Last year, England and Wales welcomed close to 625,000 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 2021:
Girl Names
- Olivia, 3,649 baby girls
- Amelia, 3,164
- Isla, 2,683
- Ava, 2,576
- Ivy, 2,245
- Freya, 2,187
- Lily, 2,182
- Florence, 2,180
- Mia, 2,168
- Willow, 2,067
- Rosie, 2,028
- Sophia, 2,019
- Isabella, 2,010
- Grace, 1,992
- Daisy, 1,873
- Sienna, 1,869
- Poppy, 1,841
- Elsie, 1,840
- Emily, 1,797
- Ella, 1,756
- Evelyn, 1,729
- Phoebe, 1,678
- Sofia, 1,671
- Evie, 1,670
- Charlotte, 1,654
- Harper, 1,480
- Millie, 1,472
- Matilda, 1,437
- Maya, 1,433
- Sophie, 1,375
- Alice, 1,359
- Emilia, 1,353
- Isabelle, 1,304
- Ruby, 1,300
- Luna, 1,261
- Maisie, 1,229
- Aria, 1,202
- Penelope, 1,194
- Mila, 1,133
- Bonnie, 1,121
- Eva, 1,091
- Hallie, 1,070
- Eliza, 1,064
- Ada, 1,058
- Violet, 1,057
- Esme, 1,013
- Arabella, 1,012
- Imogen, 998
- Jessica, 997
- Delilah, 981
Boy Names
- Noah, 4,525 baby boys
- Oliver, 4,167
- George, 4,141
- Arthur, 3,766
- Muhammad, 3,722
- Leo, 3,465
- Harry, 3,089
- Oscar, 3,071
- Archie, 2,928
- Henry, 2,912
- Theodore, 2,889
- Freddie, 2,873
- Jack, 2,847
- Charlie, 2,674
- Theo, 2,514
- Alfie, 2,338
- Jacob, 2,319
- Thomas, 2,302
- Finley, 2,283
- Arlo, 2,154
- William, 2,093
- Lucas, 1,965
- Roman, 1,923
- Tommy, 1,901
- Isaac, 1,888
- Teddy, 1,875
- Alexander, 1,830
- Luca, 1,807
- Edward, 1,806
- James, 1,772
- Joshua, 1,737
- Albie, 1,729
- Elijah, 1,657
- Max, 1,650
- Mohammed, 1,619
- Reuben, 1,534
- Mason, 1,517
- Sebastian, 1,516
- Rory, 1,483
- Jude, 1,482
- Louie, 1,461
- Benjamin, 1,423
- Ethan, 1,398
- Adam, 1,367
- Hugo, 1,325
- Joseph, 1,307
- Reggie, 1,287
- Ronnie, 1,285
- Harrison, 1,254
- Louis, 1,240
Two of the names that saw marked increases in usage last year, Luca and Raya, were helped along by the animated films Luca (2021) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).
And the name Lilibet re-surfaced in the data (after a seven-year absence) with eight baby girls, no doubt thanks to the royal influence of Prince Harry’s daughter Lilibet, who was born in California in June of 2021.
