Olivia and Jack are the most popular names in Britain for babies born in 2008, according to a survey made by the website Bounty. Jack has been top for 14 years since it took over from Thomas.
Grace — made famous by the Hollywood star Grace Kelly — slipped back into third place behind Ruby, the name of singer Charlotte Church’s daughter.
Summer climbed 28 places from 44th to 16th. Ava — the name of singer Myleene Klass’s daughter — also leapt 15 places to 19th.
The troubles of the singer Amy Winehouse perhaps had an effect on the popularity of the name. It dropped three places to 23rd. Rebecca is also on the wane(变弱), ranking 48th. So is Courtney, which ranked 88th.
Theo, obviously inspired by England’s teenage football hero Theo Walcott, is among the biggest climbers in the boy’s list, rising from 70th to 58th.
An employee of Bounty said, “Baby names have witnessed the biggest changes over the last decade as parents are increasingly influenced by celebrities. The Bounty baby name poll also shows parents are continuing to be creative and inspirational about the names they choose for their children. Some parents want a name that’s totally unique, and names such as Zebedee, Selim and Zenon are now emerging and growing in popularity. Others are simply breaking with convention and becoming bolder in their choice of names.”
“While politicians’ names may be growing in popularity in America, British politicians don’t influence our choice of names in the UK. Traditional royal names continue to be supreme(最高的) in the boys’ top 100,” The employee said.
小题1:Which of the following girl names ranks the second?
A．Grace.
B．Ruby.
C．Kelly.
D．Charlotte.小题2:Baby names changed a lot mainly because of the influence of ______.
A．stars
B．parents
C．media
D．politicians小题3:What kind of names covers the most in the top 100 boys’ names?
A．Unique names.
B．Creative names.
C．Famous people’s names.
D．Traditional royal names.小题4:It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A．Thomas was the first in boy names in 1994
B．Summer ranked 28th in the girls’ list in 2007
C．Rebecca might be 50th in the girls’ list in 2007
D．Courtney climbed in the boy’s list in 2008 compared with 2007
