PARENTS in the UK have been looking to their favourite TV shows for help in naming their newborns, according to a recent survey.
Registrations to the child care website BabyCentre suggest programmes such as Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones and Homeland are having a big impact on baby name trends.
Inspired by Breaking Bad, the name Jesse has increased in popularity by 13%, while the number of baby Skylers registered for 2013 is up by 70% when compared to 2012. Although there was no rise or fall for the name Walter, there was a first-ever registration for a baby Hank.
Homeland fans have contributed to a 40% increase in Brody and an 11% bump in Nicholas, while the Game of Thrones has given the name Arya a rise of 183% and led to the first-ever registration of baby Sansa.
Meanwhile, Downton Abbey continues to have a notable effect on girls names with Violet, Elsie, Ivy and Rose all more popular.
Unexpectedly, fewer parents are looking to the royal family for inspiration as George fell out of the boys' top 10. The name was at nine in June but was pushed out just after the arrival of Prince George.
Sarah Barrett, managing editor for BabyCentre, said: "So much speculation about the royal baby and regal names could be responsible for the decline of many names associated with our royal family over the past 12 months."
The most popular boys' name was Oliver, followed by Jack and Charlie. The most common girls' name was Olivia followed by Emily and then Sophia.
The baby name chart ranks the names chosen by over 21,000 BabyCentre members in 2013.
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