There are a number of ways to measure the public’s dissatisfaction with their politicians: party polling figures, favourability ratings and, of course, the result at the ballot box. But a less obvious indicator is baby’s names – and 2024’s most popular list is a damning indictment of Britain’s Prime Minister.
It transpires that a grand total of, er, zero children were called ‘Keir’ last year. According to data released today by the Office for National Statistics, the PM’s first name was nowhere to be found on the list of most popular names for boys and girls in England and Wales. While the name had fast been losing favour for a while – only four baby Keirs were born in 2023 – this is the first time on record that no one opted to give their newborn the same name as Starmer. Oh dear…
The names of other Labour figures remained popular, however. There were 114 Rachels, 70 Wesleys and 28 Angelas. There were 16 babies called Boris, keeping the name of former Conservative leader Boris Johnson alive while just five were named Nigel. In fact, the downward trend seen with Starmer’s forename is unusual – after Johnson became PM, the number of babies called Boris rose from 39 in 2019 to 43 in 2020. Rishi Sunak’s premiership saw a jump in the use of his name too, with 36 baby Rishi’s in 2022 increase to 37 in 2023.
Has Sir Keir's performance in the top job damned his name to extinction? Stay tuned…
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