2004 saw the British public opt for conservative baby names while celebrities came up with barmy new names for their little ones.

Every year the Office for National Statistics releases a list of the most popular girls and boys baby names for England and Wales. And what a conservative bunch we are! This year, for the second year running Emily took the top spot for girls while when it comes to naming boys Jack has now been the No.1 name in England for 10 years.

While the general public’s choice of children’s names may be relatively sedate, celebrities are always happy to reinforce our belief that they’re all as mad as snakes, lumbering their offspring with a host of off-the-wall names. This year our personal favourites included Julia Roberts who burdened one of her twins with the moniker Phinnaeus, Gwyneth whose first baby was clearly the Apple of her eye, and former All Saints Natalie Appleton whose first child with Prodigy’s Liam Howlett now rejoices in the glorious name of Ace.

Tallulah, Tallulah and Blossom
Elsewhere in celebrityland Tallulah was a popular choice, being picked by both former Coronation Street actress Angela Griffin and Eastender’s Jessie Wallace for their baby girls. In fact 2004 was a bumper year for the Eastenders girls with two other actresses from the soap joining Jessie in the new mums’ club – Kacey Ainsworth had little Blossom and Charlie Brooks celebrated the birth of her daughter Kiki.

2004 was the year in which we finally said goodbye to Friends on our TV. But happily two of the cast members said hello to their first children this year. Courteney Cox, having had a series of miscarriages finally had a much-wanted little girl called Coco Riley and Courteney’s co-star Matt LeBlanc also had a little girl named Marina Pearl.

The Hollywood Effect
Back in Britain Hollywood had a notable influence on the general naming of babies in the UK this year – the government's statistics showed a rise in popularity of Keira (and Kiera) after Keira Knightley while actress Scarlett Johansson’s success in the Oscars pushed her name up to 72, 53 places ahead of last year’s position. Tinseltown also had an affect on boys’ names with Demi Moore’s squire Ashton Kutcher bringing Ashton into the top 100 for the first time.

The list for the top 10 boys and girls names in 2004 are as follows:

2004 Celebrity Births:

Julia Roberts twins Phinnaeus and Hazel
Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo – Eastenders) – daughter Blossom
Charlie Brooks (Janine – Eastenders) – daughter Kiki
Jessie Wallace – daughter Tallulah Lilac
Marielle Frostrup – daughter Molly Mae
Jade Goody & Jeff Brazier – son Freddie
Melanie Sykes - son Valentino Luca
Jamie Redknapp & Louise Nurding - son Charlie
Des O’Connor – son Adam Harrison Campbell
Vernon Kay & Tess Daly - daughter Phoebe Elizabeth
Caroline Corr - daughter Georgina
Hermione Norris – son Wilf
Courteney Cox & David Arquette - daughter Coco Riley
Sara Cox - daughter Lola Anne
Angela Griffin - daughter Tallulah Jae
Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin - daughter Apple Blythe Alison
Sophie Raworth - daughter Ella Rose
Ulrika Jonsson & Lance Gerrard-Wright - daughter Martha Sky Hope
Rupert Penry-Jones & Dervla Kirwan - daughter Florence
Cate Blanchett - son Roman Robert
Natalie Appleton & Liam Howlett - son Ace
Charlie Sheen & Denise Richards - daughter Sam J.
Antony Costa - daughter Emilie
Tony Adams - son Atticus William MacNaughton
Darcey Bussell - daughter Zoe Sophia
Helen Fielding - son Dashiell Michael
John Hannah - twin son Gabriel and daughter Astrid
Kate Hudson & Chris Robinson - son Ryder Russell
Peter Kay - son Charlie Michael
Kevin Kennedy - daughter Katie May
Matt LeBlanc - daughter Marina Pearl
Kate Hudson & Chris Robinson - son Ryder Russell
Phil Collins - son Mathew Thomas Clarence,
Tim Henman - daughter Olivia

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