The highest rising names in England and Wales, 2015

We know by now that Oliver and Amelia kept their places in the number one spots, and which names moved up into the top 100. But which names made the most significant jumps upwards, and are these just flashes in the pan, or ones to watch for the future?

I've been looking at the top 1000 names, analysing which names have moved up the most in rank and which have increased the most in actual birth numbers. 

The highest rising name in rank for boys in 2015 was Rogan, moving from #1819 (12 births) up to #450 (90 births). The inspiration most likely was die to Rogan O'Connor who became a reality-TV star when he appeared on the second series of Ex On The Beach in early 2015.

For girls, the highest rising name was the Scandinavian Arla. moving from #1966 (14 births) to #923 (39 births) There doesn't appear to be a direct inspiration source for this -- although it is a dairy company -- but it is most likely rising as parents look for an alternative to popular Isla.

More intriguing is the rise of Adeline from #1456 (21 births) to #643 (64 births). The spelling Adaline also made big leaps below the top 1000, from not ranking at all in 2014 to ranking #1711 (17 births) in 2015. This was most likely give a boost by two movies released in 2015: romantic film The Age of Adaline starring Blake Lively and horror Adaline. Octavia also made a significant jump up from #1272 (26 births) to #564 (77 births), perhaps thanks to the character Octavia Blake in the television series The 100. 

 

Below is a chart of the top 50 boys' and girls' names within the 2015 England and Wales top 1000 whose rank increased the most since 2014. The first number denotes the name's rank in 2015, the last number denotes the number of places each name increased by.

450 ROGAN  +1369 places 996 EDDISON  +823 821 RIAAN  +809 640 KIAAN  +730 833 FRANKLYN  +727 888 YASSIN  +672 903 ANDERSON  +657 996 TADHG  +634 833 CLARKE  +588 903 IANIS  +583 977 KAISON  +583 927 SAXON  +559 950 AXL  +536 856 HARLOW  +514 856 IGNACY  +514 977 AAMIR  +509 856 BEAR  +471 950 SHILOH  +471 833 NIAM  +448 977 MONTAGUE  +444 996 KAJETAN  +425 807 GUS  +416 873 ELVIS  +408 927 DONNIE  +400 927 KENDRICK  +400 977 THEON  +393 950 VLAD  +377 927 LOWEN  +354 873 NIHAL  +350 977 PRANAV  +350 833 ABDALLAH  +345 727 ALEXIS  +334 538 DOMINYKAS  +328 903 HUZAIFA  +320 903 JOAO  +320 702 GREYSON  +310 702 VALENTINO  +310 807 KARTER  +310 977 DAWOOD  +304 740 ISHAAQ  +295 856 OMARI  +288 996 CONAN  +285 779 REYANSH  +282 656 AYYUB  +279 903 ENOCH  +275 903 JULIUS  +275 950 CHE  +273 438 CALUM  +257 702 AVERY  +257 888 KUSH  +256

923 ARLA  +1043 places 965 ROZA  +833 984 AMANAH  +814 643 ADELINE  +813 775 NALA  +787 564 OCTAVIA  +708 845 AAIRAH  +656 891 MENAAL  +610 923 ANDREEA  +533 984 DARLA  +517 984 ENID  +517 984 ANIELA  +472 909 MIYAH  +458 702 HARPER-ROSE  +418 760 AKIRA  +417 860 NUALA  +412 745 AIYLA  410 794 AMBER-ROSE  410 891 ADELINA  408 787 REBECA  390 891 ISLA-GRACE  381 860 KENDRA  374 831 ALARA  373 831 ALISSIA  373 307 NELLIE  361 942 SOPHIA-ROSE  357 923 IGA  349 722 AVERY  348 831 HETTY  346 487 AMIYAH  345 860 INAAYAH  344 909 ANNABELL  325 923 EZMAE  311 923 PALOMA  311 787 ANANYA  307 965 DARCIE-MAE  307 965 LULA  307 602 AMAL  305 625 AMAYAH  295 745 ROBIN  295 583 NOLA  294 942 SUMAYYA  292 674 RAVEN  289 656 EMA  284 760 FLORRIE  280 525 NOVA  269 965 ELLA-GRACE  269 432 EVERLY  267 449 NELLY  266 577 MARCIE  265

This chart is inevitably full of names lower down in the top 1000 because it is far easier for them to make gains with just a small increase in birth count. Once you get below the top 500, an increase of just 10 births can cause a name to move up over a hundred places in the rankings.

Below is a chart of the top 50 boys' and girls' names within the Top 1000 whose birth count increased the most from 2014 to 2015.  The first number denotes the name's rank in 2015, the last number denotes the number of places each name increased by.

4 GEORGE  +549 births 42 TEDDY  +413 37 ARTHUR  +317 80 JAXON  +302 1 OLIVER  +292 127 EZRA  +236 102 ARLO  +222 82 JACKSON  +216 45 THEODORE  +212 88 ROMAN  +206 55 HUGO  +197 17 FREDDIE  +196 20 ISAAC  +193 6 CHARLIE  +189 129 LINCOLN  +188 43 DAVID  +185 26 EDWARD  +176 46 ELIJAH  +169 48 JENSON  +165 94 CARTER  +159 74 RORY  +157 133 HUNTER  +157 72 ALBERT  +155 65 GABRIEL  +147 73 ELLIOT  +146 12 MUHAMMAD  +142 91 REGGIE  +140 231 CHESTER  +131 147 COOPER  +114 38 ADAM  +113 217 JAX  +105 122 RALPH  +99 176 HUDSON  +98 103 DOMINIC  +97 33 THEO  +95 198 JAXSON  +95 142 PARKER  +89 212 REX  +85 313 LOCHLAN  +84 57 FRANKIE  +82 90 ELLIS  +80 106 TOBIAS  +80 172 GRAYSON  +78 450 ROGAN  +78 184 WILFRED  +76 245 EDDIE  +72 111 ROWAN  +70 107 ALBIE  +67 53 LUCA  +66 95 FELIX  +66

6 ELLA  +563 births 63 HARPER  +357 58 THEA  +342 27 MATILDA  +334 23 FLORENCE  +272 28 EVELYN  +264 69 PENELOPE  +257 5 AVA  +243 100 ARIA  +241 24 ALICE  +223 71 NANCY  +202 38 ESME  +189 42 IVY  +172 41 WILLOW  +166 45 EMILIA  +161 79 MILA  +159 20 DAISY  +156 37 MAYA  +154 185 ESMEE  +150 136 AURORA  +149 95 ARABELLA  +146 91 CLARA  +141 2 OLIVIA  +129 114 MYA  +120 105 MOLLIE  +119 9 MIA  +115 169 INAAYA  +113 124 ESMAE  +105 207 AIZAH  +103 68 VIOLET  +100 97 MADDISON  +100 165 AMAYA  +99 259 PRIMROSE  +99 120 BONNIE  +98 242 CLEO  +98 307 NELLIE  +98 201 ELLA-ROSE  +96 123 ARIANA  +94 104 FAITH  +93 106 ORLA  +83 74 DARCIE  +82 148 AUTUMN  +80 187 ADA  +76 273 MARGOT  +74 56 HARRIET  +73 64 GRACIE  +73 84 ROBYN  +73 192 ALIZA  +73 183 ROSA  +72 167 AOIFE  +69

 

And what about the greatest faller? This year that prize goes to Elsa, dropping from #104 (537 births) in 2014 to #262 (190 births) in 2015. Clearly, the Frozen association has taken its toll.