John, David, William, Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth have topped the list of the most popular baby names in New Zealand over the past 120 years.
The Department of Internal Affairs has compiled a ‘‘Top Baby Names of All Time’’ list, tracking the trend in baby names between 1900 to 2019.
The most popular name used between 1919 and 2019 was John, which peaked in 1947, more than 1600 boys having received this name.
While the number of boys and girls born is about the same, the variety of boys names has traditionally been narrower, so the top name for boys has many more than the top name for girls.
James, William, Thomas and Elizabeth have been the most consistently popular over the past 100 years, while most other names have had a clear peak.
Most of the top 20 girls’ names peaked before the 21st century, Emma, Sarah and Jessica being the most recent to peak in popularity.
The current top names do not feature in the following lists of the most popular names.
Top 10 boys’ names:
John, David, William, James, Michael, Robert, Peter, Thomas, Andrew, Paul.
Top 10 girls’ names:
Margaret, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Patricia, Susan, Helen, Jennifer, Christine, Karen.
Tauranga woman Eleanor Burkin has been keeping records of baby names in New Zealand for more than 30 years.
She said she was surprised to see that the most popular names in the past century weren’t that popular anymore.
She was particularly surprised by the girls’ names.
‘‘It’s all because of fashion and of course those names, Elizabeth, Margaret and Mary, those were names the Royal Family used, so they were very, very popular in the past.
‘‘People probably think they’re a bit dated for a first name and they’re more used as second names now,’’ she said.
The boys’ names had stood the test of time, or circled back into fashion a bit more, she said.
‘‘William, David and John, well they are still very, very good classic names, but other names have taken over — people sort of want something different.’’
She had noticed a lot of boys with surnames as first names now, as well as a resurgence in biblical names
