Harry and Meghan snubbed by parents in top baby names list - but Charlotte rises

05 July 2023 , 09:16

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's names fell out of favour with parents (Image: AP)

Parents keen to keep up to date with baby name trends when choosing a moniker for your little one, pay attention, as BabyCentre's mid-year name charts are here. The hotly-anticipated list reveals the most popular picks of the moment - plus a glimpse of the likely results at the end of 2023.

The charts also reveal which celebs and notables are captivating the public, and who parents would love to name their youngsters after. Equally, they highlight which names are falling out of fashion, eschewed for a number of reasons by parents, who prefer a different, perhaps less recognisable, pick.

Other royal names, like Charlotte, are on the rise (LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX)

Whatever the cause, there's been a serious upheaval in the popularity of certain royal names this year. As the data reveals, both Harry and Meghan fell on the chart, when compared to their previous rankings.

Prince Harry toppled 10 places from number 13 to number 23, despite the release of Spare earlier this year; meanwhile, Meghan and alternate spelling Megan have also dropped in registrations.

But not every royal name is falling out of fashion. Charlotte is on the rise, perhaps influenced by the release of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Several other names from the Netflix show also saw success, with Violet rising 19 places to 47 and Penelope jumping up 14 places to number 60.

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Neither set of results are highly surprising given celeb news and TV dramas were key influences across the charts.

HBO's succession captivated parents, and Logan leapt six places to 48, while wayward son Roman flew nine places to 47 to name but a few examples from the show.

Meanwhile, in more telly news, names Phil and Holly struggled this year. Despite previous success, Holly plummeted in the number of registrations and now sits outside the top 100. Philip also dropped in popularity outside of the top 100, along with Phil, which only had one registration this year so far.

Sarah Redshaw, managing editor for BabyCentre, said: "Whether you keep up with celebrity drama or not, it's been hard to avoid some of the latest outbreaks in the media. I've no doubt that negative press around some celeb names played a part in their fall from favour with parents this year.

"It just remains to be seen how quickly reputations turn around, or how short memories are, and whether Philip, Holly, Meghan and Harry can regain their popularity."

Amber O'Connor