Liam tops popular names list in Otago

His great-grandfather's middle name was William. So was his granddad's and his father's.

But given the popularity of the name, generated by the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton last year, Scott Rickerby and Kelsey Hampson decided to call their first born, Liam.

"We didn't want to choose William because we thought that would be too popular. We were trying to avoid a really common name," Mr Rickerby said.

Unfortunately, Liam turned out to be the most popular name for newborns published in the Otago Daily Times births columns in 2011.

While there were nine newborn boys named William, 15 were named Liam, and close behind on the list was Thomas (12) and Samuel (12).

Sixteen girls were called Sophie or Sophia, 13 Charlotte, and 12 Ruby.

Despite the royal wedding, there were only two babies named Kate in 2011.

Other more innovative names included Daxia, Jaxon, Nyxie, Ryker, Makkai, Zevi and Skuxx.

When Mr Rickerby learnt Liam was the most popular name for 2011, he took it in good spirits.

"We were thinking 'd'oh!' But we wouldn't change the name if we had known it was the most popular. It suits him."