No newborns called Keir since Prime Minister took office - but Angela, Boris and Nigel are still in vogue
For the first time on record, no parent decided to give their boy the same name as the Labour leader last year.
The figures were released this morning by the Office for National Statistics, as part of the most popular names for newborns in England and Wales.
The results could serve as a potentially damning political litmus test of the PM's popularity among new parents.
In 2023, before the he took office, four baby Keirs were born. However, since the Labour leader's election victory, his name has fallen off the list entirely.
Meanwhile, names of some of his political rivals - and allies, alike - continue to prove popular with parents.
There were 16 babies called Boris, while Nigel continues to defy extinction by matching last year's tally of five.
After he was elected as PM, the number of babies named Boris surged from 39 in 2019 to 43 the following year.
Those called 'Rishi' also saw a slight increase after former Tory leader Mr Sunak moved into 10 Downing Street, rising from 36 in 2022 to 27 in 2023.
In a potential blow for father-of-two Sir Keir, the statistics also show the names of other Labour figures remain popular.
Parents chose Rachel 114 times, while there were 28 Angelas welcomed into the world last year.
And three Yvettes were born, while 70 babies were called Wesley and 35 newborns were named Bridget.
'Keir' originates from Ireland and derives its meaning from the Irish word 'dubh', which means 'dark' or 'black'. The name also has roots in Scotland.
According to historians, the Irish used descriptive words to name their children, with black thought to signify strength, intelligence and resilience.
Labour leader Sir Keir previously admitted he used to dislike his name, with his biography revealing that as a teenager he wondered why his parents 'couldn't have called me Dave or Pete'.
The PM's was reportedly named by his mother and father after trade unionist Keir Hardie, the Labour Party's founder and first parliamentary leader.
When Rishi Sunak moved into Downing Street, the popularity of his name saw a slight increase (the former PM is pictured as a young boy)
According to the latest date on the top baby names in England and Wales, Muhammad has now taken the top spot for the second year in a row.
More than 5,721 boys were given the specific spelling of Muhammad in 2024, a rise of 23 per cent on last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Noah came in second, with Oliver in third, just as they did in 2023.
Olivia and Amelia held the top two spots for baby girl names for the third year in a row, but Isla dropped out of the top three after being replaced by Lily.
Olivia has been in the top three for girls' names every year since 2006, with 2,761 girls given the name in 2024.
2024 marks the second time just one spelling of the Muhammad has topped the charts, although when all thirty-plus iterations are grouped together it has been the most common for over a decade, the Daily Mail's analysis suggests.
Each year the ONS analyses the latest baby name data, uncovering trends in how certain names have fallen out of favour or soared in popularity.
The biggest gainer in the top 25 list of girl's names was May, which has jumped 14 places compared to last year, with 1,592 namings in total. Bonnie saw the second largest rise - going up 10 places.
For boys, Rory rose fastest year on year, followed by Elijah.
Mohammed, a different spelling, entered the top 100 boys' names for England and Wales 100 years ago, debuting at 91st in 1924.
Its prevalence dropped considerably in the lead up to and during WW2 but began to rise in the 1960s.
That particular iteration of the name was the only one to appear in the ONS' top 100 data from 1924 until Mohammad joined in the early 1980s.
Muhammad, now the most popular of the trio, first broke into the top 100 in the mid-1980s and has seen the fastest growth of all three iterations since.
The name means 'praiseworthy' or 'commendable' and stems from the Arabic word 'hamad' meaning 'to praise' and is shared with the founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad.
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