Top baby names of 2023 revealed as royal link lifts one contender
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Clementine, Eliza and Frederick have topped the list of the most popular baby names in the birth announcements column of The Telegraph this year.
Frederick has taken top spot for favourite boys’ names for the second year running, while Clementine rose from 5th to joint number one alongside Eliza, who did not feature at all in the list last year.
Most notable is the rise in popularity for Charles, up from 18th to 6th in a year where the new King had his coronation at Westminster Abbey.
By contrast the monarch’s mother’s name dropped off the list altogether, in another sign of the end of the second Elizabethan era.
Charlotte, which was the most popular girls’ name in 2021, following the increased visibility of the Prince and Princess of Wales’ daughter, has also had a boost in popularity, coming joint third after falling to 18th last year.
The most popular names from The Telegraph’s birth announcements column have been diligently recorded every year for the past half a century by Susan Cole, 75, a retired librarian from Sutton, south London.
She said: “There were a couple of Elizabeths in 2022, but none this year. But Charles has grown quite a lot in popularity, which seems significant.”
Mrs Cole said she had noted the disappearance of many formerly popular girls’ names, such as her own, and their replacement with names such as Ottilie, which came joint third, and Athena.
“Most of the names of my contemporaries, like the ubiquitous Susan and Linda, seem to have gone completely and have been replaced by quite different names, such as Olympia, which I would never have imagined,” she said.
Most of the male names from the top 10 in 1969, when Mrs Cole first compiled the list, have also disappeared, with the once ubiquitous Davids, Marks, Simons, Richards and Christophers rarely spotted, making way for more unusual monikers.
“Among the boys this year there’s even a Cosmo. The last famous Cosmo I recall was Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1930s and 40s,” said Mrs Cole
There has also been a continued revival in classically inspired names for girls with Olympia entering the list at joint third, while Athena and Octavia come in at joint 15th.
Both the top girls’ names appear to harken to a more distant era, with Clementine recalling Winston Churchill’s wife, the recent subject of the acclaimed biography First Lady, and the 1946 hit film song My Darling Clementine.
Sonia Purnell, the author of First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill and Clementine Churchill: A Life in Pictures, said: “I’m delighted to hear this. Clementine Churchill did not always get the credit she deserved during her lifetime, but Winston said his achievements would not have been possible without her.
“She was smart, resilient, stylish, brave and determined and that makes her a fabulous role model for any girl today.”
The performing arts theme continues with Eliza, the name of the heroine of George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion and the musical version My Fair Lady and also – in has a more contemporary reference – of pop singer Eliza Sophie Caird.
Scouring The Telegraph’s birth announcements column always brings its surprises, says Mrs Cole.
“There are some names this year that have never appeared before, like June and Hebe. It’s always interesting to see new ones,” she said.
As in last year, the continued popularity of Frederick may have been influenced by the likes of England cricket star and TV presenter Freddie Flintoff.
