If your first name is David or Jill and you're a chief executive, then the chances are you will be in good company, according to a poll of names gleaned from the latest edition of the Municipal Year Book.

The MYB team analysed the names of chief executives listed in the MYB 2007 and found that David is by far the most popular male name, followed by John, Stephen and Michael. Also in the top 10 are Mark, Peter, Ian, Paul, Robert, Philip, Andrew, Alan, Chris, Richard, Timothy and Tom. Most popular female name is Jill/Gillian, followed by Caroline, Christine and Anne. There are 88 female and 375 male chief executives in local government.