REVEALED: Most popular names of last 500 years - but did YOURS make the list?
THE most popular names of the last 500 years have been revealed.
'Mary' and 'John' topped the lists of the most popular names since 1530
John and Mary have been revealed as the most popular male and female names - despite now have falling out of the Top 100 baby names.
A new study also shows how Smith, Jones and Williams have been the most common surnames for nearly 180 years.
The extensive research, by family history website Ancestry, involved studying more than 34 million UK and Irish christening and birth records from 1530 to 2005.
The figures show that after 'John' - of which there have been more than 5.8 million born since 1530 - 'William', 'Thomas', 'George' and 'James' are the next most popular first names for boys. 'Tom', 'Dick' and 'Harry' have suffered mixed fortunes. All three are among the top 25 most common names in history, but 'Richard' (Dick) has fallen out of the top 100, while 'Thomas' and 'Harry' sit proudly in the Top 10 today.
'George' ranked at number four in most popular boys names
For women, following 'Mary' - of whom more than 4.5 million have been born since 1530 - are 'Elizabeth', 'Sarah', 'Margaret' and 'Ann', with 'Jane', 'Alice', 'Ellen', 'Annie' and 'Florence' comprising the rest of the top 10.
The most popular surname of the past five centuries is 'Smith' - more than two million since 1530, followed by 'Jones', 'Williams', 'Taylor', 'Brown', 'Davies', 'Evans', 'Thomas', 'Johnson' and 'Wilson.'
Just sneaking into the Top 100 boys' names were 'Edgar' (100th), 'Cecil' (99th) and 'Abraham' (98th), while for girls it was 'Valerie' (100th), 'Amanda' (99th) and 'Eva' (98th).
Day, Gibson and Booth were the surnames in position 100, 99 and 98 respectively in the top 100 surnames of the last 500 years.
But as some names become more popular, others fall out of favour, and that is especially the case for female names with none of the historic top 10 female names appearing in the most recent top 10 compiled by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The name 'Margaret' also ranked in at number four for women
Men's names have seen much less changes, with four of the most popular 10 overall still in today's top 10 - 'Thomas', 'George', 'James' and 'William.'
The most historically popular top names for both genders - John and Mary - have fallen out of the current Top 100 most popular names altogether. The figures show Mary started to decline in the 1920s, while John didn't leave the top 10 until the 1970s.
While John and Mary may be the most popular name over the past 500 years, today they don't even make the Top 100
The analysis also highlighted a modern trend for naming boys with abbreviations for some of the more common historical names. For example, the name 'Charles' - which ranks seventh in history - has been replaced by 'Charlie', while 'Alfie' - the twelfth most popular name today - replaces the more traditional 'Alfred'.
But girls' names seem to be more cyclical in nature, with many historic names making comebacks in recent years.
The research showed the most 'yo-yo name' in terms of popularity was Emma, which was the seventh most popular name in the 1830s, but dropped out of the Top 50 around 1900. It came from nowhere in the 1970s to reach the second spot, before falling back down to 57th today.
Miriam Silverman, Ancestry's senior content manager, said: "This research shows that names will often drop in and out of favour, and while John and Mary may be the most popular name over the past 500 years, today they don't even make the Top 100.
"That said, it might not be long until they become popular once more, just like the names Florence and Alice."
This Easter weekend, Ancestry is offering free access to more than two billion records from across the globe, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The poll was conducted by family history website Ancestry
TOP 25 MALE NAMES OF THE LAST 500 YEARS:
1. John
2. William
3. Thomas
4. George
5. James
6. Robert
7. Charles
8. Henry
9. Joseph
10. David
11. Richard
12. Frederick
13. Arthur
14. Edward
15. Albert
16. Alfred
17. Michael
18. Peter
19. Walter
20. Ernest
21. Samuel
22. Harry
23. Stephen
24. Frank
25. Paul
Paul Daniels Obituary
TOP 25 FEMALE NAMES OF THE LAST 500 YEARS:
1. Mary
2. Elizabeth
3. Sarah
4. Margaret
5. Ann
6. Jane
7. Alice
8. Ellen
9. Annie
10. Florence
11. Emma
12. Edith
13. Emily
14. Eliza
15. Hannah
16. Susan
17. Martha
18. Dorothy
19. Catherine
20. Ethel
21. Ada
22. Anne
23. Frances
24. Elsie
25. Harriet
Harriet Harman - The Facts
TOP 25 SURNAMES SINCE 1530:
1. Smith
2. Jones
3. Williams
4. Taylor
5. Brown
6. Davies
7. Evans
8. Thomas
9. Johnson
10. Wilson
11. Roberts
12. Robinson
13. Wright
14. Thompson
15. White
16. Hall
17. Walker
18. Green
19. Edwards
20. Wood
21. Hughes
22. Jackson
23. Turner
24. Lewis
25. Harris
Source: Ancestry