As Mariah Carey proudly declares every year on the first of November: "It's time!" Christmas is just around the corner, it's already snowed this year, and the leaves are well on their way to completely falling off the trees.
For soon-to-be parents, there's an extra wave of excitement that comes with welcoming your newborn in the festive season. Often, parents take inspiration from the many forms of Christmas for their baby names: whether the roots are religious or simply wintery, there's so much to choose from.
Play Mats Direct have used data from the Office of National Statistics' (ONS) 2024 analysis to round up the ten most popular names inspired by Christmas and the festive season in the United Kingdom, selecting the names with the most explicit festive links.
The most popular festive girls' names
The name to claim the top spot is a name rich with festive symbolism, related to winter solstice celebrations pre-dating Christianity: 'Ivy', with 1,956 baby girls taking the name. Symbolising eternal life and renewal, it's still a classic feature in traditions today.
Second place goes to 'Florence' with 1,936 girls taking the name, which is frequently linked to the Feast of Immaculate Conception in Italy, celebrating the conception of the Virgin Mary,. In third place, 1,727 girls were named 'Elsie', a name that first captured hearts in Victorian Christmas stories.
In fourth, 'Grace', meaning 'God's favour or blessing', was given to 1,390 girls and 'Evie', literally tied to Christmas Eve, followed. 'Ruby', with red being deeply tied to Christmas, came in sixth place, and 'Aurora', symbolising the glow and wonder of the winter Northern Lights came afterwards.
'Maryam', the Arabic and Hebrew form of Mary, the name of the mother of Jesus, came in eighth place, with 752 girls. Meanwhile, 'Robyn', after the Christmassy bird, and 'Scarlett', another Christmassy red name, were in ninth and tenth, respectively.
Overall, 'Ivy' and 'Aurora' seemed to carry over their popularity from last years, with all eight of the other names were new to the top 10, replacing the likes of 'Holly', 'Winter' and 'Celeste'.
The most popular festive boys' names
There are few names quite as traditional as 'Noah', the Old Testament name representing hope, restoration and new beginning with its biblical connotations. Hence, it's unsurprising that, with 4,139 baby boys being given the name, it took the top spot.
Second place went to Theodore, meaning 'gift of God', with 2,671 babies given the name, and Jude, a name of Hebrew origin that is often attributed to virtue and spiritual strength, followed with 2,540.
Rory, the Gaelic name for 'red king' came in fourth with 1,588 and its Christmassy colour symbolism, and Reuben, with its strong nativity ties followed with 1,442 babies being given the name. Adam, named after the first man, came in at sixth, and Rowan, Gaelic for 'a little red one' or a winterberry tree, followed in at seventh, with 1,410 and 1,246, respectively.
In eight, 'Joseph', a central figure of the Nativity story, was given to 946 babies, and at ninth came David, named after King David, who appears in many of the Christmas carols. The tenth most popular name was 'Gabriel', named after the angel who announces Jesus' birth to Mary and one of the names most explicitly linked to the Nativity story.
The list was completely different to last year's, which featured the names 'Robin', notably appearing in a similar form in the list of girls' names this year, 'Olaf', inspired by modern Christmas classic Frozen, and 'Noel', deriving from the Latin for 'day of birth'.