Last year, the countries of England and Wales together welcomed 591,072 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 2023:
Girl names
- Olivia, 2,906 baby girls
- Amelia, 2,663
- Isla, 2,337
- Lily, 2,290
- Freya, 2,086
- Ava, 2,050
- Ivy, 1,997
- Florence, 1,899
- Willow, 1,833
- Isabella, 1,795
- Poppy, 1,755
- Poppy ranked third among baby girls born in November specifically, no doubt because of the association between poppies and Remembrance Day (Nov. 11).
- Sophia, 1,679
- Evelyn, 1,673
- Elsie, 1,662
- Sienna, 1,657
- Mia, 1,640
- Daisy, 1,585
- Grace, 1,541
- Sofia, 1,514
- Phoebe, 1,510
- Rosie, 1,508
- Harper, 1,466
- Charlotte, 1,373
- Evie, 1,350
- Millie, 1,349
- Bonnie, 1,346
- Ella, 1,307
- Emily, 1,280
- Maya, 1,255
- Matilda, 1,212
- Aria, 1,198
- Delilah, 1,194
- Penelope, 1,156
- Hallie, 1,154
- Mila, 1,127
- Maeve, 1,114
- Ada, 1,089
- Luna, 1,063
- Ruby, 1,059
- Mabel, 1,051
- Maisie, 1,039
- Violet, 1,034
- Arabella, 1,029
- Margot, 1,025
- Emilia, 1,017
- Isabelle, 984
- Esme, 982
- Lottie, 980
- Aurora, 964
- Alice, 955
Boy names
- Muhammad, 4,661 baby boys
- Noah, 4,382
- Oliver, 3,556
- George, 3,494
- Leo, 3,416
- Arthur, 3,387
- Luca, 3,195
- Theodore, 2,666
- Oscar, 2,632
- Henry, 2,490
- Theo, 2,489
- Freddie, 2,481
- Archie, 2,400
- Arlo, 2,253
- Jude, 2,177
- Alfie, 2,111
- Charlie, 2,010
- Jack, 1,953
- Thomas, 1,855
- Finley, 1,844
- Harry, 1,799
- Albie, 1,756
- Teddy, 1,687
- Jacob, 1,655
- Lucas, 1,644
- Tommy, 1,629
- Isaac, 1,611
- Mohammed, 1,601
- William, 1,544
- Edward, 1,501
- Elijah, 1,482
- Roman, 1,481
- Rory, 1,468
- Alexander, 1,456
- James, 1,430
- Louie, 1,421
- Reuben, 1,356
- Ezra, 1,345
- Oakley, 1,343
- Joshua, 1,339
- Adam, 1,326
- Sebastian, 1,313
- Hudson, 1,291
- Max, 1,274
- Louis, 1,236
- Ronnie, 1,222
- Ethan, 1,198
- Hugo, 1,174
- Harrison, 1,151
- Mason, 1,118
In the girls’ top 10, Willow replaced Mia.
In the boys’ top 10, Luca and Henry replaced Theo and Freddie.
New to the girls’ top 100 were Hazel, Lilah, Autumn, Nevaeh, and Raya.
New to the boys’ top 100 were Jax, Enzo, and Bodhi.
The number of hyphenated girl names increased significantly (from 12,332 to 19,143), while the number of hyphenated boy names decreased slightly (from 3,140 to 2,807).
And here’s a selection of uncommon names that were given to just three babies each in England and Wales (combined) in 2023:
| Rare girl names | Rare boy names |
| Alfia, Bluebella, Buddug, Coni, Dolcy, Ephelia, Fen, Glesni, Harasees, Indica, Jodh, Khulood, Larnie, Myrto, Nectaria, Omuwa, Pip, Qiraat, Reevie, Sorrel, Tegwen, Udaina, Vani, Waverly, Xanthea, Yvaine, Zoella | Apollon, Banksy, Blaidd, Catalin, Dishan, Eifion, Fayzan, Gurvir, Haaland, Iverson, Jibriel, Kirtan, Lucho, Monaco, Nalan, Orwell, Prevail, Qusay, Ranbir, Sebbie, Tassilo, Ulrich, Vedh, Wildan, Xavian, Yamac, Zuko |
Possible explanations/associations for several of the above:
- Blaidd means “wolf” in Welsh. (It’s also the name of a half-wolf character in the 2022 video game Elden Ring.)
- Buddug is based on the Welsh word budd, which means “benefit, profit.” It’s the Welsh equivalent of Boudicca (the name of the ancient British queen who led a revolt against the Romans).
- Fen might refer to the type of wetland.
- Glesni means “blueness” or “greenness” in Welsh.
- Haaland is the surname of Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland (who currently plays for Manchester City F.C.).
Here are the 2023 rankings for Scotland and Northern Ireland — the other two countries in the United Kingdom — and the 2022 rankings for England and Wales, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources:
- Baby names in England and Wales: 2023 – ONS
- All data related to Baby names in England and Wales: 2023 – ONS
- Births in England and Wales: 2023 – ONS
- Smith, Cachella. “Muhammad overtakes Noah as most popular boy’s name.” BBC News 5 Dec. 2024.
- Wiktionary
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
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