Television and showbusiness influence names of newborn babies

Television and showbusiness have shown their influence in the annual list of names parents give to their newborn babies. The Office of National Statistics reports that in 2002, 64 girls were named Chardonnay, after a character in the popular ITV drama 'Footballer's Wives', while Romeo and Brooklyn, the names of celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham's sons, also proved popular. But Jack and Chloe topped the polls once again as the most popular first names for babies born in England and Wales. Jack has been the favourite for eight years running and Chloe for six. Both names also retained their poll positions in Scotland for the fourth year in a row. The Register General for Scotland shows the top five boys' names there remained in the same position as last year, although Liam and Matthew moved into the top ten, in seventh and eighth place respectively. Charlie had the largest jump in popularity, up 31 places to 78th position, while traditional favourites Andrew, David and John all dropped in the ratings. In the Scottish girls' table, Sophie, Amy and Emma were close runners-up to Chloe. New entries to the top 50 for boys' names were Harvey (46), Charles (47) and Alfie (49), with Isabelle a new entry at 47 for the girls, followed by Maisie at 48. In Northern Ireland, Matthew pushed Jack into second place, while Chloe kept the top position held since 1999.