Nursery rhymes are often what drives parents crazy and makes children really happy. Often upbeat and very simple to memorize and repeat, with lovely harmonies, nursery rhymes are sung all over the world. In the English speaking part of the world, nursery rhymes are really popular, and some of them you might recognize at hearing the first part of their lyrics, not to mention the melodies.

Here are the most famous English nursery rhymes.

Bingo (was his name-O)

Bingo is a dog, at least according to the nursery rhyme. It is a Scottish nursery rhyme whose origin cannot really be traced but it is assumed to be old. The rhyme goes like this: there was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and so on, and so forth. The funny thing is that today, most likely, some parents probably sang this song to their children while looking at a welcome offer on some of the online casinos which offer bingo games. With the word bingo being mentioned so many times, one is likely to start playing it.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. This rhyme was adapted from a poem by Jane Taylor, which was written in the 19th century. There were plenty of adaptations of this poem, including one by Mozart. It is a rather popular and gentle rhyme, usually used to put children to sleep.

Lavender’s Blue

Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly, lavender’s green, dilly dilly, when I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen. This is a very popular rhyme which originated in the 17th century. There were so many adaptations of this song throughout the years, one of the more famous ones coming from Marillion, a British progressive rock band, from an appropriately named album, Misplaced Childhood.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider came up the waterspout, down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again. This is one of the really popular rhymes which hails from the 20th century actually, the year 1910. It was changed and adapted to its current lyrics from the blooming, bloody spider, to be a bit more children friendly.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he had a cow E-I-E-I-O. This one is almost always associated with the United States and rightfully so, because it originated from World War I songs, later to be adapted into something that children could easily relate to. It is also educational, as most of these rhymes are, though what they teach is often a very different thing.

Nursery rhymes are great, and these are some of the most popular English ones. Among others, you could still mention Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack and Jill, This Little Piggy, at least the English ones. There are plenty of amazing rhymes in other languages, too.