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The most popular names of the last 20 years have been revealed – did yours make the list?

Some names on the top 50 list are so classic, they've remained popular for the last two decades - but there's also a few curveballs that've snuck into the top ten too.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 14th September 2021

The most popular baby names of the last 20 years have been revealed.

Picking a name for your newborn bundle of joy that will see them through life is no doubt an important and tricky task, but data recently released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) between 1996 to 2019 shows that some names have really stood the test of time.

Some names on the top 50 list are so classic, they’ve remained popular for the last two decades – but there’s also a few curveballs that’ve snuck into the top ten too.

Emily and Jack took the crown as the most popular names of the last 20 years.

Olivia has proved to be a popular name, topping the charts for girls’ names since 2016, but Emily took the title over the last two decades as it’s featured in the top five every year between 1996 and 2018, and spent several years in the number one spot.

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Jessica, Sophie, and Chloe round out the top five spots for girls, and for boys, Jack, Thomas, Harry, Oliver, and Joshua top the charts.

Top 50 Names of the Last 20 Years

Girls

  1. Emily
  2. Olivia
  3. Jessica
  4. Sophie
  5. Chloe
  6. Charlotte
  7. Grace
  8. Amelia
  9. Ella
  10. Lucy
  11. Lily
  12. Mia
  13. Ellie
  14. Hannah
  15. Holly
  16. Alice
  17. Isabella
  18. Phoebe
  19. Molly
  20. Daisy
  21. Emma
  22. Abigail
  23. Ruby
  24. Megan
  25. Elizabeth
  26. Isabelle
  27. Georgia
  28. Millie
  29. Poppy
  30. Freya
  31. Eleanor
  32. Jasmine
  33. Sophia
  34. Erin
  35. Imogen
  36. Amber
  37. Rosie
  38. Katie
  39. Leah
  40. Amy
  41. Anna
  42. Maisie
  43. Bethany
  44. Evie
  45. Harriet
  46. Sarah
  47. Zoe
  48. Rebecca
  49. Paige
  50. Scarlett
Some names on the top 50 list are so classic that they’ve remained popular for the last two decades / Credit: Flickr

Boys

  1. Jack
  2. Thomas
  3. Harry
  4. Oliver
  5. Joshua
  6. James
  7. William
  8. George
  9. Daniel
  10. Samuel
  11. Joseph
  12. Charlie
  13. Jacob
  14. Benjamin
  15. Alexander
  16. Mohammed
  17. Ethan
  18. Adam
  19. Alfie
  20. Jake
  21. Matthew
  22. Max
  23. Dylan
  24. Luke
  25. Henry
  26. Lewis
  27. Ryan
  28. Edward
  29. Liam
  30. Muhammad
  31. Harrison
  32. Michael
  33. Oscar
  34. Callum
  35. Nathan
  36. Isaac
  37. Archie
  38. Tyler
  39. David
  40. Connor
  41. Jamie
  42. Harvey
  43. Charles
  44. Lucas
  45. Toby
  46. Louis
  47. Aaron
  48. Alex
  49. Mason
  50. Noah

Name expert Pamela Redmond Satran says some names will always be popular, and therefore rarely fall out of favour.

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Speaking to The Sun, Pamela said: “With boy names especially, you see some of the classics holding steady over the whole generation, a trend you’d see if you stretched the chart back a hundred years.

“Names like Thomas, James, William, and Daniel are never really in or out of style [and] they command a top place on baby name popularity lists generation after generation.

“You see more movement with girls’ names, even the classics you might think would be immune to fashion swings.

“Elizabeth barely sneaks onto the top 25 and Sarah has nearly fallen off the top 50.”

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Molly-Mae Hague announces birth of baby girl with Tommy Fury

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Molly-Mae Hague has given birth to her baby girl, the star has announced.

She welcomed the new arrival with long-term boyfriend and boxer Tommy Fury, who she met on the fifth series of Love Island.

Molly-Mae, an influencer, creative director and reality TV star, announced the news on her Instagram today.

The couple, both 23, first announced that they were expecting a baby last September, sharing a black-and-white video of her growing baby bump.

She has since vlogged her pregnancy on her YouTube channel, to 1.73m subscribers.

Molly-mae and Tommy shared their happy news with a joint post, showing a black and white photo of the trio in hospital, captioned with the date of their baby’s birth – 23/01/23.

She then added further updates and adorable photos in her Instagram stories, writing: “One week old today. I can’t believe we get to keep you forever.

“Becoming your mum has been the best thing to ever happen to me… it doesn’t seem possible but my love for you grows with each passing moment.

“There is no feeling like holding you in my arms little one, my heart literally explodes.

“Thank you for entering the world safely for us and blessing us with the gift of being your parents.

