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How to read UK baby name popularity

A name can be sixth in one table and first in another. Before deciding whether it feels too common, check which place and birth year you are reading. Then write down the count as well as the rank.

Try your shortlist with your surname

1. Pick the place before the number

The Office for National Statistics publishes England and Wales figures. National Records of Scotland publishes Scotland figures, and NISRA publishes Northern Ireland figures. England and Wales is not a complete UK total. A rank describes a name’s position within its own table, so adding three ranks would not produce a UK rank.

2. Separate the birth year from the release date

As checked on 13 October 2026, the latest data in Baby Name Jar covers 2025. The England and Wales release was published on 9 July 2026, Scotland’s on 26 May 2026 and Northern Ireland’s on 16 April 2026. These are observed birth-registration figures, not a forecast for a baby due in 2027.

3. Record rank and count together

For girls called Freya in 2025, the same spelling has three different results. The rank tells you the order in each place. The count tells you how many babies appear under that first name in that table. Different places have different numbers of births, so counts are not directly comparable measures of how common a name feels.

  • England and Wales: rank 6, count 1,802.
  • Scotland: rank 1, count 268.
  • Northern Ireland: rank 10, count 78.

4. A rising rank does not always mean a rising count

In England and Wales, Freya moved from rank 7 in 2024 to rank 6 in 2025, while its count fell from 1,929 to 1,802. A name can move ahead of other names even when fewer babies receive it. Look at several years on the name’s existing page before describing a trend.

5. Check the spelling and the kind of name counted

The official figures concern first names, not how often a name is used in the middle. ONS uses the recorded spelling rather than combining names that sound alike. Its processing also removes accents and tidies spaces around hyphens. Check the publisher’s notes if those details matter to your comparison.

6. A missing value is not proof that nobody used the name

There are two different limits. ONS withholds names given to fewer than three babies in England and Wales to protect confidentiality. Separately, Baby Name Jar keeps pages for names that have reached a top 1,000 in England and Wales or a top 500 in Scotland or Northern Ireland in its covered years, then keeps their available histories across all three datasets. A name can exist in a publisher’s fuller tables without having a page here. A missing or unavailable value does not establish zero births or an extinct name.

7. Use the figures to inform your shortlist

National numbers cannot tell you who will be in your child’s class. They describe past registrations across a much wider area. Decide whether a familiar name matters to you, write that preference beside the facts, and try the name with your surname. Popularity is one part of the choice rather than a reason to reject a name you both love.

Worksheet and sources

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A little game for two

Baby Name Jar is a free daily game for choosing your baby’s name together. You each drop a name in the jar, nobody sees the other’s until you have both added yours, and then the jar opens and you find the names you both love.

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Questions

Is a top-ten name too popular?

That is a preference for you to decide. Check the place, birth year and count before making that decision. A national rank cannot tell you how many children in one future class will share the name.

Why can’t I find a name in the ONS data?

Check the spelling, year and full publisher tables first. ONS does not release England and Wales names with counts below three. That is separate from Baby Name Jar’s selection of names for its own pages, so absence here does not mean absence in the source.

Are these the most popular names for 2027?

No. The example records 2025 figures released in 2026. Future choices can differ, and this guide makes no prediction.

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