Jack and Ella top baby names for 2007

Jacks and Ellas will be dominating playmats in coming years after the Department of Internal Affairs announced they were the most popular baby names to be registered last year.

Jack maintained the number one spot for boys, while Ella replaced last year's top name for girls, Charlotte, Internal Affairs senior communications advisor Marc Piercey said.

Three new names - Lucas, Hunter and Lachlan - entered the top 30 boys list, at the expense of Charlie, Nathan and George.

And for the girls, Sophia, Sienna and Jade replaced Sarah, Jasmine and Hayley.

Notable changes in the ranking for individual names were James which leapt 11 places from 13 to two while Riley climbed eight places from 25 to 17 and, at the other end of the scale, Caleb dropped eight places from 17 to 25.

The biggest climber on the girls list was Ava, which jumped eight places from 26 to 18. Mia rose six places to 19, while Georgia dropped 11 places to 26 and Maia fell seven places to number 25.

List of top 30 boys and girl names for 2007:

Boys:
1 Jack
2 James
3 Joshua
4 Daniel
5 William
6 Oliver
7 Samuel
8 Benjamin
9 Ethan
10 Ryan
11 Jacob
12 Liam
13 Thomas
14 Lucas
15 Luke
16 Noah
17 Riley
18 Jayden
19 Matthew
20 Alexander
21 Hunter
22 Dylan
23 Blake
24 Max
25 Caleb
26 Lachlan
27 Logan
28 Connor
29 Tyler
30 Joseph

Girls:
1 Ella
2 Sophie
3 Olivia
4 Emma
5 Charlotte
6 Emily
7 Lily
8 Grace
9 Hannah
10 Isabella
11 Jessica
12 Ruby
13 Amelia
14 Lucy
15 Madison
16 Chloe
17 Brooke
18 Ava
19 Mia
20 Paige
21 Zoe
22 Holly
23 Kate
24 Caitlin
25 Maia
26 Georgia
27 Samantha
28 Sophia
29 Sienna
30 Jade

- NZPA