The Scottish Registry General’s Office has released the country’s most popular names for 2009, showing very little change at the top.  Jack and Sophie remained in first place, and the girls’ list wasn’t so dissimilar to ours, with Olivia, Ava, Emily, Chloe and Emma all in the top ten, along with Lucy, Katie, Amy and Erin.  For the boys, there were long-term Scottish favorites heading the list: Lewis, James, Liam, Logan, Ryan, Cameron and Callum (which would have been higher if merged with the Calum spelling) coming up behind Jack, plus the biblical Daniel and Aaron.

　　It gets more interesting as you look at some of the names that are rising choices for Scots parents.  One of the biggest leaps was taken by Miley (tailed by Mylea, Mylee, Mylie and Myley), which jumped 190 places, showing Hannah Montana‘s tremendous international clout.  The biggest climber for the boys was Owen, which is also moving up in the US.

　　Some of the other noteworthy names on the rise in Scotland–showing a persistent preference for nickname names:

　　EVIE

　　GRACIE

　　LAYLA

　　LUCIE

　　MAISIE

　　MAYA/MYA

　　MILLIE

　　POPPY

　　ROSIE

　　ALFIE

　　ARCHIE

　　FINLAY

　　HAMISH

　　HARRIS

　　HARRY

　　HARVEY

　　KENZIE

　　LEO

　　LUCAS (thought to be influenced by the lead character in the BBC drama Spooks)

　　RORY

　　ROSS

　　It’s when we look further down the list that we come upon some choices less known or used in this country.  These include:

　　GIRLS

　　AYLA

　　BROGAN

　　CAOIMHE (KWEE-va or KEE-va)

　　CARYS, CERYS, KARIS

　　ELLIS

　　IONA

　　MAJA

　　MIRREN

　　MORVEN

　　MURRAN

　　ORLA

　　TILLY

　　ZUZANNA

　　BOYS

　　AARAN

　　CAIRN

　　EOGHAN (OHN or as Owen)

　　FILIP

　　GREGOR

　　HAMISH

　　IAIN

　　INNES

　　JAI

　　KEIR

　　KERR

　　LEIGHTON

　　NAIRN

　　STRUAN