Get ready for Will and Lil to will rule the preschool as the names William and Lily top the national list of popular baby names in Australia in 2009.

Australia’s Top 10 Baby Names 2009

In fact, 1 in 9 female babies born are christened from a tiny pool of just 10 names, from which only Emily was common in the 1990s.

Boys sharing the top names have an even slimmer chance of individuality, with 1 in 8 boys born christened one of the ten top names. Similar to previous years, more boys converge around fewer names than girls, as 9932 boys shared 5 top names, compared to 8557 girls.

A bouquet of names

With Lily in the No.1 spot, flora seems to be influencing Aussies like never before. There is a garden of names in the top 100 including: Jasmine (711), Holly (421), Poppy (264), Rose (154), Violet (127), Ivy (216) and Willow (192). Perhaps Jamie Oliver’s rising star has influenced this, with the celebrity chef’s three daughters named Petal, Poppy and Daisy!

Home-Grown Celebs

Instead of foreign celebs, this year some local stars and their kids have set the tone. This year’s top 100 includes: Isabel (Lucas, 1717), Mia (Freedman, 1686), Matilda (Ledger, 1026), Isla (Fisher, 419) and Gabriella (Cilmi, 110).
Hollywood super-stars are still big influencers, with names like Chloe/Khloe (Kardashian, 1730) Sienna (Miller, 1126) and Emma (Watson, 923) popular alongside last year’s favorites Angelina, Keira, Scarlett and Taylor. It’s the same story with boys, as Zac (Efron), Elijah (Wood), Jay (Z) and Jayden (Spears) are all moving up the list.

It’s interesting to note that two characters from the pop culture juggernaut, The Twilight Saga, Isabella (Bella) and Jacob (Jake) are both third on the list of baby names. They were both non-existent on the list until the early 2000s when the series first hit the shelves.

Decline of the Biblical Name

For the first time in memory, only four out of ten names in the boy’s top ten are biblical names – a marked change from the early 90s, when 9 out of 10 were named after figures in the bible. Joshua and Thomas (looking much less doubtful) are the only male biblical names to have stood the test of time, consistently in the top ten since 1990.

For girls this seems to be even less of a priority, with none of the names in this year’s top ten from the bible! The days of Rebecca, Elizabeth and Sarah are truly gone.

Colourful Choices

Proud parents of new daughters also splashed out with a rainbow of name choices, with girls born in 2009 having name like: Ruby (1456), Scarlett (403), Jade (295), Amber (291) and Ebony (110).

More useful links:

See the most popular baby names in Australia in 2008

See the most popular baby names in Australia in 2010

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This article is from McCrindle Research.
McCrindle Research analysed 114,241 baby names recorded in Australia in 12 months which accounts for just over half of all births
(ABS, released November 2009).