Introducing DIRTY MONEY: announcement in The Bookseller
By Staff, 13th February 2024Features The first quotes are in for my new Farrow & Chang series, publishing with Baskerville in early 2025
What is in a name? Rather a lot, actually. Not least if you’re a parent expecting a new baby, and have to choose an appropriate moniker to see your child through their whole life. That’s a lot of pressure, and things only get worse once you have to balance your tastes with those of your partner – and it doesn’t end there.
Chances are, just when you think you’ve found something that is just the right balance of interesting, strong and enduring, you will divulge your choice to a beloved friend or parent who will react with mild horror. That is why you must never, ever, ask other people’s opinions. Who cares what they think? Make a choice, together with your partner (if unavoidable), bestow it on your child, and then present it to your loved ones, post-birth, as a fait a complis. To help you survey your options (and know which to avoid), here are the most popular names for girls, courtesy of Babycentre.
Olivia +3
Sophia -1
Lily +0
Emily -2
Amelia +0
Chloe +4
Isabelle +4
Sophie +1
Ella +3
Isabella -3
Ava -3
Isla -6
Mia +1
Grace +4
Jessica +1
Poppy -3
Evie -2
Emma +1
Nur +10
Freya +3
Hannah +11
Scarlett +3
Layla +33
Eva -2
Charlotte -8
Phoebe +2
Lucy -1
Alice -8
Evelyn +11
Daisy +0
Millie +15
Zoe +44
Annabelle +14
Florence -1
Ruby -14
Aria +36
Matilda +2
Maya +3
Molly -15
Abigail -13
Holly +4
Sienna -5
Ellie -9
Anna +14
Zara +18
Thea +27
Emilia +6
Erin -12
Imogen +0
Sarah +1
Maryam -16
Rosie -8
Jasmine -5
Bella -11
Elizabeth -24
Maisie +5
Ivy -5
Elsie -20
Leah +12
Darcey new!
Eliza -6
Georgia -12
Aaliyah new!
Lola -22
Amber +1
Mila -9
Ariana +19
Eleanor +9
Amelie -9
Madison -1
Esme +8
Meghan -7
Gabriella +10
Willow -15
Harriet -8
Katie -12
Martha new!
Amy +15
Lara -5
Penelope new!
Maria +0
Rose -28
Violet -15
Sara new!
Eloise new!
Summer -24
Harper -2
Lauren new!
Gracie -19
Alexis -1
Clara +7
Robyn -2
Paige new!
Iris -12
Kayla -17
Orla new!
Faith -9
Alexa new!
Skye -8
Nicole new!
More in Features
Features The first quotes are in for my new Farrow & Chang series, publishing with Baskerville in early 2025
Exclusive excerpt: THE END OF SUMMER
By Staff, 7th December 2023Features Read the prologue from my forthcoming novel - 'a bold, nuanced literary thriller dripping with secrets and deadly glamour’ - publishing in June 2024
By Staff, 6th November 2023
Features My new literary suspense THE END OF SUMMER announced in The Bookseller
From book to screen
By Charlotte Philby, 28th February 2023Features Free resources and tips for would be screenwriters, from a complete novice - and some professionals - as I navigate the process of adapting my novels for TV and film
‘A tremendous achievement’ William Boyd
By Charlotte Philby, 20th April 2022Features A Sunday Times best book of the month, here is Edith and Kim in review - and where to find signed first editions
Observer New Review Q&A
By Staff, 22nd March 2022Features An interview with Stephanie Merritt about Edith and Kim, the perils of writing about family, and why female spies often get overlooked
Researching Edith and Kim
By Staff, 17th November 2021Features From a compendium of stories about life at the Bauhaus to a Modernist memoir by the founder of the iconic Isokon, here are some of the books that inspired my forthcoming novel
Edith Tudor-Hart: The “grandmother” of the Cambridge Spies
By Staff, 31st August 2021Features For the Telegraph, I wrote about the woman who recruited my grandfather to the Soviets - the subject of my forthcoming novel Edith and Kim
John le Carré: The writer who made me want to write
By Staff, 31st August 2021Features My tribute to the late - and truly great - master of spy fiction, for the i paper
Book festivals 2021
By Staff, 19th August 2021Features From a celebration of the life of John le Carré at Cheltenham to an exploration of women and crime in Chiswick, please join me at one of the following events, across the country (and the internet!)