It might have been the year in which the career of television star Charlie Sheen spectacularly exploded but it didn’t turn off Border parents, whether they welcomed a boy or a girl.

Charlie soared up the charts to knock over a decade-long favourite in Jack as the most popular boy’s name with 10 selections, according to The Border Mail’s birth notices. There were also two Charles.

Among the baby girls to arrive were Charli (five), Charlee, Char-leigh and Charlie.

And then there were the derivatives such as Charlotte (8), Charlette (1) and Charlize (1).

But with nine selections, Grace was the most popular girl’s name, trumping Lily and Ruby who were top-two choices in 2010 but slipped to third last year.

There were only two Graces in 2010.

Amelia and Chloe joined Charlotte in second place with eight selections.

Danny and Andi Marks of Howlong chose Charlie for one of their twins, now 3? months old, one of the only names they could agree upon.

“We just liked the name, we both liked the name,” Mr Marks said.

“It would have been difficult if they had been both boys, or even both girls.”

Charlie has a twin sister Alexa and an older brother, Ethan, 2.

“Charlie is a historical name that stands out. What we were looking at was whether, at any age, you could see him being called that ... and we could.”

Emily and Chris Clarke of Thurgoona will move to Tamworth this month with their young family that includes Grace, born in Wodonga in July.

Grace has a brother William, who celebrated his third birthday on Christmas Day.

“We just liked the name. Like William, we were looking for classic names,” Mrs Clarke said.

“It suits her. She is a very elegant little thing.”

Mrs Clarke said the birth of a daughter was a complete surprise.

“I had been convinced it was another boy,” she said.

“Grace was always one of my choices for a name, even when we had William.”

Charlie made the leap from outside the top 10 as the most popular boy’s name.

Other newcomers to the top five were Benjamin, Jake, Jacob and Noah. Lachlan, 2006’s most popular boy’s name, returned to the top five with seven selections.

Newcomers among the girls’ top names were two older names, Lucy and Millie (6); while Olivia climbed one spot and 2004 leader Georgia returned to favour.

Among 661 birth notices in The Border Mail during 2011, there were 321 boys and 340 girls.

There were 15 sets of twins.

The heaviest girl was born in July, weighing 9lb 15oz (4508 grams).

The heaviest boy was born in January, weighing 10lb 10oz (4820 grams).