Oliver and Olivia are top baby names

Oliver and Olivia are the most popular baby names in England and Wales for the second year running.

Jack held on to second place in the boys’ name category after slipping from the top spot last year after a 14-year reign.

Sophie jumped three places up the rankings, making it the second most popular name for girls, according to figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics on first names given to babies born in 2010.

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Emily went up one place to claim the spot as the third most popular girls’ name, while Lily rose four places to be the fourth.

Amelia also climbed four places to make it into the top five.

Ruby and Chloe both featured in the top five last year but both slid five places in 2010, to be ranked seventh and eighth respectively.

Harry and Alfie held on to third and fourth places respectively in the boys’ rankings and Charlie climbed two places to complete the top five. George replaced Daniel in the top 10, climbing two places from number 11 to number nine.

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There were no new entries in the top 10 girls’ names compared with 2009, although there were regional variations with popularity of names.

Despite Ruby’s fall in the national rankings, it was the top name for baby girls in Wales.This could perhaps be influenced by the fact it is the name of Charlotte Church’s three-year-old daughter.

Jack was the most popular name for boys born in the North East and among baby girls Sophie and Lily proved the most popular in the East and South West respectively.

Within the 100 most popular boys’ names given to babies born in England and Wales in 2010, there were six new entries: Ollie, Bobby, Caleb, Jenson, Dexter and Kayden. New entries in the top 100 most popular girls’ names were Annabelle, Eliza, Laila, Aisha, Maryam and Maisy.