UK Baby Name Statistics: The 2025 Figures for All Four Nations

This page gathers the headline UK baby name statistics in one place, for anyone who needs to quote a figure accurately: journalists, bloggers, researchers, and parents checking a claim. There is no single UK list. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) covers England and Wales, National Records of Scotland (NRS) covers Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) covers Northern Ireland. All three have published their 2025 figures, and every number below names its nation, year and source.

Baby name statistics at a glance, 2025

The counts of different names are built differently in each nation, so they are not like-for-like; see About this data below.

The most popular names in each UK nation, 2025

Noah was the top boys' name in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2025, and second in England. Olivia led England and Wales but was third in Scotland (251 babies) and in Northern Ireland (101). Freya reached number one in Scotland for the first time, having been third in 2022, 2023 and 2024 (NRS). Grace also led Northern Ireland in 2024 and from 2018 to 2022 (NISRA).

ShePrep does not add the three releases into a UK ranking, because they count on different bases, explained below. The full national lists are on our pages for the most popular baby names in Scotland and the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland.

England and Wales: the headline numbers (ONS, 2025)

The ONS released its 2025 figures on 9 July 2026. Olivia (2,386 babies) and Muhammad (5,957) kept the top places they held in 2024, followed by Lily (2,249) and Amelia (2,153) for girls and Noah (4,075) and Leo (3,278) for boys. The full rankings are on our pages for the top 50 girls' names in England and Wales and the top 50 boys' names in England and Wales.

How concentrated the choices are

About one boy in 50 born in England and Wales in 2025 was registered as Muhammad, against about one girl in 119 registered as Olivia. The top 100 covers about two boys in five but one girl in three. Muhammad finished 1,882 babies ahead of Noah; Olivia only 137 ahead of Lily.

New entries to the top 100

Seven girls' names entered the ONS top 100 for 2025 (Eliana, Gracie, Anaya, Alba, Marnie, Lilah and Frankie) and four boys' names (Vincent, Carter, Stanley and Ruben).

Spelling splits the counts

The ONS counts every spelling separately. Muhammad's 5,957 excludes Mohammed (1,712), Mohammad (895), Muhammed (385) and Mohamed (240); the five spellings total 9,189. Sophia (1,547) and Sofia (1,490) rank 13th and 17th apart, but together reach 3,037, more than Olivia. Our guide to how spelling variants change the rankings works through the largest splits.

How 2025 compares with 1996

The ONS publishes counts for every year since 1996, which shows how far naming in England and Wales has spread out.

Olivia's 2,386 is the lowest count for a number one girls' name in the ONS series, and fewer than the 2,456 Olivias of 1996, when the name ranked 24th. It has still been number one every year since 2016. Muhammad has led the boys since 2023. Jack, number one from 1996 to 2008, was given to 1,595 boys in 2025 and ranked 24th.

How many babies were given the names people search for

These are the ONS counts for England and Wales for names people often ask about, set against 1996. A name missing from the ONS list was given to two babies or fewer, possibly none: the ONS withholds counts of two or less to protect confidentiality.

Andrew's 127 left it 334th, its lowest position in the ONS series. Only Karen (4 girls in 2024, 11 in 2025) and Donald (16 boys, then 18) rose in the latest year, and at numbers this small that means little. Table 6 of each ONS dataset lists every name given to three or more babies.

Scotland: the headline numbers (NRS, 2025)

NRS published Scotland's 2025 figures on 26 May 2026, based on the birth registrations of 21,974 girls and 23,082 boys.

The 3,957 boys' names and the 11.1% of boys with an unshared name are both NRS records. Names ending in -ie reached an all-time high for both sexes, up from 4.5% of girls and 0.5% of boys born in 1974. Laura was given to 3.9% of girls in 1983; Freya, in 2025, to 1.2%.

Northern Ireland: the headline numbers (NISRA, 2025)

NISRA published its 2025 figures on 16 April 2026, covering births registered in Northern Ireland during 2025.

The 1,875 boys' names is the highest in NISRA's series back to 1974, while girls' names fell from 2,289 in 2024. Registrations included 966 names not used before. Arthur entered the boys' top 10 for the first time since 1997, tied ninth with Jude on 101. In 1998, by contrast, the top names were Chloe with 434 babies and Matthew with 429.

About this data

Which releases this page uses

The ONS girls' and boys' datasets for 2025 (released 9 July 2026) and its 1996 to 2025 workbook; NRS Babies' First Names, 2025 (26 May 2026); and NISRA Baby Names 2025 (16 April 2026). Each is its office's latest edition. The ONS discontinued its written baby names bulletin in a notice dated 22 September 2026; the figures continue in its datasets.

What each office counts

The ONS counts live births that occurred in the year, plus a very small number of late registrations from the year before. NISRA counts births registered during the year, whenever they occurred. NRS counts births registered up to the point it extracts the records, usually in spring. None includes stillbirths.

What counts as the same name

All three offices count each spelling separately and ignore accents, so Chloé is counted as Chloe. A hyphenated name such as Amelia-Lily is one name; the ONS has removed spaces around hyphens since its 2018 data. NRS and NISRA count only the first word of an unhyphenated two-word first name.

Small numbers and ShePrep's own calculations

All three offices withhold names given to fewer than three babies. NRS's count of different names still includes those rare names; the ONS figure counts only names given to three or more babies, so the two are not comparable. NISRA's tables do not state which basis it uses. Our top 10 and top 100 shares divide ONS Table 1 counts by the monthly totals in ONS Table 5, which include babies whose name was not stated. For 2025 we use the annual datasets, not the 1996 to 2025 workbook, whose 2025 column lists 6,105 boys' names against 6,583 in the boys' dataset.

How to cite this page

Cite the statistics office for any figure you use, and this page if it saved you the search:

ShePrep (2026) UK Baby Name Statistics: The 2025 Figures for All Four Nations. Available at: https://sheprep.com/baby-names/baby-name-statistics-uk (Accessed: [date]). Data from the Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Keep the geography with every figure: an ONS number describes England and Wales, not the UK. The ONS and NRS publish these statistics under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most popular baby name in the UK?

There is no single UK ranking. In 2025, Olivia and Muhammad led England and Wales (ONS), Freya and Noah led Scotland (NRS), and Grace and Noah led Northern Ireland (NISRA). Noah was the top boys' name in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and second in England, where Muhammad was first.

How many babies were named Muhammad in 2025?

In England and Wales, 5,957 boys were registered as Muhammad in 2025, the most of any name, according to the ONS. Adding the next four spellings, Mohammed, Mohammad, Muhammed and Mohamed, brings the total to 9,189. In Scotland, Muhammad was the fourth most popular boys' name, with 291 boys (NRS).

How many babies were named Karen in 2025?

Eleven girls born in England and Wales in 2025 were named Karen, according to the ONS, up from 4 in 2024. In 1996, the first year of the ONS series, there were 76. That put Karen joint 2,440th in 2025, level with every other name given to exactly 11 girls, including Susan.

When will the 2026 baby name statistics be published?

No dates have been announced. The ONS lists its next release as to be announced, and NISRA's 2025 tables give spring 2027. NRS publishes annually. For comparison, the 2025 figures appeared on 16 April 2026 from NISRA, on 26 May 2026 from NRS and on 9 July 2026 from the ONS.