LONDON, December 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Obi, Atlas, Hero and Nero are among the weird and wonderful boys' names (http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/most-unusual-boys-names-2014) which will appear on school registers over the next few years.
The odd monikers appeared on a list of names given to babies in 2014, which also includes Royal, King and Thor, as in the Norse God from the Avengers film and Sandor from Game of Thrones TV drama.
And among unusual girls names http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/most-unusual-girls-names-2014, incredibly old fashioned girls' names such as Hilda, Edna, Dilys and Doris, which hark back to WWII, are also making a slight comeback after years of lying dormant.
Harper, the name the Beckhams chose for their young daughter, is by far and away the biggest climber in the girls' list, rising 67 places to number 77 in the girls Top 100 list http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/top-100-girls-names-2014 .
Among the other odd boys' names are Dyson, like the vacuum cleaners, Muse, as in the band and Memphis as in the birthplace of Elvis Presley.
E4's reality show Made in Chelsea has clearly been in the forefront of many parent's minds as has I'm A Celebrity, with Hugo (as in Taylor) and Ollie (as in Locke) climbing well along with Kian, after last year's IAC winner, Kian Egan.
Overall Jack has maintained top spot in the Top 100 boys list http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/top-100-boys-names-2014, holding off stiff competition from Oliver and Charlie, which climbed one place to three.
In the girls Top 100 list http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/top-100-girls-names-2014, Amelia, Olivia and Emily have held on to the same places they had last year.
The trends emerged from Bounty Parenting Club's annual report of names handed out to 370,000 babies who were born in the UK this year.
Yesterday Bounty spokeswoman Lisa Penney said: 'Only a handful of parents named their girls Edna, Hilda and Doris, but this could well be the start of something.
The trend for old-fashioned names continues to grow for girls and boys. Even Simon Cowell took the plunge this year naming his baby son Eric after his own father.
Celebrities like the Beckhams are renowned for choosing unusual names for their off-spring and today's parents are quick to follow a trend in a bid to make sure their choice of baby names stands out from the crowd.
But baby name trends can change quickly and names that first seem unusual can quickly become common in the classroom.
Just a couple of years ago Ava and Isla were relatively unheard of as a baby girl's name, yet now they regularly feature in the top ten. Likewise for boys, a decade ago the names Jacob and Noah were rarely considered and now they are in the top ten as parents look beyond previously traditional biblical names like Matthew, Luke and Adam."
Other big climbers http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/climbers-and-fallers-girls-names-2014 in the girl's list are Thea, up 36 places, Darcie, up 29, and Lottie, up 16.
Big fallers http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/climbers-and-fallers-girls-names-2014were Megan, Julia, Maddison, Bethany and Brooke.
Tilly, Lacey, Lexi and Holly also fell.
Other unusual names to appear this year are Peony, Amaryllis, and Poesy, all flowers.
Cici, Gigi, Tiggy, Ziggy and Dexie were also given to one or two baby girls each as were Lolo, Echo and Halo.
Huge gains were made in the boys climbers http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/climbers-and-fallers-boys-names-2014
list by Teddy, Elijah, Louie and Freddie. Sebastian, Ronnie and Seth also made big leaps.
Losers http://www.bounty.com/pregnancy-and-birth/baby-names/top-baby-names/climbers-and-fallers-boys-names-2014 in the boy's stakes were Cameron, Aiden, Ryan and Connor, while Tyler, Jamie and Kayden also saw a slump in popularity.
Lisa Penney added: 'Whilst certain baby names can quickly rise to fame they can just as easily fall from favour.
Take Tilly, Lexi and Lacey for example, now they are more common in classrooms across the country they no longer make the grade for new parents who are looking for a name that no other child is likely to have in the playground.
Like celebrities, parents are getting more and more creative with their name choices. Indeed, for some the sky really is the limit when it comes to creating something unique.
Generally speaking whatever a child is called they usually grow up to make it their own, yet mums and dads should bear in mind that a really individual name can be a lot to live up to if you don't grow up to be rich or famous."
About Bounty
- Bounty (http://www.bounty.com) is the UK's largest parenting club, providing information, support and products for young families throughout the four key-life stages: pre-birth, birth, toddlers and pre-school.
About the research
- Data for the Bounty Word of Mum survey was collected via online questionnaires between 20th and 28th January 2014. A total of 1,030 mums with young children responded to the online survey.
