With news of the royal baby’s arrival and a flurry of interest in the name of Prince Harry and Meghan’s first child, our data reveals the most popular names for budding entrepreneurs.
Here we break down the top names for entrepreneuers, as well as looking into the data by region and trade. See if Archie features anywhere on our list...
David and Sarah take the lead
Analysis of over 43,000 small business owners from across the UK from the past year reveals David is the most popular name for entrepreneurs (14,418), closely followed by Paul (11,934) and Andrew (9,874). For women, Sarah tops the list (4,107), followed by Susan (2,699) and Emma (2,627).
Born into the Royal Family, the world really is Archie’s oyster. For those not in line to the throne, however, the data in the table below shows that your first name may reveal how likely you are to go on to carve your own path by starting your own business.
Top 15 male and female entrepreneur names
| Ranking | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David (14,418) | Sarah (4,107) |
| 2 | Paul (11,934) | Susan (2,699) |
| 3 | Andrew (9,874) | Emma (2,627) |
| 4 | John (9,586) | Karen (2,451) |
| 5 | Mark (9,464) | Helen (2,444) |
| 6 | Michael (9,015) | Julie (2,421) |
| 7 | James (8,623) | Claire (2,273) |
| 8 | Richard (7,035) | Lisa (2,124) |
| 9 | Stephen (7,014) | Nicola (2,118) |
| 10 | Robert (6,731) | Rebecca (1,968) |
| 11 | Daniel (6,112) | Laura (1,962) |
| 12 | Peter (5,864) | Elizabeth (1,825) |
| 13 | Christopher (5,079) | Jane (1,801) |
| 14 | Ian (5,044) | Joanne (1,795) |
| 15 | Matthew (4,992) | Louise (1,786) |
Top entrepreneur names by region
Female
While Sarah may be the overall winner, there are some noteworthy variations among some of the major cities of the UK. Sarah’s still the top female entrepreneur name in Birmingham (16), Bristol (20), Leicester (16), London (71) and Sheffield (17), but here are the top names in some of the other major cities:
- Glasgow – Jennifer (16)
- Leeds – Julie (23)
- Liverpool – Jennifer (16)
- Manchester – Nicola (18)
- Nottingham – Emma (19)
Male
In London (289), Manchester (60), Nottingham (43) and Sheffield (49), David tops the list of male entrepreneur names, but again there are a few differences to note among some of the other UK cities, including:
- Birmingham – Mohammed (49)
- Bristol – James (58)
- Glasgow – John (54)
- Leeds – Andrew (33)
- Leicester – Paul (28)
- Liverpool – Michael (58)
Top entrepreneur names by trade
Below you can see the top five professions for Sarahs and Davids, but which names take positions two and three?
Female
| Trade | #1 name | #2 name | #3 name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellbeing | Sarah (524) | Emma (453) | Laura (389) |
| Professional trades | Sarah (492) | Helen (318) | Emma (276) |
| Domestic / Personal Services | Sarah (361) | Julie (294) | Emma (286) |
| Retail | Sarah (353) | Susan (229) | Emma (226) |
| Hospitality | Sarah (315) | Emma (242) | Karen (175) |
Male
| Trade | #1 name | #2 name | #3 name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Software Developer | David (79) | James (60) | Paul (55) |
| Business and Management Consultant | David (333) | Paul (229) | John (219) |
| IT Contractor | David (286) | Andrew (250) | Paul (243) |
| Project Manager | David (101) | Paul (98) | John (62) |
| Accountant | David (84) | Paul (52) | John (52) |
Prince Harry and Meghan may not have chosen to call their son one of the leading entrepreneur names according to Simply Business data, but the odds are in favour of him doing just fine in life regardless.
Data taken from 43,080 Simply Business policy holders with active policies within the last year. No other personal data other than first names were extracted. Data extracted on Wednesday 1 May 2019.
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