BABIES born in the Craven area during 2005 were most likely to be named William, Mollie, Oliver or Emma.

The two boys' names, meaning "protector" and "peace" respectively, tied for first place in the Craven Herald birth announcements.

The names were chosen by five sets of parents apiece.

And in the girls' popularity stakes, Mollie, meaning "mild strength" clinched the lead from Emma.

Nationally, Jack turned out to be the most popular boy's name for the eleventh year running, but only three parents announced the birth of a Jack in the Craven Herald.

And while Jessica knocked Emily off the top spot as the nation's favourite girl's name, only one set of Craven parents opted for it.

Unusual names appeared to be given to many more girls than boys, with Wade, Bryony, Zara, Sasha, Karley, Lili, Scarlett, Siouxsie, Poppy, Svetlana, Masie Precious and Ruby Stella all featuring in the announcements section.

Female names were most likely to begin with "e" as Ella, Erin, Eve, Ellie, Evie and Emily proved to be very popular.

There also appeared to be much more consistency in girls' middle names than first names, with both Mae or May and Rose or Rosa each appearing six times.

Biblical names taken from the First Testament certainly seemed to be in vogue, with three boys named Issac, three Benjamins, three Joshuas and two Jacobs.

Celtic influences were also apparent in names like Hamish, meaning "he who removes", Connor, meaning "much wanted or strong", and Rhys.

The more unusual boys names included Donnabhan, Gallagher, Ryley and Aram.

Names inspired by the world of celebrities were rare, although a Freddie, born in the earlier half of the year, could well have been a sly nod to a certain England cricketer.

Upon closer inspection, the true meanings of some of last year's names can be quite odd - Mary means bitter in Hebrew, Emma means universal and Bryony translates as "vine with small blossoms".

The past 12 months also witnessed some toe-curlingly bad celebrity baby names.

Famously, Cruz Beckham joined brothers Brooklyn and Romeo, but actor Jason Lee surely took the biscuit when he named his son Pilot Inspektor Reisgraf Lee.

Odd names among the rich and famous are nothing new though - back in the 1970s, Frank Zappa gave his kids the unenviable titles of Dweezil and Moon Unit.

In all, 146 births were announced in the Craven Herald in 2005 - one more than the previous year.

And the area appears to have gone against the national trend for a higher proportion of girls with six more male births than female.

The national birth statistics for 2005, which have yet to be released, are expected to show a slight rise in the birthrate, reversing the decline in recent years.