Baby names in Western Sydney - Tips For Caring Your Baby And Young Child

This post first appeared in the Mt Druitt-St Marys Standard and has been reproduced here with permission. By Jillian McKee.

Mount Druitt and St Marys are going against the grain when it comes to naming their children, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

The ABS data shows traditional names such as William, Oliver, and Charlotte were the most popular in the state for babies born in 2015.

However in Plumpton you are more likely to see a Harleen, Lyla or Ayaan and in Rooty Hill Zion and Peyton were common for newborns.

Mt Druitt also shied away from traditionally popular names with more baby girls called Destiny than Jessica and more baby boys called Kyran than Matthew.

A sample of some of the unique names for babies in western Sydney this year

The students at Shalvey Public School were also bucking the trend, with students Moroni, Shire and Emeren leading the way.

Maurangi Thocolich — mum to Moroni, 11, Hunter, 10, and Shire, 8, — said the children’s names came from a variety of places.

“Moroni and Hunter are both named after prophets, taken from ancient Aztec tradition and are both religious names,” Mrs Thocolich said.

“Shire’s name I came up with as I am a big Lord of the Rings fan and got it from the area where the hobbits live.”

“With Shire and Moroni we usually have to correct people two or three times, but the kids love their names and they are happy they are different.”

“I have two other children, Irelove which is a Jamaican name and Whitireia, which is a Maori name — people often can’t pronounce their names so they get called by nicknames,” she said.

The students at Shalvey Public School celebrate their unique names

The favourite name for 2015 by postcode

2759 (St Clair)

Total — 163 boys, 155 girls

Boys