Top 100 baby names

Are you expecting a baby soon, and wondering what you are going to call it? We are happy to provide suggestions as to how you choose a name - some are common sense, some are personal experience, and some are based on seeing other peoples naming problems. If you want to select a baby's name from the top 100 baby names, you must remember that names are life-long committment placed on a child by a parent. You may want to express yourself, but the baby has to live with the consequences all it's life. Our top tips are:

• Decide first of all if you want to select a name based on family members. This will be an honour to the current holder of the name choosen, but may be a disappointment to other members who may even feel snubbed. Family politics can be complex and need to be considered carefully. 
   
• If your choice of baby name is not from the top 100 baby names, but is based on the name of a celebrity such as a singer or actor, remember again that they may be popular because of their last song or their last film. The next film could cast them as a rogue and their name may be associated with something bad, rather than love and success. 
   
• The top 100 baby names includes names of foreign origin and faraway places. Consider how easily the name will be pronounced by locals, and whether it will sound so romantic with a local accent. A baby name which is middle-european or African may not sound so colourful and sunny in a northern UK town.
   
• You may want to select several names from the top 100 baby names to combine in the full naming process. It is common for a baby to be given two or three forenames, perhaps using the names of several grandparents as well as one chosen because it is currently popular. Check what acronym will be created by listing the first letters of each name!! Talk to any midwife and they will tell you of disasters they have spotted which were just not considered by the parents.
   
• Think of how the baby name will be shortened. Not everyone takes care to use a long full name, especially on the school playground, and it is important that you check all the permutations of the name to see how it will be used in practice.

Some names are chosen, especially by celebrities, but also by ordinary folk, beause they are daft, or include the names of their favourit football team or just sound cool. Look at your grandmother and think how she would look with that name. The top 100 baby names include names which fall into that category. Remember, a name is for life! Don't give your child a life-long problem!

Top 100 Girls Names:

Top 100 Boys Names:

=* Joint ranking
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