To look at the polls from the past few years, more modern monikers such as Sienna and Mason have definitely been dominating – but it’s the traditional names that have stood the test of time, apparently.
This is according to the team behind history website Ancestry.co.uk, who have released a list of the top 10 most popular boys’ and girls’ names of the past 500 years in Britain.
Topping the list for the girls was Mary, while it was John which – perhaps unsurprisingly – came out on top in the boys’ list.
This is quite possibly the most comprehensive historic baby name list going, with researchers studying a whopping 34 million christening and birth records as part of their study.
The full lists can be seen below.
Top 10 most popular girls’ names
- Mary
- Elizabeth
- Sarah
- Margaret
- Ann
- Jane
- Alice
- Ellen
- Annie
- Florence
Top 10 most popular boys’ names
- John
- William
- Thomas
- George
- James
- Robert
- Charles
- Henry
- Joseph
- David
Is your name, or that of your child on the list? Would you consider choosing one of these for a little one on the way?