Poppy and Daisy both feature in the city's top 10 – perhaps influenced by the visit to Rotherham by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has daughters with the same names.

Ruby is even more popular, at number three. The name was chosen by singer Charlotte Church for her daughter last summer.

But Ruby trails behind the most popular name for little girls in Sheffield – Grace – and Isobel at number two.

Oliver is the city's number one name for boys, from the names of 7,000-plus babies officially registered at the Town Hall last year – beating its national number two status.

Jack is still the nation's most popular boys' name, as it has been for the last 14 years, and finishes second in Sheffield.

Olivia comes top nationally but only makes number five in Steel City, while Sheffield also reflects the country's tastes in naming girls Lily, Sophie and Jessica.

But Sheffield does have some favourites all of its own – Isobel is second favourite but fails to make the national top 10, while Ellie, Poppy and Daisy are also specific to South Yorkshire.

But giving your baby a popular name can have its drawbacks.

Michelle Hewgill, a full-time mum, from Intake, Sheffield, said: "Me and my husband Martin called our daughter Poppy because she was born at the beginning of July, and we were driving past a poppy field and thought it would be a unique name.

"But two years later Jamie Oliver called his little girl it too, so now half the kids have that name! It doesn't surprise me that Poppy is in the top 10, but I wish it wasn't!"

The couple got around the problem with their second child – a boy called Elijah. "We chose it because we like quirky names," said Michelle.

The top six boys' names in Sheffield are all in the national top 10 ut Sheffielders don't seem to rate the names Charlie, Alfie, Daniel or James – preferring instead George, Samuel and Joseph. One interesting new favourite in Sheffield is Lewis – inspired perhaps by the new Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

Mums over the age of 40 nationally are most likely to choose traditional names such as William, Thomas, Joshua and Harry.

Younger mums, by contrast, are the most prone to take their cue from the names of celebrity babies, choosing boys' names such as Jayden, Tyler, Ryan and Dylan.

Theo, inspired by England's teenage football hero Theo Walcott, rose 12 places to take the number 58 spot for boys. But there's no sign of parents adopting one of the most high-profile names of the year – Barack. At least, not yet.







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