Last year, the countries of England and Wales together welcomed 594,677 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Muhammad.
Here are England and Wales’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:
Girl names
- Olivia, 2,761 baby girls
- Amelia, 2,448
- Lily, 2,185
- Isla, 2,056
- Ivy, 1,956
- Florence, 1,936
- Freya, 1,929
- Poppy, 1,888
- Ava, 1,774
- Elsie, 1,727
- Isabella, 1,708
- Sofia, 1,626
- Sophia, 1,610
- Mia, 1,609
- Maya, 1,592
- Bonnie, 1,583
- Phoebe, 1,549
- Daisy, 1,548
- Sienna, 1,537
- Evelyn, 1,512
- Willow, 1,481
- Harper, 1,461
- Charlotte, 1,418
- Rosie, 1,406
- Grace, 1,390
- Maeve, 1,265
- Millie, 1,255
- Margot, 1,243
- Evie, 1,231
- Arabella, 1,222
- Matilda, 1,220
- Hallie, 1,218
- Delilah, 1,180
- Emily, 1,170
- Aria, 1,154
- Penelope, 1,133
- Mabel, 1,113
- Lottie, 1,109
- Ella, 1,108
- Ada, 1,049
- Ruby, 1,020
- Violet, 1,010
- Aurora, 1,002
- Maisie, 992
- Emilia, 961
- Mila, 953
- Ayla, 922
- Luna, 908
- Alice, 896
- Sophie, 886
Boy names
- Muhammad, 5,721 baby boys
- Noah, 4,139
- Oliver, 3,492
- Arthur, 3,368
- Leo, 3,324
- George, 3,257
- Luca, 2,814
- Theodore, 2,761
- Oscar, 2,747
- Archie, 2,575
- Jude, 2,540
- Theo, 2,387
- Freddie, 2,369
- Henry, 2,360
- Arlo, 2,220
- Alfie, 2,020
- Charlie, 1,956
- Finley, 1,886
- Albie, 1,820
- Harry, 1,765
- Mohammed, 1,760
- Jack, 1,711
- Elijah, 1,661
- Rory, 1,588
- Lucas, 1,550
- Thomas, 1,543
- William, 1,517
- Louie, 1,516
- Teddy, 1,506
- Jacob, 1,484
- Edward, 1,461
- Roman, 1,454
- Reuben, 1,442
- Oakley, 1,432
- Adam, 1,410
- Alexander, 1,365
- Isaac, 1,360
- Ezra, 1,339
- Tommy, 1,324
- James, 1,252
- Rowan, 1,246
- Hudson, 1,216
- Reggie, 1,194
- Max, 1,140
- Sebastian, 1,116
- Hugo, 1,094
- Louis, 1,092
- Ethan, 1,086
- Ronnie, 1,059
- Joshua, 1,027
In the girls’ top 10, Poppy and Elsie replaced Willow and Isabella.
In the boys’ top 10, Archie replaced Henry.
At the other end of the spectrum I spotted Bryher (given to 5 baby girls), no doubt inspired by Bryher Island, located off the coast of Cornwall.
And, speaking of rare names, here’s a selection of those that were given to just three babies each in England and Wales (combined) in last year:
| Rare girl names | Rare boy names |
| Ascia, Barley, Clementina, Drashti, Euphemia, Fodhla, Gwenlli, Hyacinth, Isidora, Jindh, Kanak, Letizia, Migle, Ngoc, Olayinka, Pearly, Quinnie, Rennala, Sorella, Tirion, Unathi, Valora, Wallis, Xanthi, Yuet, Zhila | Aelfred, Bramwell, Canelo, Doulton, Erling, Ferdia, Gursimran, Horace, Iorwerth, Jolyon, Kenshin, Llywelyn, Mawgan, Nikunj, Ozair, Penuel, Quintus, Rudolph, Shabsi, Teifion, Ugnius, Vishvam, Western, Xyleek, Ynyr, Zaroon |
Some facts/thoughts about a few of the above…
- Canelo is the Spanish word for “cinnamon.” (It’s also used as a nickname for a redheaded person.)
- Erling is the first name of Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland (who currently plays for Manchester City).
- Gwenlli is a short form of the Welsh name Gwenllian.
- Migle is based on the Lithuanian word migla, meaning “mist.”
- Teifion may be based on the name of the River Teifi in Wales.
- Xyleek, which debuted impressively in the U.S. data last year, may have been inspired by a TikTok video.
- Ynyr is the Welsh form of the Latin name Honorius.
Finally, here are the 2024 rankings for Scotland and Northern Ireland — the other two countries in the United Kingdom — and the 2023 rankings for England and Wales, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources:
- Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
- Rhoden-Paul, André and James Gregory. “Most popular boys’ and girls’ names of 2024 revealed.” BBC News 31 Jul. 2025.
- Births in England and Wales: 2024
- Behind the Name
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
Ngoc is a beautiful Vietnamese name meaning jade. Many Vietnamese immigrants and their subsequent second generations chosen non-Vietnamese names in order to assimilate. That’s why it’s a lovely surprise to someone still honoring their heritage with their newborn.
Under Adult Fans Of LEGO (AFOL) there is a special brick known has the “Erling brick” or headlight brick. It is a 1×1 brick with a special design and an additional stud on its front. It can be used to turn the direction of building a model. The brick was named after its designer Erling Dideriksen.
Shabsi is a form of Shabtai, a Jewish name found in Nehemiah 8:7. It means “born on the Sabbath.”
Jolyon is quite possibly the phonetic pronunciation of Julian in some parts of the the UK.