Luca and Isla take the top spots as the most popular baby names in Scotland

Luca has taken the top spot as the most popular name for baby boys according to new figures released by National Records of Scotland.

For baby girls, Isla has returned to number one, a position it previously held in 2020.

Luca climbed four places to become the most popular with 344 boys given the name last year. Noah slipped to second place with Leo remaining the third most popular name. Jack, which held a top three spot since 1996, fell to fourth.

For girls, Isla overtook Olivia which had been the most popular name in recent years. Freya remains the in third place.

NRS Statistician Phillipa Haxton said: “National Records of Scotland is pleased to welcome all of Scotland’s bundles of joy in 2023.

“There are more names in use today than there were in previous generations.

“The number of different names for boys reached a new all-time high in 2023, as did the number of unique names given to only one child in the year.

“The same pattern was observed for girls’ names, and the variety of names given to girls is still greater than for boys.”

Many names with rising popularity feature in recent hit movies, with Luca being the title character of recent Pixar film. Other names making the popularity list this year include Cillian and Margot – associated with the re ent summer blockbusters Oppenheimer and Barbie.

New entrants in the top 100 names include Oakley, which rose 64 places to 87th and Mabel, which leapt 102 places to joint 93rd.

Choices for baby names differ across Scotland’s 32 local authorities. Luca was top in seven areas and Isla in eight. Luca and Isla were top in Moray and North Ayrshire but Luca shared the top spot for boys with several names.

Top Ten Boys Names