Lewis and Sophie top names list

Nearly 6,000 different names were chosen in 2005 in Scotland

Lewis retained its position as Scotland's most popular name for boys in 2005 while Sophie moved from second to first place for girls.

The information was revealed in the General Register Office for Scotland's (Gros) top 100 registered birth names.

While Lewis claimed the top spot for the third year in a row, the top name for girls pushed last year's favourite, Emma, into second place.

The highest climbers in the top 100 names were Noah and Ruby.

Jack came second in the boys' category, while Callum climbed seven places to take third position.

For girls, Ellie and Amy were non-movers claiming the third and fourth places respectively.

TOP 10 BOYS' NAMES 1. Lewis 2. Jack 3. Callum 4. James 5. Ryan 6. Cameron 7. Kyle 8. Jamie 9. Daniel 10. Matthew

Some of the unique names to be given to babies this year included Aanus, A-Jay, Blessing and C.

Duncan Macniven, Registrar General for Scotland, said about 26,400 boys' and 24,700 girls' names had been registered.

"More than 5,800 different first names were chosen this year and around 1,500 boys and 2,200 girls were given unique names," he said.

'Traditional names'

"This year we have seen some change in the top 50 names for boys, with a return to more traditional names.

"Daniel and Matthew both moved up two places to make the top 10, replacing Liam, down four places to 11th, and Ben, down four places to 12th."

He said that Ewan and Jake had leapt into the top 50, while Noah, Lennon and Harvey had joined the top 100 for the first time.

Mr Macniven added: "For girls, the name game was fairly static.

TOP 10 GIRLS' NAMES 1. Sophie 2. Emma 3. Ellie 4. Amy 5. Erin 6. Lucy 7. Katie 8. Chloe 9. Rebecca 10. Emily

"The only new entrant to the top 10 is Rebecca, up two places to 9th, replacing Hannah, down one place to 11th.

"The biggest climber was Ruby, who has climbed 70 places to reach 43rd."

Other names making significant advances towards the top spot were Kayla, up 28 places to 47th, Paige, up 17 places to 44th, Eva, up 15 places to 34th and Madison, up 24 places to 62nd.

'Favourites returning'

Mr Macniven said: "Names which took a notable fall in popularity in 2005 include Keiran, Jordan and Shaun for boys and Abby, Courtney and Taylor for girls.

"Baby names to drop out of the top 100 altogether were Jonathan, Jason, Hamish and Patrick plus Charlie, Danielle, Alexandra, Kelsey, Stephanie, Chelsea and Caitlyn.

"Favourites returning to the top 100 included Mohammed, George and Hayley."

The top 50 boys' names accounted for 53% of total names registered, with the top 50 girls' names accounting for 45%.

In England and Wales, Emily and Jack were the most popular names for 2005 and in Northern Ireland, Jack and Katie were most popular.