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The Most Popular Names in Scotland, 2005
4. Changing Trends in Naming Babies

23 December 2005

For both boys and girls, the range of names used has been consistently widening over the last 100 years.  Parents are increasingly selecting names which are different.  The following table illustrates this trend. 

Top ten names, as a percentage of all names, selected years, Scotland 

Year

Boys    

Girls

1900

68.4

58.1

1950

53.3

36.3

1975

32.6

20.2

2000

21.7

20.4

2005

18.0

19.8

Another aspect of the changing range of names is an increasing variation in spelling. The tables presented here count different spellings separately. If combined, Callum/Calum and Aimee/Amy would take over the top spots.

Page last updated: 22 December 2005


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