More than 5,000 unique baby names registered in Scotland in 2019

Scotland may face a plummeting birth rate, but when it comes to parents creating an eye-catching first name for their babies, things are definitely on the rise.

More than 5,000 unique baby names were registered in Scotland in 2019. Picture: Getty

Newly published statistics reveal that of 49,863 births registered last year, 5,031 were given forenames unique for their sex.

The full list of baby names shows that such unusual examples as Dicaprio, Armani, Duke, Poet, King, and Wolf were all given by parents.

In what appears to be a tribute to the legendary American singer-songwriter, one child was named Bobby-Dylan, while two babies were named Persephone - after the Greek goddess of vegetation.

Hyphenated first names are also becoming increasingly popular. Poppy-Blue, Macaulay-Martin, Wilson-Alexander, Raini-May, and Cruz-Orson are just some of the unique combinations registered in Scotland in 2019.

Jack and Olivia remain the most popular names for boys and girls.

Alan Ferrier, head of demographic statistics at the National Records of Scotland, said: “This year, over 5,000 unique baby names were registered, which suggests that parents may be striving for originality and individuality when naming their children.

“Looking outside the top 100 names, it’s interesting to see the impact that popular culture is having on how parents name their children. More boys than ever are now called Ezra, which may be a result of the popularity of singer George Ezra.

“The Peaky Blinders trend has continued outside the top 100 names, the latest statistics show a continued rise in the number of babies named Cillian following the launch of the hit TV show and star actor Cillian Murphy, the names Polly and Chester have also increased in popularity in this time.”

The name James continues to be popular and is the only name to have been in the top ten for its sex in every year from 1974 onwards.

But many once popular names have now gone out of fashion. David, John and Paul, were the top three boys’ names in 1975, but were not in their top tens in 2000 or 2015 and, in 2019, 101 boys had David as their first forename, 79 were named John and only 22 were named Paul.