We’ve officially crossed the halfway mark of the year and whilst it might still feel surreal – 2025 also represents 30 years since 1995.
It seems like yesterday to many of us, but 1995 was when Mel Gibson graced cinema screens in Braveheart, rapper Coolio dropped his smash hit Gangsta’s Paradise and Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks made its television debut.
Mums and dads will recall deliberating over what to name their babies this time three decades ago. Certain names have maintained their popularity, whilst others have fallen out of favour as fresh baby naming trends have emerged.
On December 29, 1995, before the new year arrived, The Daily Mirror published the top 30 baby names for boys and girls from that year. Many across Merseyside will recall selecting or mulling over these names, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The headline that went to press read “I’d like a tiny tot of Jack Daniels – top baby names of ’95” – alluding to the preferred names leading the boys’ list. The piece stated: “The makers of a popular bourbon were toasting Britain’s new parents yesterday – after a list of the top baby names in 1995 showed Jack and Daniel in first and second place.
“The report also showed that top choice for little girls was Jessica, knocking last year’s favourite, Rebecca, off the number one spot and into third place. Jack replaces Thomas at the top of the boys’ list, which also slips back into third.
“Surprise hit of the year for girls was Shannon. A strong surge of support saw it rise 22 places to 11th. Three girls’ names made it into the top 50 for the first time, Abbie and Kayleigh.”
In 1995, names Anna, Louise, Richard, Stephen and Mark dropped out of the top 50 completely. The Daily Mirror also highlighted emerging contenders in the lists published by the Office of Population Censuses and Survey.
Those names included Cameron, Reece, Charlie and Dominic, which hadn’t even appeared in the top 100 lists a decade earlier. In 1995, Royal names Harry, William and Charles also climbed up the rankings.
We’ve recently compiled the top 10 boys, girls and unisex names listed by Pampers. On the girls list, Olivia claimed the number one position, whilst it was Oliver on the boys list and the most popular gender-neutral name was Noah.
But here, we look back at the 60 most popular baby names from 1995 – the top 30 for girls and the top 30 for boys. We’ve also included where they ranked the year before in 1994, which are listed in brackets for comparison.
30 most popular baby names for girls in 1995
Jessica (3)
Lauren (2)
Rebecca (1)
Sophie (6)
Charlotte (4)
Hannah (5)
Amy (7)
Emily (8)
Chloe (11)
Emma (10)
Shannon (33)
Laura (9)
Bethany (15)
Megan (17)
Katie (14)
Lucy (13)
Sarah (12)
Alice (18)
Jade (16)
Danielle (21)
Abigail (23)
Olivia (24)
Rachael (19)
Eleanor (32)
Samantha (20)
Elizabeth (26)
Georgia (29)
Victoria (27)
Holly (22)
Zoe (30)
30 most popular baby names for boys in 1995
Jack (3)
Daniel (4)
Thomas (1)
James (2)
Joshua (7)
Matthew (5)
Ryan (6)
Luke (8)
Samuel (9)
Jordan (10)
Joseph (16)
Liam (17)
Alexander (13)
Benjamin (15)
Michael (12)
Adam (11)
Connor (28)
William (19)
Jake (20)
Christopher (14)
George (21)
Harry (30)
Callum (31)
Lewis (22)
Oliver (23)
Kieran (36)
Andrew (20)
Robert (25)
Nathan (27)
David (24)
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