The youngster – just shy of a year old – shares his name with many other Ballarat babies.

Dad Simon and mum Lee Gull said their little boy was always going to be a Jack.

Mr Quinlan’s Dad’s name is Jack, as is his grandfather’s. The name is a family tradition.

While Jack was popular for boys, Olivia was the most popular name for girls. 

2015 was a big year for births with Ballarat Base Hospital recording 1300 births in the 12 months to date.

The hospital also delivered 15 sets of twins.

The busiest  months were in January and March, with each saw more than 135 babies born.

Ms Gull said Jack was a classic name that no one could spell incorrectly. So far Jack had developed a lovely personality.

“He’s a really good little boy and very placid,” Ms Gull said. 

Fleur Morrison and Ben Wearne named their little girl Olivia. Ms Morrison was drawn to the classic name because of its pretty sound. She also liked the shortened versions.

“You can shorten it to Liv or Livvy – which is what call our daughter,” Ms Morrison said.

Livvy – who will celebrate her first birthday in January is a happy girl who laughs and smiles a lot, Ms Morrison said.

She is the baby sister to Sam, 4, and Madeleine, 2. 

Ballarat’s Ruth Matthews has been recording the number of birth notices in The Courier for 50 years and decided to call it a day.

The advent of Facebook has seen a sharp decline in the number of birth notices in the newspaper, but Mrs Matthews has enjoyed her five decade long past-time.

The most popular name over the 50 year period was Andrew for  boys – which peaked in 1969, Mrs Matthews said.

In the late 1980’s-90’s Jessica was popular for girls. Some of this year’s most unusual names were Otis, Reeve, Knox and Rusty.

“There weren’t as many unusual names as in previous years,” Mrs Matthews said.

Jack was Ballarat’s most popular boys name in 2014, while Ruby was last year’s pick for girls. 

This year, Ruby came in second alongside Sophie and Zoe. Meanwhile Jackson and Thomas were also popular for boys.