Looking through the birth announcements in the Scottish newspapers of the last few months-a site which also sometimes include the regions just below the Scottish border and the Isle of Man–a couple of prominent trends jump out.

　　First of all it’s the nickname names, which right now seem to be even more prevalent in Scotland than in England, for both girls and boys, with a plethora of Ellies and Evies, Alfies and Archies.  Here is a list of  recent ones, with some of the middle names attached to them (separated by slashes):

　　girls

　　CHARLEE

　　CHARLI

　　ELLIE May

　　EMMIE

　　EVIE May/Rose/Elizabeth/Harriet

　　(Alexa) GEORGIE

　　GRACIE May

　　IZZY Henderson

　　JOSIE Mo

　　LIBBY May

　　LOTTIE Aoife (pron. EE-fa)

　　MAISIE Claire/Dolly/Elizabeth/Immogen

　　MILLIE Elizabeth/Grace/Louise/Mae

　　MINNIE Rose

　　boys

　　ALFIE Christopher/Daniel/Jack/James/Peter/Steven/Anthony/Thomas/William/Zane

　　ARCHIE David/James/Peter/Keith Oliver/Thomas

　　BILLY Jacob

　　BOBBY Francis/Martin

　　CHARLIE Lee

　　FREDDI James

　　FREDDIE Albert

　　LENNY

　　LEWIE Tyler

　　OLLIE

　　RED James

　　REGGIE Elliott

　　RODDY

　　SONNY Robert

　　THEO Etomi

　　VINNIE Marc David

　　Another noticeable trend is a return to the Mary–Jane-style hypenated name:

　　ARCHIE–JAY Robert

　　DANIEL–JAMES

　　ELLIE–MAY

　　EVA–SIENNA

　　ISLA–MIN

　　KARLA–ELISE

　　LILLY–JAE

　　LILY–MAE

　　MILEY–LEIGH

　　SOPHIE–ANNE Rose

　　TAHLIA–ROSE

　　TIEGAN–ROSE

　　For girls, many of the current international favorites are equally popular in Scotland: the various forms of Isabel, including the Scottish Isobel, Chloe, Scarlett, Sophie/Sophia, Olivia, Ruby, Grace, Lucy (often spelled Lucie) and Lily, Emma and Emily, plus a generous sprinkling of girls named Bethany, Mia, Freya, Amelia, Alice, Daisy, Poppy, Isla, Imogen, and Summer.  Also widespread is the Gaelic Niamh (pron. neev) and its Anglicized variations: Neive, Nieve, Neve.  Most used as middles: Mae/May, Louise, Rose, Grace.

　　Here are some of the more unusual (outside Scotland anyway) baby girl choices found:

　　AALIN Elizabeth

　　AALISH

　　ANGEL Lily

　　ANYA Ebony Elizabeth

　　AYDA Elizabeth

　　AZARIA Jane

　　CHARLOTTE Bluebell

　　DAISEY Rose Virtue

　　EILIDH (pron. AY-lee) Catherine/Nicola/Sharon

　　FRANCE Lacey Anne

　　KALISE

　　KARIS

　　KEAVY Lucy

　　MIRREN

　　OTTILIE (Tillie) Upton

　　RENNAE

　　ROMAE Serenity

　　TAO Brown

　　Turning to the boys, classics rule, most particularly Jack, George, Harry and Samuel, plus the trendier Ethan, Jacob, Caleb, Lucas.  Also big are Callum/Calum, Cameron, Conor/Connor, Ellis (epidemic), Harvey, Harley, Finlay/Finley, and Lewis.

　　And among the more distinctive:

　　ASTON Mark

　　ARRAN James

　　BODEN Richard

　　CAVAN Patrick

　　DANYL Benjamin/Sean

　　DEXTER Michael

　　FENIX

　　JALCOLM Jack

　　KOEN

　　HAMISH Stanley

　　ILLIAM (Iggy) Gorry

　　JENSON Ray

　　KAELAN

　　KAIN, KANE, KAYNE

　　KENZIE Richard

　　LENNON Arthur

　　MIAN Bobby

　　OSHIN

　　PHERIC Ross Thomas

　　ROCCO Simon

　　STANLEY John Alwyne

　　STRUAN Finlay Peter/Scott