Nullawarre mum Emily Farnes knows what it’s like to have a popular name.
She was one of seven Emilys in her year level at school.
When her first son was born six months ago, she and partner Jack wanted a name that would stand their boy apart from the crowd. They opted for Angus, who joined their daughter Eden in their family.
“I was hoping it would be a unique name,” she said.
But a survey of birth notices in The Standard classifieds found Angus to be popular. Angus, William and Harry topped the list for boys’ names in 2015.
Harry, which was the most popular pick in 2014, shared the title with Angus and William/Will with five mentions each.
Archer/Archie along with the ever-popular Jack took out second place with four.
A new addition to the list this year was Fletcher, also chosen by four parents across Warrnambool and surrounds.
Harry wasn’t the only popular boys’ name starting with H. Hayden, Hudson, Harlee, Harvey, Hartley, Herbert, Humphrey and Harper all featured in the boys birth notices.
Lucy and Emma and its variation Emmy were the top names for girls across the south-west.
They each had four mentions followed by Charlotte, Ruby and Mia, all with three.
Sophie declined in popularity in 2015 only appearing twice in the list after claiming the girls’ top spot in 2014.
Names beginning with E were popular for girls this year - such as Emmy, Eleanor, Eloise, Ella, Elke, Emma and Esther.
The popularity of the Frozen phenomenon was yet to influence prospective parents with only one child dubbed Elsa.
Overall, the region bucked the national trend when it came to the year’s most popular baby names.
Oliver might have been the top pick for boys across Australia, according to Baby Names Australia website but in the south-west there was only one, according to the notices in The Standard.
Nationally, the female variation Olivia was top of the charts but there were two in the south-west, according to The Standard’s classifieds.
While traditional names dominated, there were some unique ones.
Boys’ names with a difference included Kash, Jove, Menzel and Knox while the list for girls featured Elektra and Halia.
