Oxford,
09
May
2019
|
11:17
Europe/London

‘Adorable’ Archie set to influence baby name choice for Oxfordshire parents

Staff at Oxfordshire County Council’s Registration Service are expecting a surge in boys named Archie following the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first child.

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was proudly paraded to the world by Harry and Meghan yesterday.

The naming of Royal babies has always tended to influence parents in choice of first names for newly-born children.

Archie was the 25th most popular boys’ name in Oxfordshire last year, with 32 babies registered. So far in 2019, 18 Archie’s have been registered.

Harrison was the 44th most popular with 21 babies registered – three of whom had Harrison as a middle name. So far this year, six babies have been registered as Harrison, including one with Harrison as a middle name.

As well as births, the council’s Registration Service oversees the registration of deaths, marriages, civil partnerships, citizenship and naming ceremonies among its many duties.

That service is all part of the county council’s commitment to thriving communities – helping people live safe, healthy lives and play an active part in their community.

‘Modern names for a modern couple’

There were 7,745 births registered in Oxfordshire last year, with Oliver topping the boys’ name charts for the second year running. So far this year there have been 2,713 births.

Alicja Gilroy, Superintendent Registrar at Oxfordshire County Council’s Registration Service, expects the names Archie and Harrison to start creeping their way up the charts soon.

She said: “Royal births can have a fairly immediate impact on trends. Archie and Harrison are modern names for a modern couple. I think it’s nice that they’ve moved away a little from traditional Royal names.

“Archie means ‘bold’ or ‘brave’ and Harrison means ‘son of Henry’ or ‘son of Harry’. Both names fit the Royal couple well and we congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of their first child.”

  • Parents who have recently welcomed a new addition to their family are reminded the little bundle of joy needs to be registered within six weeks (42 days) of the birth. For more information click here.

The 2018 Oxfordshire baby name league table (with 2017 for comparison)

Boys

2018

2017

1. Oliver

1. Oliver

2. George

2. George

3. Oscar

3. Harry

4. Jacob 

4. Jack 

5. William

5. Arthur

6. Jack

6. Alfie

7. Benjamin

7. Oscar

8. Joshua

8. Jacob

9. Charlie

9. Muhammed

10. Henry

10. Benjamin

Girls

2018

2017

1. Olivia

1. Lily

2. Isabella

2. Olivia

3. Amelia

3. Amelia

4. Florence

4. Poppy

5. Lily

5. Isla

6. Evelyn

6. Ava

7. Isla

7. Emily

8. Emilia

8. Evie

9. Sophie

9. Florence

10. Ava

10. Isabella