London - Rising numbers of parents are giving children hyphenated first names in what may be a somewhat risky attempt at social climbing.
Parents of baby girls in England and Wales chose nearly 1 200 different double-barrelled names last year – up from only 260 in 2000 – according to the Office for National Statistics.
The most popular was Amelia-Rose, given to 225 newborns, making it more popular than some traditional names such as Catherine or Rachel.
But not all attempts at imitating the upper middle class’s fondness for double-barrelled names are likely to be so successful – although they will ensure their recipient stands out from the crowd.
Among the rarer examples in the ONS list were Tiara-Leigh, Skylar-Rae and Gypsy-May, which were, perhaps thankfully, chosen only three times each.
Overall, one in six girls’ first names was hyphenated. The second most popular was Lily-Mae, recorded 224 times, then Lily-Rose, given to 203 babies.
The list, compiled from birth registration records, features names only if they are chosen three or more times. It includes spelling variations, so Lily-Mae, Lilly-Mae, Lily-May and Lilli-Mae, for example, are separate entries. Names incorporating “Rose” were among the most popular, with Scarlett-Rose, Bella-Rose, Sienna-Rose, Dakota-Rose, Destiny-Rose, Kayla-Rose, Clara-Rose, Daisy-Rose, Sydney-Rose and Esmai-Rose among 245 variations.
There were 59 Summer-Roses and five Winter-Roses, not to mention a further four Wynter-Roses.
For boys, there were 328 different hyphenated names, ten times as many as in the mid-1990s. The most popular of them last year was Tyler-James, given to 54 babies.
It was among the many pairings involving James. Others were Riley-James, Oliver-James and Charlie-James. Lee was also often used, including in Tommy-Lee, Jayden-Lee and Harvey-Lee.
Siobhan Freegard, of mothers’ network Channel Mum, said: “Double-barrelled first names used to be something you only found among private school girls 20 or 30 years ago. It’s become increasingly widespread, but as it’s done so it’s lost the glamour it once had…I think it will start to be seen as rather downmarket.”
Peter York, author of The Sloane Ranger Handbook, told the Sunday Telegraph: “Several friends of mine who are now mature women were called… Sarah-Jane, Sally-Anne, Sarah-Louise. They were all Knightsbridge girls. What we see here isn’t that at all.”
Sociologist Dr Jane Pilcher, of Leicester University, said: “I think there is pressure to stand out. This enables people to do that without…really wacky first names.”
Daily Mail