Four decades on and the name Evie was the most popular choice among Border parents who selected it six times for their baby daughters in The Border Mail’s 331 birth notices for 2014.

The name Evie has Hebrew origins, meaning life, living or lively.

Evie had tied in third place with eight other girls’ names in 2013, but this past year it took the number one spot from Grace, which was relegated to second place with four mentions.

Last year Jack regained its title as the Border’s most popular boy’s name but in 2014 it had to share first place honours with James, an old name but a newcomer to the top three.

James is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Jacob and its meaning is supplanter, or one who follows.

Making a concerted run for popularity among the boys was Archie, second-placed with five mentions in 2014, after only one selection in 2013.

Rounding out the top three were Harry, Nate and Oscar, each with four mentions.

Nine names — Eliza, Hannah, Imogen, Ivy, Lucy, Maeve, Matilda, Mia and Zoe — tied in third for the girls, with three mentions each.

Amanda and Daniel Giddings of Wodonga named their fourth child Evie after she arrived almost six weeks early on September 2.

“We were not expecting her so early. We had a boy’s name, Jake, picked out and Evie was on our shortlist,” Mrs Giddings said.

“It was a popular name in the nursery, all the nurses liked it and she spent her first three weeks there.”

Mrs Giddings said older brothers Connor, 10, and Tex, 5, and sister Harper, 2, all doted on their little sister.

“She has just fitted in perfectly, they just adore her.”

James Sheil of East Albury is likely to always be known as “Jimmy”, at least to his dad Shane.

“Shane really wanted to call a son Jimmy, even before we had our daughter Lia six years ago,” said mum, Tegan Sheil.

“He may never be called James but I wanted him to have that option.”

James celebrated his first birthday on December 23. 

He was also an early arrival, originally due on January 17 this year.

Among the more unusual names for the girls in this year’s birth notices were Alanta, Brinley, Esperanza, Nova and Nyia; while for the boys Arlo, Makoto, Prosper and Rush each rated a selection.

There were 14 sets of twins this year — 10 more than 2013 — with four pairs of girls, four pairs of boys and six sets of one each.

The heaviest boy was 4.87 kilograms, while the heaviest girl was 4.79  kilograms.

GIRLS

6 - Evie

4 - Grace

3 - Eliza, Hannah, Imogen, Ivy, Lucy, Maeve, Matilda, Mia, Zoe

2 - Amelia, Annabel, Ava, Charlotte, Daisy, Elsie, Erin, Mackenzie, Olive, Scarlett, Sienna

1 - Adelin, Adeline, Adelle, Ainsley, Airley, Alanta, Alice, Alyra, Alyssa, Amy, Anthea, April, Asha, Betty, Bonnie, Brinley, Chloe, Claire, Clara, Cleo, Danika, Della, Eden, Edie, Ella, Elie, Elizabeth, Eloise, Esperanza, Estelle, Ethel, Evelyn, Gemma, Georgie, Gracie, Greta, Hetti, Holly, Indi, Indie, Indiana, Isabel, Isla, Isobel, Jane, Jasmine, Kate, Kaitlyn, Katelyn, Katya, Kayla, Kobi, Kylah, Lara, Lavinia, Lexi, Lila, Lilah, Lily, Lilly, Lola, Luca, Lucinda, Lulu, Lyla, Macey, Maisy, Makensie, Matia, Mila, Millie, Molly, Nahla, Niamh, Nova, Nyia, Olivia, Peyton, Piper, Pippa, Poppi, Pyper, Quinn, Rania, Sarah, Savannah, Skye, Sophie, Stevie, Tessa, Tianna, Tierre, Vayda, Vienna, Violet, Willow, Zali, Zaria

BOYS

6 - Jack, James

5 - Archie

4 - Harry, Nate, Oscar

3 - Charlie, George, Lachlan, Liam, Noah, Patrick, Ryan, William

2 - Alexander, Angus, Archer, Axel, Benjamin, Billy, Darby, Darcy, Dylan, Edward, Elijah, Flynn, Hamish, Henry, Hudson, Hunter, Jacob, John, Louie, Lucas, Xavier

1 - Adam, Aiden, Alex, Alfie, Arlo, Arthur, Austin, Bailey, Beau, Bennett, Blair, Caellum, Cahill, Caiden, Cameron, Cash, Carter, Charles, Chayce, Clay, Cody, Cohen, Curtis, Devlin, Drew, Evan, Finlay, Finn, Francis, Frederick, Hugo, Isaac, Jake, Jase, Jaxon, Jedd, Jesse, Jobe, Joel, Josiah, Judd, Kane, Kyle, Lenny, Leon, Lewis, Levi, Lincoln, Logan, Louis, Lukas, Luke, Makoto, Mason, Matthew, Michael, Mitchell, Murphy, Nash, Nathan, Nicholas, Oliver, Parker, Peter, Prosper, Rocky, Ruben, Rush, Russell, Rylan, Samuel, Seth, Sonny, Spencer, Stefan, Taidhg, Tate, Taylor, Ted, Thomas, Travis, Tyler, Walt, Zander, Zaviar, Zavier