What's in a summer baby name?

BABY NAMES: Parents are chosing sea and nature themed names for their summer babies.

Emma’s Diary, the support magazine for mums to be and new parents, said that 42 per cent of parents chose names based on water with River and Oceana in the top ten.

Overall, names themed around water, flowers and gems were popular for baby girls and for boys, parents also opted for names in-keeping with water, nature and sun.

In the case of girls, 65 per cent chose flower-inspired baby names with the top three most popular names being Lily, Daisy and Rose. For boys, the top three names are Leo, Dylan and River.

Inspired by the water and natural world names such as Oceana, Coral and Sky were popular names for girls with 20 per cent of parents choosing these names. Reflective of this trend, a further 22 per cent of parents also chose water-inspired names for their baby boys such as River, Fisher and Kai (the Hawaiian meaning for sea) all making the top 10.

In-keeping with the summer period, seasonal names such as Theros (the Greek meaning for summer), Nikko (the Japanese meaning for light or sun) and also the name Sunny proved popular for boys, as did the name Summer for girls.

The new summer baby names poll quizzed hundreds of parents across the UK on their chosen baby name this season revealing key trends for water and nature. Gem-inspired names like Ruby also made the top ten list of girls names.

Faye Mingo, Marketing Director at Emma’s Diary said: “It is really interesting to see a pattern emerging this season for water themed baby names on both sides for boys and girls.

“Likewise, there is a real feeling of ‘summer sun’ coming through with our choice of names too.”

According to astrology: Babies born in summer were found to be hyperthymic, but with strong cyclothymic temperament (changes in mood).

Though summer babies are more likely to experience those high positive feelings, they were also significantly more likely to report experiencing frequent mood swings. This is particularly true when compared to babies born in winter.

The survey had 479 UK respondents online.

Parents can visit the Baby Zone area at Emma’s Diary to find their perfect baby name: http://www.emmasdiary.co.uk/babynames

Top 10 summer baby names for girls – Lily, Daisy, Rose, Summer, Jasmine, Sky, Ruby, Coral, Dahlia, Oceana.

Top 10 summer baby names for boys – Leo, Dylan, River, Kai, Eden, Sunny, Beckett, Nikko, Theros, Fisher.

Emma’s Diary provides practical support and advice on pregnancy and early post-natal information.