IT'S all change in the Scottish Borders name game during 2019 with last year's top choices dropping completely out of the top ten.

In 2018 the most popular boys' name in the Borders was Thomas, selected 13 times by new mums and dads, and Thea was the the top pick for girls.

But neither name features in the 2019 chart, which was published this week.

For girls it's a six-way tie for the most popular name in the Borders - Amelia, Ava, Ella, Lucy, Olivia and Willow - all being selected seven times during the year.

And there's also a tie at the top of the boys' chart.

Finn, James, Lewis and Noah were all chosen eight times by parents.

Making up the Borders boys' top ten are Alfie, Jack, Oliver and William, who are tied for fifth with seven selections each.

And, being chosen six times, tied in ninth are Charlie, Hamish, Harris, Leo, Oscar, Rory and Theo.

The girls' chart for the Borders is completed by Ellie, Freya, Grace and Isla who are tied for seventh place with six selections each.

Across Scotland Jack and Olivia remained the most popular first forenames for babies registered in 2019.

Jack has been the most popular boys’ name for 12 years running, while Olivia has been the top girls’ name for a fourth consecutive year.

Oliver remained the second most popular names for boys in Scotland.

James stayed in third place, Charlie climbed seven places to fourth, Harris rose three places to fifth, Noah was up three places at sixth, Lewis was down one place at seventh, Leo dropped three places to eighth, Rory rose one place to ninth and Alfie was up six places at tenth.

Emily was again the second most popular name for girls. Isla and Sophie remained third and fourth, respectively, Ella rose one place to fifth, Amelia (down one place) and Ava (up one place) were joint sixth, Grace remained eighth, Freya climbed four places to ninth and Charlotte was up one place at tenth.

National Records of Scotland registered the births of 23,955 boys and 22,568 girls.

Parents chose 3,370 different first forenames for boys and 4,095 different first forenames for girls.

Alan Ferrier, head of demographic statistics at National Records of Scotland said: "Once again Jack and Olivia are the most popular first names in Scotland, however, there have been some fascinating changes in the top names for 2019.

“The fastest climbers in the boys’ top 50 are Tommy and Arthur. Tommy is up 41 places to 48th and Arthur is up 20 places to 26th. For the girls, the big climbers are Gracie, Ayla and Hallie, who are now all in the top 50.

“Jackson had the biggest fall in popularity for the boys names in the top 100, dropping 20 places to 79th, and for the girls it was Cara, down 31 places to joint 96th.”