The 2022 rankings for England and Wales are finally here!
Two years ago, England and Wales welcomed over 605,000 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.
Here are England and Wales’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:
Girl names
- Olivia, 3,289 baby girls
- Amelia, 2,884
- Isla, 2,613
- Ava, 2,293
- Lily, 2,281
- Ivy, 2,195
- Freya, 2,162
- Florence, 1,971
- Isabella, 1,927
- Mia, 1,868
- Willow, 1,867
- Sienna, 1,859
- Poppy, 1,848
- Sophia, 1,813
- Elsie, 1,763
- Rosie, 1,686
- Grace, 1,675
- Millie, 1,670
- Emily, 1,609
- Sofia, 1,576
- Daisy, 1,563
- Evelyn, 1,560
- Evie, 1,534
- Phoebe, 1,531
- Ella, 1,522
- Charlotte, 1,496
- Harper, 1,449
- Maya, 1,406
- Matilda, 1,363
- Ruby, 1,271
- Aria, 1,229
- Penelope, 1,206
- Hallie, 1,202
- Luna, 1,174
- Bonnie, 1,148
- Ada, 1,138
- Emilia, 1,128
- Alice, 1,119
- Sophie, 1,115
- Esme, 1,101
- Isabelle, 1,089
- Maisie, 1,072
- Violet, 1,057
- Delilah, 1,054
- Mila, 1,042
- Eva, 1,029
- Arabella, 1,019
- Maeve, 990
- Aurora, 972
- Mabel, 964
Boy names
- Noah, 4,586 baby boys
- Muhammad, 4,177
- George, 3,699
- Oliver, 3,691
- Leo, 3,610
- Arthur, 3,603
- Oscar, 2,883
- Theodore, 2,835
- Theo, 2,808
- Freddie, 2,760
- Archie, 2,684
- Luca, 2,625
- Henry, 2,624
- Jack, 2,431
- Harry, 2,403
- Charlie, 2,391
- Alfie, 2,304
- Arlo, 2,176
- Thomas, 2,101
- Teddy, 2,030
- Finley, 2,025
- Jacob, 1,892
- Tommy, 1,824
- William, 1,806
- Lucas, 1,771
- Isaac, 1,733
- Mohammed, 1,694
- Alexander, 1,651
- Albie, 1,641
- Roman, 1,640
- Edward, 1,612
- Jude, 1,601
- Elijah, 1,549
- James, 1,534
- Joshua, 1,478
- Reuben, 1,475
- Max, 1,459
- Rory, 1,435
- Sebastian, 1,409
- Louie, 1,396
- Adam, 1,374
- Mason, 1,369
- Ethan, 1,268 (tie)
- Hudson, 1,268 (tie)
- Harrison, 1,236
- Ezra, 1,217
- Hugo, 1,193
- Louis, 1,184
- Reggie, 1,159
- Joseph, 1,158
According to the news release from the Office of National Statistics…
- In the girls’ top 10, Isabella replaced Willow.
- In the boys’ top 10, Theodore, Theo, and Freddie replaced Harry, Henry, and Archie.
- In the girls’ top 100, Ophelia, Ottilie, Eloise, Nova, and Fatima replaced Holly, Heidi, Anna, Amber, and Beatrice.
- In the boys’ top 100, Leon, Elias, Musa, Axel, and Ibrahim replaced Charles, Harvey, Ollie, and Nathan.
England and Wales are two separate countries within the United Kingdom. (The rest of the UK is made up of Scotland and Northern Ireland.) In terms of population, England has about 56.5 million residents, whereas Wales has around 3.1 million.
Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in each of the two countries individually:
| England | Wales | |
| Top girl names | 1. Olivia, 3,144 baby girls 2. Amelia, 2,755 3. Isla, 2,476 4. Ava, 2,179 5. Lily, 2,158 6. Ivy, 2,081 7. Freya, 2,051 8. Florence, 1,878 9. Isabella, 1,847 10. Sienna, 1,788 | 1. Olivia, 145 baby girls 2. Isla, 137 3. Amelia 129 4. Lily, 122 5. Elsie, 120 6. Ava, 114 (tie) 7. Ivy, 114 (tie) 8. Millie, 111 9. Freya, 110 10. Ella, 104 |
| Top boy names | 1. Noah, 4,320 baby boys 2. Muhammad, 4,136 3. George, 3,548 4. Oliver, 3,502 5. Leo, 3,470 6. Arthur, 3,423 7. Oscar, 2,729 8. Theodore, 2,720 9. Freddie, 2,620 10. Theo, 2,611 | 1. Noah, 264 baby boys 2. Theo, 196 3. Oliver, 188 4. Arthur, 180 5. Luca, 166 6. Oscar, 154 7. George, 149 8. Archie, 144 9. Freddie, 140 10. Leo, 139 |
And now let’s check out a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum.
Each of the rare names below was given to just 3 babies in England and Wales (combined) in 2022:
| Rare girl names | Rare boy names |
| Accalia, Briseis, Casiana, Diellza, Ettalie, Farishta, Gwenna, Hestia, Irida, Iseult, Jun, Kanika, Larsa, Myfanwy, Nehizena, Ovelia, Prunella, Quinne, Renaelia, Siella, Tamima, Urte, Varnika, Wafaa, Xiana, Yuet, Zartasha | Aurion, Boyan, Cary, Daxson, Eifion, Flavian, Granth, Henrick, Ilai, Jasser, Klaidi, Llyr, Mordy, Naoise, Oax, Petrit, Quillon, Ransford, Sanchez, Torrin, Usaid, Volodymyr, Wolfy, Xand, Yudhveer, Zaamin |
Renaelia’s usage was no doubt inspired by British influencer Imogen Horton, who welcomed a baby girl named Renaelia in September of 2022. Several weeks after the birth, Imogen posted a video in which she and her husband Spencer revealed the baby’s name and explained how it was coined.
Volodymyr’s usage may have been influenced by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Finally, here’s a link to England and Wales’ 2021 rankings, if you’d like to check them out.
Sources:
- Baby names in England and Wales 2022 – does your favourite make the top 100? – ONS
- Baby names in England and Wales: 2022 – ONS
- Births in England and Wales: 2022 – ONS
- 2021 census: What are the results so far? – House of Commons Library – UK Parliament
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
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