top 10 in tenth position. And George levelled up from top 10 to top five, as it climbed three places to number four.

Zayn was the highest new entry this year at number 60, and was joined by eight other newbies, including Omar at number 79 and Levi at number 86. The rest of the new entries joined the list between 90th and 100th position. Will we see Abdul, Asher, John, Nathaniel, Jake and Leon continue to climb next year?

Ryan was the highest climber in the 2021 chart, soaring 31 places to number 12. Second highest climber this year was Rowan racing up 19 places to number 70, followed by Myles leaping up 15 places to number 56.

Boys' names

Top 100 baby girls’ names of 2021

After slipping down to second place in 2020, Olivia reclaimed the top spot as the most popular girl’s name this year and last year’s favourite Sophia fell to number two. Elsewhere, Rosie climbed six places to claim the number 10 spot and, along with Lily, became one of only two names in the top 10 that don’t end in ‘a’. Ella was another to join the top 10 this year, sneaking up 2 places to number 9.

Leah was the most popular new entry this year, coming in at number 61. 10 more newcomers joined Leah, including Maeve at number 76, Kiara at number 78 and Elizabeth at number 86. Olive just made it in, creeping into the chart at number 100.

Hallie took the highest climber crown storming up 25 places this year and Fatima, Mila, Nur and Eliana all rocketed 20 places or more up the top girls’ names list. And from the highs to the lows, Esme was the biggest fall in the 2021 girls’ chart as it tumbled 32 places to 80. Other names that didn’t fair well in the rankings this year were Isabelle which plummeted 31 places to number 46, and Molly and Bella which both fell 20 places down to 55 and 83 respectively.

Girls' names

Still looking for inspiration?

• Give your baby’s name international flair with the most popular baby names around the world in 2021.
• See the top 20 names of the decade so far for boys and girls.
• Find out the names that have gone extinct in 2021 – maybe you’ll want to bring one of these baby names out of retirement for a truly unique baby name!
• Create your own baby names list and use our baby names finder.

To capture true popularity, our exclusive baby name data combines names where the pronunciation is the same, but the spelling is different. Using the BabyCentre ‘how does it sound in the playground’ rule, we help you know exactly how popular each name is, even if parents choose to go with a creative spelling. For example, Aria, Aarya, Ariya and Arya, Sophia and Sofia, or Chloe, Khloe and Kloey.