Most popular baby names revealed 英國最受歡迎的嬰兒名字揭曉

英國國傢統計局（Office for National Statistics）公佈瞭2018年最受歡迎的嬰兒名字。他們發現，一部名為《浴血黑幫》（Peaky Blinders）的電視劇激發瞭一些人給孩子起名字的靈感。

文字稿

Aida and Arthur might be gaining popularity, but they haven’t managed to knock Olivia and Oliver off the top spot yet – with 4,598 girls called Olivia and 5,390 boys named Oliver born in England and Wales last year.

盡管阿依達（Aida）和亞瑟（Arthur）可能越來越受歡迎，但它們還沒能把奧利維亞（Olivia）和奧利弗（Oliver）擠下榜首。去年，有 4598個被取名為奧利維亞的女孩和5390個被取名為奧利弗的男孩在英格蘭和威爾士出生。

Coming in second for the girls was Amelia, and George for the boys. Unsurprisingly, the name Alexa halved in a year, possibly due to potential confusion with Amazon’s smart speaker.

排名第二的女孩名是阿米莉亞（Amelia），男孩名是喬治（George）。不出所料，女孩名亞莉克莎（Alexa）的使用量在一年內減半，這可能是因為它與亞馬遜智能音箱的語音助手同名，從而可能會發生混淆。

Meanwhile, in Scotland, Olivia grabbed the top spot again for the girls, with Jack for the boys. And it was a tie between Noah and James in Northern Ireland along with Grace for a girl.

與此同時，在蘇格蘭，奧利維亞（Olivia）再次奪得女孩名排行榜冠軍，傑克（Jack）排男孩名首位。男孩名諾亞（Noah）和詹姆斯（James）在北愛爾蘭打成平手，格蕾絲（Grace）是北愛爾蘭最受歡迎的女孩名。

詞匯

popularity 流行
knock (someone) off the top spot 擠下榜首位置
unsurprisingly 不出所料，在預料之中
smart speaker 智能音箱
grabbed 得到，奪取到
top spot 榜首
a tie （比賽）打成平局，不分勝負

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。

1. What was the most popular name for a boy last year in Scotland?

2. Why has the name Alexa become less popular?

3. True or false? Arthur has become the most popular boy’s name in England and Wales.

4. Is this the first time Olivia has been the most popular name for girls in Scotland?

答案

1. What was the most popular name for a boy last year in Scotland?
Jack ‘grabbed the top spot for boys’ names in Scotland (ie: It was the most popular.)

2. Why has the name Alexa become less popular?
The name Alexa halved in a year, possibly due to potential confusion with Amazon’s smart speaker.

3. True or false? Arthur has become the most popular boy’s name in England and Wales.
False. The name Arthur has gained in popularity but Oliver is still the most popular boys name in England and Wales.

4. Is this the first time Olivia has been the most popular name for girls in Scotland?
No. Olivia grabbed the top spot again for the girls’ names in Scotland.