OLIVER and Amelia remained the most popular baby names in 2015 in England and Wales for the third year running, according to official figures.

Ella and Mia rose into the top 10 girls' names, replacing Lily and Sophie from 2014, while Noah replaced James in the top 10 boys' names, the Office for National Statistics said.

Amelia has been the most popular girls' name in England and Wales since 2011 while Oliver has been in the top spot since 2013.

Four names - Jaxon, Roman, Reggie and Carter - broke into the boys' top 100, taking the places of Owen, Robert, Joey and Finlay from 2014.

Of these, Jaxon rose the most, climbing 35 places to number 80 while Kian fell 44 places to 98, the largest decline.

There were six new entries in the girls' top 100, these were Penelope, Mila, Clara, Arabella, Maddison and Aria. These replaced Lydia, Faith, Mollie, Brooke, Isabel and Amy from 2014.

Of these, Aria showed the biggest ascent, shooting 70 places to claim the number 100 spot while Katie dropped the furthest - 22 places to number 99, just staying inside the top 100.

Elizabeth McLaren, a statistician from the ONS, said: "Amelia and Oliver remained the most popular names for baby girls and boys born in 2015, having held the top spot since 2011 and 2013 respectively.

"Ella re-entered the top 10 baby girls' names in 2015 - Ella was last in the top 10 in 2007. Noah entered the top 10 baby boys' names for the first time on record in 2015, following a gradual increase in popularity."

The statistics are "based on the exact spelling of the name given on the birth certificate; grouping names with similar pronunciation would change the rankings," the ONS said.

There were 697,852 live births in England and Wales in 2015, with more than 27,000 different boys' and 35,000 different girls' names registered, the ONS said.

The top 100 boys' names accounted for 52% of all boys born in 2015, while the top 100 girls' names accounted for 43% of all girls born in 2015.

Half of the top 10 most popular boys' names in 2015 had kept their place from a decade earlier in 2005: Oliver, Jack, Harry, William and Thomas.

Compared with 2005, Oscar and Noah showed the biggest increase in popularity for those in the top 10 - rising 45 and 44 places respectively.

Daniel showed the biggest decline, having dropped 18 places since being in the top 10 a decade ago.

Four out of the top 10 girls' names in 2005 kept their place, these were Olivia, Emily, Ella and Jessica.

Isla and Ava shot up 121 and 77 places respectively from their 2005 position to make it in to the 2015 top 10.

Ellie has fallen 42 places in the rankings since being in the 2005 top 10 - the largest decrease in popularity for girls.

Oliver was the most popular boys' name for all regions of England except London and the West Midlands, which both had Muhammad as the top name.

This marks the first time Muhammad has been top in two areas, having overtaken Oliver as top name in the West Midlands from 2014.

Amelia was the most popular for all regions of England except the East Midlands and the East, where Olivia was registered as the most popular.
Oliver and Amelia were the most popular in Wales, the same as 2014.

Siobhan Freegard, founder of parenting site ChannelMum.com, said: "Parents are once again looking across the pond for Americanised monikers. Jaxon, a US-version of the traditional Jackson, is rocketing in popularity, after being made famous by Jaxon Bieber, half brother of Justin."

She added Maddison "is one of the most common US girls' names and is gaining traction here," while another trend was for "gangster chic".

She said: "Tough but cool Reggie, made famous by the Krays, was picked by Olympic ace Jessica Ennis-Hill for her son, while Carter of Get Carter fame is a name we'll be hearing much more of.

"Roman, given to celeb babies including Roman Keitel, son of Harvey, and Roman Upton, Cate Blanchett's son, sits across both crazes, being used in numerous gangster flicks and also a US favourite."

The top 10 names:

Boys
1. Oliver
2. Jack
3. Harry
4. George
5. Jacob
6. Charlie
7. Noah
8. William
9. Thomas
10. Oscar

Girls
1. Amelia
2. Olivia
3. Emily
4. Isla
5. Ava
6. Ella
7. Jessica
8. Isabella
9. Mia
10. Poppy