From Susan to Olivia, John to James: The most popular baby names of the past 100 years

By Live Reporter

Last updated at 10:39 PM on 3rd September 2011

New parents agonise over what to call their baby, but it seems we’re all thinking the same thing (which is why hardly anyone’s called Winifred these days)

David Cameron’s daughter Florence, born last year, was only given the 54th most popular girl’s name in the country. When she grows up, we can tell you it’s likely that she will have friends called Olivia and Sophie.

Our graphics below charts a century of changing national identities, in 20-year ‘generational’ jumps. The size of each name is directly related to its popularity as a given name that year.

In 1914, approximately twice as many boys were named William as were named Thomas

You can see that in years gone by, parents relied more heavily on a small pool of names, whereas now there is much greater variety

For example, in 1914, approximately twice as many boys were named William as were named Thomas.

You can see that in years gone by, parents relied more heavily on a small pool of names, whereas now there is much greater variety.

If you want your child to stand out, we recommend the Oliver approach – the Jamie Oliver approach, of course. The schools of 2015 are unlikely to be full of children called Buddy…