Over half of parents vote for Corbyn as political baby names become hot new trend

• 53% of parents find it ‘very hard’ to choose the right name for their baby – and a third disagree with their partner over what to pick

• 70% believe children are judged by their name

• 23% say political names are on the rise with Corbyn and Cameron the top picks

• Surge in popularity of Muslim names used by non-Muslim families

• Wacky new naming trends include ‘unicorn names’, ‘tough names’ and even ‘text message names’

• 7% of families regret their child’s name

New parents are electing to name their children after politicians – with Corbyn the hottest new baby-naming trend, a new poll by video parenting website www.channelmum.com reveals.
After the Labour leader’s post-General Election popularity surge, over half of parents (52%) would consider using the name Corbyn for their child. The name has already soared 50 percent in popularity between 2014 and 2015, but is now expected to see an even sharper rise.

Overall, political names are one of the fastest-growing new UK baby naming trends with 23 percent of mums and dads seeing more politically-inspired names in their area.

Interestingly, while 38 percent of parents would consider the name May, only four percent would use Theresa for a newborn. Cameron was the next most popular, liked by a third of parents, followed by Jeremy, enjoying fresh popularity with 15 percent of families.

However, only five percent would name their baby Boris or Diane, six percent Donald and just one percent believe Nigel will become a fashionable name again. But Nicola was especially popular in Scotland, where 13 percent of mums and dads report its popularity is increasing, and 12 percent of Welsh parents are seeing more Leannes locally.

Across Britain, 1,305 parents were asked which names were increasing in popularity in their local area. The poll revealed a huge 70 percent of parents believe people judge a child by their name – and as a result, seven percent ‘regret’ their choice of baby name. However, three quarters of parents (75%) would be upset if their child wanted to change their name.

A third of couples quizzed admitted they disagreed and even rowed over naming their baby, with 53 percent admitting choosing a name is ‘very hard’.  And while two thirds (65%) eventually settled on a name while still pregnant, 19 percent wait until they see the baby’s face when born – and an indecisive four percent wait six weeks until the legal limit for registering the baby’s birth and name.

The study also found that while over a third (35%) of parents use family names to honour relatives, one in five (20%) opt for unique spellings no-one else has to ensure their child stands out.

And with over 62,000 different baby names used annually in the UK, there are a number of wacky new baby-naming trends starting to break through.

The fastest-growing up-and-coming trends revealed by the poll include traditional Muslim names going mainstream, with six percent of the parents quizzed seeing more non-Muslim families using Muslim names. The most commonly-used Muslim monikers include Zane, Zahra, Ayesha, Farah, Anila, Omar and Jana.

One in ten has seen an increase in babies with ‘tough names’ including Axl, Maverick and Diesel, and by contrast, Unicorn names including Rainbow, Twinkle, Sassy, Sparkle and Princess are also beginning to gain popularity (4%).

Football ace Paul Pogba and Towie star Sam Faiers have helped to repopularise the name Paul, with one in 25 parents seeing it used again. There is also renewed interest in 1970s names including Michelle, Susan and even Gary is making a comeback.  

And Viking and Scandi names are on the march, with Magnus, Agnes, Linnea, Freya, Annika, Astrid and Britta more popular, according to 13 percent of parents.

Meanwhile, the more bizarre name phenomenons include text message abbreviation names like Ily – meaning I Love You – spotted by one percent of parents – and three percent who have seen US place names including Texas, Miami, Arizona and Tennessee used as baby names.

However, the most common current trend is surnames as first names. Two thirds of parents report this is on the rise in their area, with top names including Cooper, Grayson, Parker, Quinn, Jones, Carter, Mason, Jackson, Hunter and Riley.

Traditional but not twee English names are undergoing a revival, with 61 percent of parents embracing monikers includingSarah, Penelope, Emma and Lucy.

The rise of gender-fluid culture means Gender Neutral names are becoming more popular. Alex, Charlie, Elliott, Ellis, Max and Sydney are among the names spotted more often by 41 percent of parents.

And while it may be the least-used letter of the alphabet, X names are in-vogue, with Jaxxon, Xanthe, Xander and Jaxton the most picked for new babies, and voted more popular by 35 percent of parents.

Meanwhile, 16 percent of mums and dads have seen a flood of babies with water names including River, Lake, Delta and Coast, while 13 percent report meeting tots named after the cast of the film Frozen, such as Elsa, Kai, Anna and Olaf.

However, the study also showed the most disliked baby name trend is text-message names, shunned by 71 percent of parents, followed by double-barrelled names such as Lily-Mae, which half of parents refuse to use.

A further 44 percent wouldn’t name their child after a sports team while 38 percent loathe unusual or unique spellings. And the Kardashian trend of using the same first letter for each child was turned down by 27 percent of families.

Siobhan Freegard, founder of ChannelMum.com said: “What’s in a name? Well rather a lot. Names reflect both changing fashions and our changing society, such as the rise in use of many beautiful Muslim names. With 70 percent of families believing their child is judged on their name, a vast amount of love, care and attention is poured into picking the right moniker.

“Corbyn is the stand-out naming trend this year, and we expect to see lots of babies conceived at Glastonbury or over the election period named after the Labour leader.

“But remember a week is a long time in politics and your child will have that name for a lifetime, so do consider the effects of naming a child after any politician.”

HOTTEST UP AND COMING TRENDS

• Political names (23%)
• Viking / Scandi names (11%)
• Tough names (10% are seeing an increase in this)
• Non-Muslim families using Muslim names (6%)
• Unicorn names (4%)
• 70s names (4%)
• US place names (3%)
• Text abbreviation names (e.g. ILY for I Love You) – 1%

MOST POPULAR CURRENT NAMING TRENDS

• Surnames as first names (66% have seen an increase in this)
• Traditional English names (but not twee) (61%)
• Gender Neutral names (41%)
• Names with X spellings (35%)
• Water names (16%)
• Frozen names (13%)