Thirty years of Aaliyah
Aaliyah in numbers
Aaliyah has risen from 111 girls in 1996 to 368 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 533 in 2002. Its biggest three-year rise came between 1999 and 2002, from 70 to 533. It ranked 319th in 1996, reached 92nd in 2002 and ranks 132nd now. On average it was given to 105 girls a year in the late 1990s, 406 in the 2000s, 440 in the 2010s and 372 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
What the official statisticians said
“Some 468 baby girls share the name of Aaliyah, the American R&B singer killed in a plane crash in August 2001”
General Register Office, on 2002 births in England and Wales. Read the source
Quoted word for word from the official releases, including their own “may” and “could”. Baby Data has not added reasons of its own. Releases for Scotland and Northern Ireland are about babies there, not in England and Wales.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year+9%339 to 368
- 5 years-7%397 to 368
- 10 years-14%426 to 368
- 20 years-14%426 to 368
- Since 1996×3111 to 368
- Total, 1996 to 202511,114girls
† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.
Across the three nations, 2025
Each from its own statistics office, never added togetherRank 132 · ONS · 339 in 2024
Rank 191 · NRS · 17 in 2024
Rank 177 · NISRA · 5 in 2024
England and Wales (ONS) count births in the calendar year; Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland (NISRA) count births registered in the year. Each comes from its own statistics office and they are never added together.
Year by year, 1996 to 2025 Show all 30 yearsHide the table
| Year | Rank | Babies | Change† | 1 in X† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | =132 | 368 | +9% | 1 in 774 |
| 2024 | =148 | 339 | -5% | 1 in 855 |
| 2023 | 137 | 356 | -8% | 1 in 809 |
| 2022 | 130 | 385 | +0% | 1 in 766 |
| 2021 | 132 | 385 | -3% | 1 in 791 |
| 2020 | 125 | 397 | +13% | 1 in 754 |
| 2019 | 141 | 352 | -13% | 1 in 884 |
| 2018 | =128 | 406 | -6% | 1 in 787 |
| 2017 | 129 | 434 | -9% | 1 in 763 |
| 2016 | 123 | 478 | +12% | 1 in 710 |
| 2015 | 133 | 426 | -4% | 1 in 797 |
| 2014 | 125 | 446 | -4% | 1 in 759 |
| 2013 * | =121 | 463 | +2% | 1 in 738 |
| 2012 | =125 | 454 | -9% | 1 in 783 |
| 2011 | =116 | 501 | +13% | 1 in 704 |
| 2010 | =129 | 443 | +6% | 1 in 795 |
| 2009 | 132 | 417 | -1% | 1 in 825 |
| 2008 | 122 | 422 | +11% | 1 in 819 |
| 2007 | =143 | 379 | -22% | 1 in 885 |
| 2006 | 108 | 487 | +14% | 1 in 672 |
| 2005 | =129 | 426 | -13% | 1 in 740 |
| 2004 | =109 | 488 | -8% | 1 in 638 |
| 2003 | 96 | 531 | -0% | 1 in 571 |
| 2002 | 92 | 533 | +132% | 1 in 544 |
| 2001 | =182 | 230 | +56% | 1 in 1,261 |
| 2000 | =268 | 147 | +110% | 1 in 2,005 |
| 1999 | =429 | 70 | -38% | 1 in 4,323 |
| 1998 | =320 | 112 | -13% | n/a |
| 1997 | =283 | 128 | +15% | 1 in 2,449 |
| 1996 | =319 | 111 | 1 in 2,847 |
* ONS’s girls’ 2013 file repeats the May total as April, so the 2013 births total is about 1,360 too high and 1 in X for 2013 is slightly too high. 1 in X is not shown for girls in 1998: one monthly total is missing from the ONS girls’ 1998 file. Rank follows ONS: names with the same count share a rank (shown with =). “Under 3” means the name was given to fewer than 3 babies that year, so ONS did not publish it.
Compare Aaliyah
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Aaliyah is in the free dataset (CSV and JSON), with the method and how to cite it.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; National Records of Scotland; NISRA. Exact spellings are counted separately and names given to fewer than 3 babies are not published. Figures marked † are Baby Data calculations. How we calculate