“We promise to love and care for you unconditionally forever.”

Molly-Mae Hague with her new baby. Credit: Instagram @mollymae
Tommy Fury with his new baby. Credit: Instagram @mollymae

Fans had been speculating that the star had given birth after her social media fell silent more than a week ago.

And then Jake Paul, Tommy’s boxing rival, appeared to leak the news on his own twitter last week.

Molly-Mae has a huge following of 6.8 million on Instagram alone, and is also the creative director of Manchester-based retailer Pretty Little Thing.

Her long-term boyfriend Tommy Fury is a professional boxer and the younger brother of two-time world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

The Love Island lovebirds have now been flooded with comments and well-wishes from fans and fellow celebrities.

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Within half an hour, their post has racked up more than one million likes and more than 10,000 comments.

Their fellow Love Island alumni, including Maura Higgins and Montana Brown, have been among those offering their congratulations.

Tommy and Molly-Mae have not yet shared their baby’s name with the public.

Featured image: Instagram, @mollymae

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Happy Valley viewers share brilliant fan theory ahead of season finale

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Happy Valley fans have been left on the edge of their seats again with just one week to go until the final episode airs – and one fan theory has just blown our minds.

Needless to say, spoilers lie ahead…

The renowned BBC drama aired its penultimate episode last night, showing the aftermath of Tommy Lee Royce’s escape from prison.

The terrifying TV villain, played by James Norton, was seen fleeing disguised as a cyclist to the beautiful Calder Valley countryside, before being picked up and going into hiding.

Meanwhile, Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) was rounding up her family as fears grew that Tommy would come for his son Ryan (Rhys Connah).

Throughout last night’s Happy Valley, Tommy repeatedly referred to his unfinished business with ‘that policewoman b*tch’, and asked gang leader Darius Knezevic for a gun.

Given his fraught history with Catherine (he abused her late daughter, beat Catherine up, and doused little Ryan in petrol in a failed homocide-suicide stunt) we’ve all assumed that we’ll see a Tommy-Catherine face-off on Sunday.

James Norton as villain Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley. Credit: BBC
Charlie Murphy as Ann Gallagher in Happy Valley. Credit: BBC
Scenes from last night’s penultimate episode of Happy Valley on BBC as fans share a theory about the finale.

But a few fans have floated a new theory, pointing out that Tommy hasn’t actually said which police officer he’s after…

Jenny Ryan from The Chase said: “Hey, any other #HappyValley fans lying awake worrying that the phrase “that policewoman” could refer to someone other than Catherine?”

Another person said: “Is anyone else thinking he hasn’t actually said which policewoman he wants to kill? It was Anne who gave evidence and got him sent away…”

Someone else posted: “Happy Valley perfect script and acting as always. Ann’s monologue was just incredible. It occurred to me though that Tommy and Darius kept talking about sorting out ‘that policewoman bitch’. We are all expecting it to be Catherine but what if he means Ann?!!”

And one user pointed out: “As for Tommy going after Catherine, she isn’t the only “policewoman” he may have a grudge against..”

My nerves can’t handle the wait for Sunday’s episode after that…

One particular scene has had fans celebrating the phenomenal script-writing and acting again, and for once it’s not Sarah Lancashire being showered with all the praise.

Charlie Murphy, who plays Ann Gallagher in Happy Valley, has been labelled ‘outrageously good’ after delivering an impassioned monologue to Ryan.

Rhys Connah as Ryan in Happy Valley.
Rhys Connah as Ryan in Happy Valley. Credit: BBC

The powerful scene, which some viewers said was ‘cruel’ and ‘brutal’, saw her deliver some harsh home truths to Ryan about his father’s past.

One person wrote: “Wow! What a piece of acting that was by @CharlieBMurphy explaining to Ryan about Tommy. Gripped!”

Another said: “@CharlieBMurphy was outrageously good in Happy Valley tonight. Sarah Lancashire deserves many plaudits but this show has strength in numbers. The trauma is real and next weeks finale I’m sure will ruin me.”

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Someone else posted on Twitter: “The Ann Gallagher monologue/rant in #HappyValley tonight was up there with the best scenes in any of the episodes. Brilliant.”

One user tweeted: “Ann threw at Ryan everything that was building up in her for years. YEARS of seeing his affections towards her abuser.All her rage & pain.And to all of this she stood up for Cath & the memory of Becky. Surely one of the best & most important scenes of S3 if not whole #HappyValley.”

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And someone else added: “‘HE DOESN’T GIVE ONE TINY, SHINY F*CK ABOUT YOU!!’ #HappyValley belonged to Ann tonight. Jaw dropping couple of minutes of dialogue yet again by @spiceyw.”

The final Happy Valley will air on Sunday 5 February.

Featured image: BBC

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