Harry amongst most popular names in UK, courtesy royal birth

London, February 17 (ANI): Experts have observed a 12-fold increase in the number of babies named Harry in the 16 years after Prince Harry's birth.

The use of his older brother William's name was also said to have doubled in the same period after he was born, indicating the influence of royal births in choice of baby names, the Daily Express reported.

John was said to be the most popular boy's name with 2.1 million registrations, followed by William at 1.9 million, according to the study of 134 million birth certificates by family tree website Ancestry.co.uk.

Thomas came in third with 1.3 million while James, 1.2 million and George, 1.1 million wrapped up the top five.

Similarly, Elizabeth was said to have become an all-time girls' winner with nearly 1.7 million names registered, followed by Mary with 1.3 million.

The full extent of the royal effect was revealed in the online indexes of 318 million births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales between 1837 and 2005. (ANI)