When it comes to choosing names for youngsters in Chelmsford, parents have ignored way-out names and opted for traditional ones instead.

Celebrity hero worship and the outrageous names of some stars' offspring take a back seat in the town with the most popular names for girls and boys being the never-dating Isabelle and George.

Leapfrog Day Nursery in The Meads, which carried out the survey, rooted through the registers of 5,000 youngsters across its 23 branches to find the most popular children's names.

The boyish good looks of the future king have also failed to attract enough parents to call their sons William and the royal name did not even reach the nursery's top ten.

Jack and Charlotte came in as firm favourites and locally Isabelle and George clinched the top spot.

Nursery manager Rachel Coyle said: "The survey suggests that while celebrities with far-out names may fill the pages of the papers every day, modern mums and dads prefer to give their youngsters a name that is more traditional."

"When it comes to the crunch, the evidence shows parents reject outrageous ideas and opt for the names their own parents and grandparents have used for generations," she said.

Top names for boys:

1 Jack, 2 James, 3 Sam and Thomas, 5 Alex and Oliver, 7 Joshua and Matthew, 9 Cameron, Harry, George, Jacob, Joseph and Daniel.

Great names for girls:

1 Charlotte, 2 Emily, 3 Georgia, 4 Olivia, 5 Lucy and Katie, 7 Jessica, Chloe, Sophie, Megan, Holly and Rebecca.

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