Home to nearly 56.5 million people, England is divided into nine regions. The top baby names within each of these regions last year were…
| Girl Names | Boy Names | |
| North East (4.6% of the population) | 1. Olivia, 167 2. Rosie, 137 3. Freya, 136 4. Isla, 135 5. Amelia, 129 | 1. George, 211 2. Oliver, 208 3. Noah, 188 4. Harry, 186 5. Charlie, 166 |
| North West (13.1% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 460 2. Isla, 373 3. Ava, 347 4. Amelia, 338 5. Ivy, 308 | 1. Muhammad, 875 2. Noah, 616 3. George, 603 4. Oliver, 584 5. Harry, 508 |
| Yorkshire & the Humber (9.7% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 298 2. Amelia, 272 3. Ava, 256 4. Isla, 230 5. Ivy, 222 | 1. Muhammad, 669 2. Noah, 449 3. Oliver, 415 4. George, 402 5. Arthur, 340 |
| East Midlands (8.7% of pop.) | 1. Amelia, 288 2. Olivia, 281 3. Ava, 214 4. Isla, 206 5. Elsie/Mia, 200 (tie) | 1. Oliver, 386 2. George, 378 3. Noah, 363 4. Harry, 302 5. Arthur, 298 |
| West Midlands (10.6% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 356 2. Amelia, 342 3. Isla, 234 4. Freya, 230 5. Ava, 228 | 1. Muhammad, 667 2. Noah, 447 3. Oliver, 378 4. Arthur, 362 5. George, 352 |
| East (11.2% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 478 2. Amelia, 371 3. Isla, 337 4. Ava, 323 5. Ivy, 281 | 1. George, 539 2. Noah, 499 3. Oliver, 497 4. Arthur, 464 5. Leo, 426 |
| London (15.6% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 459 2. Amelia, 455 3. Mia, 402 4. Sofia, 392 5. Maya, 383 | 1. Muhammad, 689 2. Noah, 626 3. Leo, 507 4. Adam, 429 5. Alexander, 407 |
| South East (16.5% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 615 2. Amelia, 546 3. Isla, 465 4. Ava, 454 5. Florence, 447 | 1. George, 729 2. Arthur, 701 3. Oliver, 693 4. Noah, 651 5. Henry, 609 |
| South West (10.1% of pop.) | 1. Olivia, 360 2. Isla, 287 3. Florence, 277 4. Amelia, 259 5. Willow, 233 | 1. Arthur, 459 2. Noah, 410 3. George, 400 4. Oliver, 394 5. Oscar, 369 |
Wales, a separate country within the United Kingdom, is home to more than 3.1 million people. The top 10 names per gender in Wales last year were…
| Girl Names (Wales) | Boy Names (Wales) |
| 1. Olivia, 173 2. Amelia, 164 3. Isla, 126 4. Freya, 114 5. Ivy 112 (tie) 6. Rosie, 112 (tie) 7. Ava, 110 8. Grace, 109 9. Lily, 107 10. Evie, 106 | 1. Noah, 275 2. Oliver, 213 3. Arthur, 186 4. Theo, 170 5. Leo, 168 6. Charlie, 156 7. Archie, 154 8. George, 152 9. Jack, 136 10. Oscar, 135 |
Welsh-origin names in that ranked within Wales’ top 100 included…
- Girl names: Alys, Ffion, Seren, Eira, Mabli, Cadi, Eleri
- Boy names: Osian, Elis, Macsen, Cai, Morgan, Gruffydd, Rhys
Now it’s time for 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 in 2021:
| Rare Girl Names | Rare Boy Names |
| Avesta, Branwen, Callisto, Dwynwen, Elliw, Fenne, Gwenlli, Hestia, Isidora, Jogaile, Kerenza, Lubaba, Monia, Nepheli, Orzala, Petruta, Ruari, Siri, Thisbe, Uriella, Valley, Wilder, Xana, Yris, Zelal | Audie, Buddy-Bear, Cuthbert, Deaglan, Emeric, Finlo, Glyndwr, Horace, Ibrar, Johnboy, Kerr, Leofric, Madoc, Nazar, Ovi, Porter, Ranulph, Sirius, Teifion, Urhan, Vladut, Warwick, Xion, Yavuz, Zuko |
- Dwynwen is the name of the Welsh patron saint of lovers. St. Dwynwen’s Day, the Welsh version of St. Valentine’s Day, is celebrated on January 25th.
- Glyndwr is a reference to Welsh nobleman Owain Glyndwr, who led the Welsh Revolt (1400-1415) against the Kingdom of England.
- Teifion is based on the name of the River Teifi.
Finally, here’s a link to England and Wales’ 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
P.S. The ongoing rise of the baby name Mabel accelerated in the late 2010s thanks to mononymous English singer/songwriter Mabel — who just so happens to be the niece of Eagle-Eye Cherry.
Sources (all ONS):
- Baby names in England and Wales: 2021
- Births in England and Wales: 2021
- Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021
- From Star Wars to the Kardashians: the cultural influences that could be driving baby name trends
Map: Adapted from English regions 2009 by Nilfanion and Dr Greg under CC BY-SA 3.0.
