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Olivia has been knocked off the top spot as Britain's most popular baby name

Olivia has been knocked off the top spot as Britain's most popular baby name
Guests at a baby shower shocked when mum arrives with her newborn
SWNS

A list of the UK's most popular baby names so far this year has been released by BabyCentre, and the name Olivia has lost its crown as the most popular girl name.

The change at the top is the first in seven years (since 2015), as Olivia has moved down to number three being replaced by Lily at the top while Sophia has remained in second position, The Mirrorreported.

New entries also managed to break into the top ten with Aria in eight, and Ivy in nine while Ella and Rosie fell out of the top ten.

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Meanwhile, the top two remain the same for the boys as Muhammad and Noah hold on to their positions, though Oliver that was previously in third dropped to sixth place, as Jack took the bronze spot.

The boys also had new entries in the top ten with Ethan and Oscar taking numbers eight and nine, while Freddie and Harry were knocked out of the top ten.

It seems that pop culture moments have also impacted name popularity as expectant parents avoid using names of celebrities that were going through high-profile court battles, Sarah Redshaw, BabyCentre's managing editor explained.

For instance, actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were consistently in the news during their public defamation trial which concluded on June 1st.

In the jury's verdict, Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages after being deemed to have defamed the Pirates of the Caribbean actor in an op-ed that she wrote for the Washington Post in 2018. (But the punitive damages are capped to $350,000 in the state of Virginia).

The names Johnny and Amber have fallen out favour when it comes to baby names which is believed to be due to the recent defamational trial between Johnny Depp and Amber HeardPhoto by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images and Photo by KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Heard was also awarded $2m in compensatory damages in relation to comments from Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman where he called Heard's abuse allegations a "hoax."

Given the publicity of the televised trial, it appears to have put off expectant parents from naming their babies after either actor as the name Amber fell out of the top 100 for the first time in years while there have been no registrations so far this year for the name Johnny.

Similarly, the "Wagatha Christie" libel trial involving Coleen Rooney, and Rebekah Vardy has affected their name popularity with Coleen, Rebekah and Wayne all being snubbed by parents.

As it's the Queen's Platinum Jubilee year, it's no surprise royal baby names remain popular - with Lily at the top (short of the queen’s nickname Lilibet - which is the name of Harry and Meghan's daughter), while George remains in the top ten, Elizabeth and William also jumped up the list too.

Though Andrew is out of the top 100 and continues to nosedive, amid Prince Andrew's controversy in recent years.

The hit Netflix TV series Stranger Things got Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill to number one 30 years after its release so it's no surprise that character names from the show such as Robin, Maxine, Elle, Mike, Billy and Steve also rose in popularity.

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