These are the most popular Christmas baby names in the UK

Christmas day is fast approaching - it's just over a week away, in fact - and while that means beauty advent calendars and festive films galore, it also means soon-to-be parents can use the festive season as inspiration when it comes to picking their little one's moniker. 

Choosing the perfect baby name isn't easy - do you go for a scientifically proven 'beautiful' name? How about something from the luckiest baby names list? Or, if you're really feeling bold, naming your newborn after popular food and drinks?

As the holidays edge closer and expectant parents are scouring every baby name list they can find, it's time to turn to all things Christmas for inspiration. 

Funky Pigeon analysed findings from the Office for National Statistics' recent data to find out which festive baby names are the most popular in the UK.

For newborn girls, Ivy takes the top spot with 2,245 babies given the name in 2021 - nudging it up to 6th to 5th place out of all girls names. Bella, which has a Christmas ring to it (think: bells), and Holly, a key festive tradition, both follow. 

Boys names proving popular are Jack - with famous festive film characters including Jack Frost and Jack Skellington - as well as Joseph and Gabriel, the latter two names holding religious significance as they're both linked to the birth of Jesus.  

There are also some adorable gender neutral names, too - there were 577 babies named Marley in 2021, made up of both baby boys and girls, as well as Robin and Faith.

According to the data, the rarest days to give birth are on 24th and 25th December, with researchers finding that December babies tend to have fewer tantrums and those born in the last month of the year are more likely to live beyond 100 years old! 

Here are the full lists of Christmas inspired baby names...

Christmas baby names

Most popular Christmas baby names - girls

1. Ivy
2. Bella
3. Holly
4. Anna
5. Gabriella
6. Eve
7. Mary
8. Belle
9. Gloria
10. Elsa
11. Angelina
12. Noelle
13. Star
14. Jovie
15. Snow

Most popular Christmas baby names - boys

1. Jack
2. Joseph
3. Gabriel
4. Luke
5. Nicholas
6. Kevin
7. Frank
8. Christian 
9. Emmanuel 
10. Timothy
11. Buddy 
12. Noel
13. Clark
14. Olal
15. Clement

Most popular Christmas baby names - gender neutral

1. Marley
2. Robin
3. Faith
4. Winter
5. Joy
6. Heaven

What do you think? Would you choose a sweet festive baby name from these lists?