Miles Kington: Whitney, Britney, Tierney and, er, Chloe

'Is Jo Moore a man or a woman? Or Sigourney? Is Bjork a person at all, or a reindeer?'

Yesterday I brought you the list of the Top 10 boys' names of the year 2001, based on appearances in newspaper headlines, and pointed out that the kind of name that appears in headlines is very different from the kind of name we give our children.

Just how different is borne out when we turn to the girls. I am told that if you analyse the registration of ordinary births, you will find that the most popular name for girls over the last five years – the most popular name – is Chloe. That is what parents are calling their little girls. Poor things.

But if you turn to the headlines you will not find the name Chloe anywhere. There is, as far as I can make out, no one called Chloe who is even mildly famous. The moral would seem to be that if you want fame, you'd better get another name.

It doesn't even have to be of the right sex. Some names spread across both genders. Gerry (or Jerry) can be a boy's or girl's name. There was for a long time in the pages of The New Yorker a much respected jazz critic called Whitney Balliett. There is a young American singer called Whitney Houston. The first is male and the second is female. That's fine.

Similarly, the most famous person called Cameron in Britain is a man (Cameron Mackintosh), whereas in America the only Cameron that most people have heard of, Cameron Diaz, is very feminine indeed.

Now, if you are compiling lists of boy's and girl's names from the births lists, you simply don't find this kind of crossover. Chloe is a girl's name and that's that. But in the wonderful world of fame and headlines, you get names which could be either sex, and probably are.

Is Jo Moore a man or woman? If you were introduced to someone called Sigourney, would you expect a woman? Probably not. Winona? Perhaps. Björk? Well, with a name like Björk, you probably wouldn't expect a person at all, more likely a reindeer, which goes to show that an unlikely name makes success more likely, not less.

But enough of this, and let us go straight to the Top 10 girls' names for 2001. Ladies and gentlemen, the lights are dimmed, the curtain parts – and here are the 10 top girl's names of last year! (Previous year's position in brackets).

1. JK ................................... (2)

2. Madonna.......................... (1)

3. Iris..................................... (-)

4. Nigella............................... (4)

5. Queen Mum .................... (-)

6. Liz...................................... (-)

7. Jennifer............................. (-)

8. Nicole................................ (-)

9. Britney.............................. (-)

10. Tierney............................ (-)

A few notes are in order. It was noteworthy that the year's two great smash hits, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, were both written by people who had no first names at all, only initials, respectively JK and JRR. (It was also noteworthy that Mr Tolkien nearly managed to write his saga without introducing any female characters.)

Although "Queen Mum" is strictly a title rather than a name, we have included it in the league tables as an interesting one-off.

The popularity of such an ordinary name as Jennifer owes itself to the proliferation of people like Capriati, Aniston and Lopez, as well as to repeats of Two Fat Ladies.

The popularity of the name Liz is a double-barrelled one, based on the both Queen and on Miss Hurley, one of whom became spectacularly pregnant, and the other of whom didn't.

Finally, the girl's name Tierney may puzzle some people, but for a long while we could not read the papers without being asked if a mother should be allowed to exhibit photographs of her naked children.

Remember that? Of course – it's coming back now! Her name was Tierney Gearon, two names that nobody had ever seen before, and we probably won't see again.

See you all again next year.