Jack and Jessica top names chart

Actress Scarlett Johansson's first name has proved popular this year

Jack and Jessica are the favourite babies' names for parents in England and Wales this year, the Office of National Statistics has revealed.

Trends show the first names of Hollywood stars Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson both enjoying increases in popularity.

Alfie and Jake, perhaps buoyed by namesakes in television soap EastEnders, also rose up the charts.

Joshua was the boys' runner up while Emily was second among girls' names.

Parents appear to be more adventurous when choosing names for their little girls.

GIRLS TOP TEN 1 Jessica 2 Emily 3 Sophie 4 Olivia 5 Chloe 6 Ellie 7 Grace 8 Lucy 9 Charlotte 10 Katie

Jack has topped the boys list for 11 years while girls' names have moved up and down the list with more fluidity.

The Hollywood effect has seen popularity of Keira mushroom, rising 13 places to 38, while Scarlett has raced up 25 places to 47.

Meanwhile, Freddie jumped 15 places to 81, perhaps in tribute to Ashes hero Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff.

However, the domination of Jack could be over next year with 14% fewer boys being given that name this year than last.

Oliver is the first new entry in the top five, for the first time since 2002, rising two spots from number seven last year.

Leo is the only new entry in the top 50 boys' names, jumping 20 places to 37 in 2005.

The fortunes of soap stars may have influenced parents too.

Alfie fell nine places last year but climbed back up six places to 21 this year, and Jake climbed nine places to 16.

BOYS TOP TEN 1 Jack 2 Joshua 3 Thomas 4 James 5 Oliver 6 Daniel 7 Samuel 8 William 9 Harry 10 Joseph

Other EastEnders names on the rise were Ruby (up 16 places to 15) and Demi, which jumped to 80 thanks to a 41% increase in popularity.

Aleesha, the name of Demi's newly born baby in the show, went up by 298%.

Frankie, a popular character in Coronation Street, almost doubled in popularity to reach number 152 in the list of girls' names.

The most popular names in Scotland are Lewis and Sophie and the most popular names in Northern Ireland are Jack and Katie.