Jack and Olivia Top Bounty Name Poll With Steady Fall From Grace and Lucas Leaping

LONDON, December 31 - Jack and Olivia were the most popular baby names of 2009, it emerged
today (31st December 2009).

Jack, the moniker of Messrs Tweed, Nicholson and Straw, retained its
title for the 15th year on the trot.

Olivia secured a second successive stint as the girls' favourite having
taken over from Grace in 2008.

The highest climbers this year were Lucas, which raced 24 places up the
charts to make number 15, and Maisie, which rocketed up a staggering 29
places to 41st.

Layla also scored well, up 21 places to number 46 while Lexi leapt 18
spots up to number 43. Sienna, the name of movie stunner Sienna Miller, also
rose by 15 places in the Top 100 list compiled from a national survey of
580,000 babies born in 2009 by parenting club Bounty.

Lola and Madison also rose 10 places and 7 places respectively.

The boys list also saw impressive improvements in the ranking of
Sebastian, which was up 18 places to number 80 and Joel, which moved from
number 93 to 79.

Oscar, Noah, Aiden and Logan, are up 13 places from last year's position.
Archie is up 12 places.

This year's male losers include Rhys and Ryan who saw their popularity
drop significantly. Rhys fell 14 places to number 59 while Ryan slumped 13
places to number 26.

Alex, Matthew and Kieran also fell by ten places or more.

Caitlin, Rebecca and Keira - presumably named after English rose actress
Keira Knightley - all slipped down the female charts.

And Eve, Abbie and Hannah also suffered a bad year.

Faye Mingo, spokeswoman for bounty.com said "Parents continue to be
influenced by popular culture and celebrity trends relating to films, sports
personalities and TV stars.

"The rise in popularity of the name Lucas could well be attributed to the
EastEnders' preacher turned murder character, played by Don Gilet.

"Parents also copying celebrities own choices of baby girls' names. Take
for example the popularity of Lola, the nickname of Madonna's daughter which
has continued to rise up the charts in the last decade and Lexi, the name of
Amanda Holden and Alex Curran's daughters."

There were few changes in the overall top ten for both boys and girls. In
the boys list Oliver came second, Charlie was third and Harry was fourth.

That means Prince Charles's abbreviated first name gained a one-place
advantage on the name of his youngest son.

Alfie remained in fifth place, Thomas in sixth and Joshua in seventh
while James clung onto ninth, but William rose two places from eighth at the
expense of Daniel.

The girls list saw Ruby keep second spot despite pressure from Sophie.
Grace fell from third to sixth while Mia and Lucy also slipped slightly.

Summer, who was a big climber between 2007 and 2008, fell four places.
Amelia and Evie both climbed with Evie making the top ten for the first time.

Faye Mingo of Bounty.com added "In previous years there has been more
movement in the top 10 boys and girls names.

"The economic downturn could be affecting the mood of the nation and
those parents, who would usually be more creative and inspirational about the
names they choose for their children, are sticking to safer options.

"Common baby naming tips often warn against naming your baby something
too trendy, unpronounceable or difficult to spell. But, in general whatever
name moniker you give your child they always grow up to make it their own"

New entries in the bounty.com girls top 100 list include Alexandra at
number 91, Taylor at 92 and Miley - after singer and actress Miley Cyrus - at
93.

Other debutants were Mya, Kayla, Florence and Evelyn.

New boys names include Caleb, Louie, Bobby - the name of the late Jade
Goody's son - and Gabriel.

See the Top 100 boys and girls names of 2009 and check latest regional
popularity ratings at www.bounty.com

    Editors Notes

    TOP 20 BOYS 2009

    1. Jack
    2. Oliver
    3. Charlie
    4. Harry
    5. Alfie
    6. Thomas
    7. Joshua
    8. William
    9. James
    10. Daniel
    11. George
    12. Ethan
    13. Lewis
    14. Max
    15. Lucas
    16. Dylan
    17. Archie
    18. Joseph
    19. Jacob
    20. Samuel

    TOP 20 GIRLS 2009

    1. Olivia
    2. Ruby
    3. Sophie
    4. Chloe
    5. Emily
    6. Grace
    7. Jessica
    8. Lily
    9. Amelia
    10. Evie
    11. Mia
    12. Lucy
    13. Ava
    14. Ella
    15. Charlotte
    16. Amy
    17. Daisy
    18. Katie
    19. Megan
    20. Summer

    Editors notes:

    - Bounty (www.bounty.com) is the UK's favourite
      parenting club, providing information, support and products for young
      families throughout the four key-life stages: pre-birth, birth, toddlers
      and pre-school.
    - With 2.5 million members and over 50,000 new members joining
      every month, Bounty has approximately 95% market coverage of the
      estimated 850,000 annual births in the UK.
    - www.bounty.com is the UK's favourite parenting website
      and the largest online meeting point for mums in the UK with over 19
      million pages being served each month, 700,000 opted-in members and a
      further 15,000 new members joining each month

For further information please contact Lisa Penney on +44(0)7525-691648 or email lpenney at bounty.com