Keeping up with baby names

Hayden and Tameka Nicholson named their youngest daughter Ruby, while older sisters Sophie and Ella also have popular names.

Mike Knott

CLASSIC names are making a comeback in Queensland and Bundaberg appears to be up with the trend.

Sophie was the most popular for girls in the state in 2011, with 378 babies given the name, followed by Ruby with 374 and then Chloe with 371.

Cooper took the crown for the boys, with 453, followed by 450 Williams and 419 Jacks.

But for Bundaberg parents, picking names had nothing to do with popularity.

Sharon mum Jane Chivers named her first child Ruby, who was born in June last year, with no idea her daughter would be likely to end up in the same school class as another Ruby.

"We just wanted a name that you didn't have to work out how to try and say," she said.

Mrs Chivers said it was the short and simple nature of the name that attracted her and husband Roy to it.

"It was one of those classic older names," she said.

"We didn't pick it because it was popular and didn't realise it was, until a while after Ruby was born."

The young mum said Ruby had an almost last-minute name change.

"It was going to be Taylor until about six weeks beforehand when we decided on Ruby," she said.

And the change had paid off.

"It really suits her now," she said.

Avenell Heights mother-of-three Tameka Nicholson was also attracted to the simple beauty of Ruby.

"Being a Tameka, I didn't want to choose something you would always have to spell out," she said.

"Ruby was also going to be her birthstone since she was born in July."

Mrs Nicholson has a habit of picking popular names, with her other daughters named Sophie and Ella.

"They were just names that we liked," she said.

The mother said her eldest, Ella, has already run into the curse of having a popular name.

"There are a couple of other Ellas in her day care class," she said.

"She thinks her name is Ella N and writes that on everything, which is probably not a bad thing."

Girls' names

1. Sophie (378)
2. Ruby (374)
3. Chloe (371)
4. Isabella (352)
5. Mia (344)
6. Emily (343)
7. Charlotte (336)
8. Sienna (327)
9. Ava (323)
10. Olivia (317)

Boys' names

1. Cooper (453)
2. William (450)
3. Jack (419)
4. Ethan (413)
5. Lachlan (375)
6. Oliver (374)
7. Noah (351)
8. Riley (309)
9. Thomas (304)
10. Samuel (292)