The most popular baby names in Wigan ...

Last year 3,641 babies were born in the area, 1,892 boys and 1,749 girls.

Wigan followed the national baby-naming trend for boys, with Oliver coming in as the most popular name.

But Olivia, the nation’s favourite name for girls, didn’t top the charts for Wigan parents last year, coming in at number three, with Amelia the second favourite girls’ name.

The second most popular name for boys was a two-way tie between George and Harry.

Nick Stripe, of the ONS, said: “Although Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular baby names in 2017, some fascinating changes took place beneath them.

“Leo entered the boys’ top 10 for the first time, while Hunter rocketed into the top 100, also for the first time, reaching number 78.

“Sarah, the most popular name for baby girls throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since our records began in 1904. Brand new entries into the top 100 for girls include the names Aurora and Hallie.”

In England and Wales, royal references continue with Harry and George remaining the second and third most popular names respectively since 2016.

Amelia was the second most popular name for girls, with Isla moving up to third.

Nearly 700,000 babies were born last year in England and Wales and more than 63,000 unique baby names were registered.

New entries into the top 100 most popular boys’ names included new entrant Hunter and Ralph, for the first time since 1944.

There were six new names in the 100 most popular girls’ names – Aurora, Orla, Edith, Bonnie, Lyla and Hallie.

Muhammed remains popular for boys, coming out top in some areas, with Noah, Leo, Charlie, Jack, Freddie and Alfie also making it into the top 10.

Outside of the top slots though, there is are a number of growing baby name trends, including weird and wonderful spellings. Jaxon is now a more popular choice than Jackson, while Aaron has no less than 13 different spellings, and Aria has 12.