Jack & Chloe top; few take lead from pop

Jack and Chloe are still the most popular names given to babies in England and Wales; but there are a few surprises lower down the list, suggesting that some parents still prefer to take a lead from showbiz.

Jack has now been the most popular boys' name for the past eight years, and Chloe the top girls' name for the past six years. Jack actually increased slightly in popularity compared with 2001, while Chloe saw a small decrease.

Few parents followed the example of David and Victoria Beckham: their son Romeo was one of only 21 to be given the name. Their other son, Brooklyn has more of an influence, with 86 baby boys (up from 76 in 2001) and 19 baby girls (down from 31) sharing his name.

Did a fictional footballer's wife prove just as influential? Some 52 girls were named Chardonnay, the name of a leading character in TV drama 'Footballers' Wives' often compared to Posh Spice. A further 14 were called Chardonay.

Mirroring the success of the Colombian pop singer, 221 girls were named Shakira, a more than eightfold increase on 2001. The name Amelie saw a twelvefold increase to 203 girls, perhaps reflecting the success of the Oscar-nominated French language movie of the same name. Some 468 baby girls share the name of Aaliyah, the American R&B singer killed in a plane crash in August 2001 - an increase of 300 on 2001, putting it 92nd in the girls' ranking.

The choice of boys' names is generally more conservative, with 2430 different boys' names registered in 2002, compared to 3089 girls' names.

One that catches the eye is Korben - 127 baby boys share the name of the first finalist to be voted off TV's 'Pop Idol' contest, up from only 8 in 2001. (A further 135 were given different variations of the name, such as Korbyn or Corban.) Ironically, Korben was not even his real name: a rather more conventional Chris Niblett. But the number sharing the name of fellow Pop Idol competitor Darius fell by half in 2002, to just 22.

New entries to the boys' top 50 were Harvey (up 15 to 46th), Charles (up four to 47th) and Alfie (up five to 49th). Benjamin rose eight places to number six, while Ben climbed ten places to number 21. Harry dropped five places to number 11, while William went up six places to number seven. Jordan saw a big decrease in popularity, down 18 places to number 43. Harrison, Christopher and Joe dropped out of the top 50 altogether.

In the girls' top 50, Isabelle was the highest new entry, up ten places to number 47, followed by Maisie, up 18 places to number 48 and Isabella, up five to squeeze in at number 50. While Jade and Laura both went down eight places to numbers 32 and 45 respectively. Niamh, Natasha and Alexandra all dropped out of the top 50.