Right royal push to name baby William

Prince William's rising profile may be influencing Kiwi parents.

William is starting to become one of the most popular boys' names, says Tauranga woman Eleanor Burkin, who each year counts baby names in Herald birth notices.

When she began keeping records about 20 years ago, said Mrs Burkin, William never featured.

But in the last four to five years the name had come through into the top 10.

Last year William ranked sixth equal, with Ryan and Daniel.

"It has gradually shifted up."

Kate, the name of Prince William's girlfriend, topped last year's list of girls' names.

However, Harry - as in Prince Harry or Harry Potter - has never come close to making the top 10.

Mrs Burkin's survey has consistently featured old favourites such as Kate, Catherine and Olivia, and for boys Benjamin and Samuel.

Mrs Burkin was surprised to see Sophie, last year's most popular name for girls, fall right off the list. Sophia, however, had entered the rankings at number 10.

Grace had bolted from nowhere to second place.

Hannah and Georgia disappeared and Ella was losing favour.

Benjamin, the second most popular boy's name, was top of the pops in 2004 but was ousted by Samuel, and James regained popularity.

Names that could be considered equally apt for racehorses also surfaced.

The more unusual boys names included Phallen, L'amayz, Kaembal, Daejon, Jye and Zeplen.

Girls' names that caught Mrs Burkin's eye included Bodelle, Zaymia, Nyah, Jedidiah, Pepa and Mini. She had noticed a number of unusual spellings of standard names.


TOP TEN

Girls
1= Kate/Catherine
2= Grace/Olivia
4 Emma
5= Lucy/Charlotte
7 Ella
8= Isabella/Jessica
10 Sophia

Boys
1 Samuel
2 Benjamin
3 Jack
4 James
5 Joshua
6= William/Ryan/Daniel
9 Max
10= Oliver/Matthew