JAMES is back as the most popular boys' name in Edinburgh, while Sophie holds on to the top spot for girls for another year.
The latest statistics from the Registrar General for Scotland reveal that parents in the Capital stuck firmly to traditional names for boys in 2008, while girls' names were more adventurous.
Ava, Isla, Lily, and Amelia are all among the new names
in the girls' top ten this year, with Finlay, Liam, Oliver and Samuel making the list for the boys.
Isla has also shot to the top of the list in East Lothian and is a new entry in the Midlothian top ten.
Duncan Macniven, Registrar General for Scotland, said: "In Edinburgh, and nationally, we have again seen names like James and Jack being among the most popular. Finlay is again in the top ten, but it has always been a very popular local name."
James reclaims the honour of most popular name in Edinburgh from Jack after just a year. There were 61 Jameses born in the Capital over the last 12 months, with the name perhaps given a boost by the recent high profile of Scots star James McAvoy.
Daniel was the second most popular name, chosen by 56 sets of parents, while there were 53 Jacks born in Edinburgh.
Across Scotland, Jack and Sophie were the top names for boys and girls, with Jack pushing last year's most popular name, Lewis, into second place.
For the fourth year in a row, Sophie is the most popular girls' name, with Emily up to second spot.
Despite this, Mr McNiven insisted more and more parents were choosing unusual names for their children.
"What I am seeing from the figures is a trend to parents giving their children more unique names," he said.
"The top ten names nowadays count for a smaller percentage of the total number of babies born nationally than ever before."
Around 28,100 boys' and 27,200 girls' names were registered nationally this year, and Mr McNiven said they shared around 3000 names, with 1800 of those names unique.
'They are good, strong, traditional names'WHEN it came to picking a name for their first child, Fiona and Stewart Lee looked back to their family histories.
Little could they know that baby James Alexander Lee, who is ten days old and looking forward to his first Christmas, would share two of Edinburgh's most popular names.
Stewart, 30, a Scottish Government security worker, and Fiona, 31, a PA, admitted there was a strong family reason for the choice.
"James was the name of my grandfather, who had a big influence on my life, and James and Alexander were the names of Fiona's grandparents, who are sadly no longer with us, so that was always what we were going to choose," said Mr Lee.
"They are good, strong, traditional names."
The full article contains 482 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
