Birth notices for 714 babies were published in the Otago Daily Times during the past year.
The most popular first name for girls was Charlotte (11), followed by Isla (9), Emily (9), Eva (8), Ruby (8) and Sophie (8).
Charlotte Garchow was born on September 22. Her name was chosen simply because both parents liked it.
''We didn't actually think it was that common, as we don't know many people with daughters named Charlotte. It was a bit of a mission finding something we both liked and we just liked Charlotte,'' Ms Lilley said.
Their daughter's middle name was Lilley and she was the younger sister of Isaac (3).
Of all birth notices published in the ODT in the past year, 375 were for boys and 339 for girls.
There were 11 babies named Charlie or Charli, two of which were girls, and various spellings of Isabelle and Isabella were given to seven girls.
The most popular boy's first name was Jack (11), followed by Jake and Charlie (both 9), Lachlan (7) and Cooper (7).
The names Alexander, Luka/Luca, Daniel, Oliver, George, Samuel, William, Thomas, Emma, Lucy, Mila and Paige were each given to six babies.
Of the 714 notices, 228 were for babies who did not share their first name with any others in the notices.
Some of the more traditional names given to only one baby were Adam, Amy, Andrew, Anna, Ben, Catherine, Charles, David, Eve, Harvey, Jonathan, Kate, Meg, Michael Robert and Stephen.
More unusual names included Abrielle, Aisha, Ameerah, Augustus, Bentley, Brando, Braya, Caja, Cayden, Effie, Elvira, Graciana, Jett, Kensi, Koa, Marni, Mazdyn, Meeka, Moss, Paget, Pryde, Rain, Rana, Riker, Skyela, Teniva, Willa and Willis.
Names starting with the letter M were the most popular overall (67), followed by those starting with the letters A (64), C (63) and J (60).
More than 50 first names also started with each of the letters E and L. No first names started with U or Y, and just two started with the letter X (Xander).
Five names began with each of the letters V and Z, and four names started with the letter Q.
Just 4% of all first names (29) started with the same letter as the corresponding surnames.
Such alliteration included Amy Andrews, Baxter Blair, Brando Bell, Cruise Cathcart, Deklin Dunbar, Fergus Finch, George Goodsir, Harriet Halligan, Jacob Johnson, Maisy McBride, Marion McMullin, Meeka Mills, Meelah Maddox, Sasha Sloper, Scarlett Scoullar, Stanley Smith and Teniva Tautua.
In 2011 the most popular girl's name in ODT birth notices was Sophia or Sophie (16), followed by Charlotte (13) and Ruby (12).
There were 15 boys named Liam, 12 named Thomas, 12 named Samuel and nine named William.
The most popular names in 2010's ODT birth notices were Liam (17), James (16), Sophie (15) and Charlotte (11).
Most popular
Otago's top baby names for 2012
Girls: Charlotte (11), Isla (9), Emily (9), Eva (8), Ruby (8), Sophie (8), Isabelle/Isabella (7), Emma (6), Lucy (6), Mila (6), Paige (6).
Boys: Jack (11), Jake (9), Charlie (9), Lachlan (7), Cooper (7), Alexander (6), Luka/Luca (6), Daniel (6), Oliver (6), George (6), Samuel (6), William (6), Thomas (6).
