By Victoria Brenan

Last updated at 11:48, Saturday, 13 October 2012

Lily and Oliver topped the list for the most popular babies names’ in this year’s News & Star competition.

Olly Murs

Bonny Babies 2012 was one of the best yet, with nearly 900 entries.

The competition is now in its 35th year, and the names were as diverse as ever, with parents opting for everything from modern names to the more traditional, plus a few unique ones such as Kaelca, Kassiya and Saffren for the girls, and Caiden, Diesel and Coben among the boys.

Lily topped the girls list for the third-year running, with 14 entries this year.

We had 12 Amelias, 12 Evies and 10 Abbie or Abigails. Jessica, a popular choice in 2011 and 2010, has dropped off the top 10 for the first time in recent years and new entries include Daisy (seven) and Ruby (10).

Among the boys, we had 19 Olivers, 18 Jacks and 15 Rileys. Harry entered the top 10 for the first time, with 10 entries, plus Noah – perhaps after broadcaster Chris Evans named his son Noah – and Oscar, eight entries.

Old favourites Alfie, James and Lewis remained in the top 10. Jack has proved to be among the most popular names for several years, topping the boys list in 2002 – when we had 15 entries named Jack. This year, it was the second most popular, with 18 entries.

Bonny Babies co-ordinator Alison Sisson said the competition was one of the most popular the News & Star has organised carried out and thanked everyone for entering.

“It’s always interesting to see how some names remain popular over the years, and we get new ones creeping in,” she said.

Twenty finalists for each category will be published in the News & Star next week.

First published at 10:51, Saturday, 13 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk