Game of Thrones Inspires Most Popular Baby Names

Daenerys, Arya and Tyrion all made the list while Benedict Cumberbatch and Frozen also inspired baby names in 2014

Katniss Jennifer Lawrence
Katniss Jennifer Lawrence
(Image credit: REX)

Daenerys, Arya and Tyrion all made the list while Benedict Cumberbatch and Frozen also inspired baby names in 2014

The official list of the most popular baby names in England and Wales has been released and it looks like there are a lot of serious Game of Thrones fans out there.

According to the list released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 244 babies were named Arya last year, nine called Daenerys and six called Sansa.

Khaleesi, which technically isn’t a name but a title in the world of GoT, was bestowed upon 53 newborns in 2014.

Boys were also named after Westeros citizens including 34 Jons (Snow), 63 Neds (Stark) and even 17 Tyrions (Lannister). Alas, there were no Joffreys.

Marvel characters also had something of a boon year as we welcomed 13 Thors and 74 Lokis in England and Wales in 2014 alone.

Jennifer Lawrence’s title character in The Hunger Games trilogy has proved to be something of an inspiration for parents too, with five baby girl Katniss’ born last year. As well as arse-kicking Katniss, her little sister Prim(rose) inspired names for 94 little girls.

Unsurprisingly, Harper jumped up from 160th to 89th in the last year – no doubt thanks to the adorableness of Ms Beckham.

If you’re a parent of or you know a child under the age of 10, you definitely won’t be surprised to hear that Elsa has leaped up the charts from 183rd in 2013 to 107th in 2014 (compared to 661st back in 1996) all thanks to the success of Disney’s Frozen.

Love of The Cumberbatch has also inspired parents, with 132 baby boy Benedicts being born last year.

The top 10 most popular for boys and girls are a familiar looking list, with Amelia and Oliver coming out on top again.

Amelia has been the number one baby girl’s name since 2011, with 5,327 baby girls given the moniker in 2014 alone.

Oliver has ranked in the top 10 for the last 12 years, coming in top in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014.

The top ten baby girl names in 2014 were:

1. Amelia 2. Olivia 3. Isla 4. Emily 5. Poppy 6. Ava 7. Isabella 8. Jessica 9. Lily 10. Sophie

The top ten baby boy names in 2014 were:

1. Oliver 2. Jack 3. Harry 4. Jacob 5. Charlie 6. Thomas 7. George 8. Oscar 9. James 10. William

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