Thirty years of Alexander
Alexander in numbers
Alexander peaked in 1996 with 4,840 boys and has fallen since, to 1,271 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1997 and 2000, from 4,698 to 3,570. It ranked 14th in 1996 and ranks 40th now. On average it was given to 4,487 boys a year in the late 1990s, 3,216 in the 2000s, 2,721 in the 2010s and 1,580 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-7%1,365 to 1,271
- 5 years-33%1,909 to 1,271
- 10 years-54%2,759 to 1,271
- 20 years-58%3,015 to 1,271
- Since 1996-74%4,840 to 1,271
- Total, 1996 to 202586,796boys
† 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 40 · ONS · 1,365 in 2024
Rank 22 · NRS · 208 in 2024
Rank 48 · NISRA · 51 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 | 40 | 1,271 | -7% | 1 in 237 |
| 2024 | 36 | 1,365 | -6% | 1 in 223 |
| 2023 | 34 | 1,456 | -12% | 1 in 208 |
| 2022 | 28 | 1,651 | -10% | 1 in 188 |
| 2021 | 27 | 1,830 | -4% | 1 in 175 |
| 2020 | 26 | 1,909 | -19% | 1 in 165 |
| 2019 | 21 | 2,344 | -7% | 1 in 140 |
| 2018 | 22 | 2,517 | -0% | 1 in 134 |
| 2017 | 22 | 2,524 | -2% | 1 in 138 |
| 2016 * | 21 | 2,567 | -7% | 1 in 139 |
| 2015 | 22 | 2,759 | -7% | 1 in 130 |
| 2014 | 22 | 2,978 | +5% | 1 in 120 |
| 2013 | 24 | 2,837 | +0% | 1 in 126 |
| 2012 | 27 | 2,836 | +1% | 1 in 132 |
| 2011 | 23 | 2,819 | -7% | 1 in 132 |
| 2010 | 21 | 3,025 | +1% | 1 in 123 |
| 2009 | 22 | 2,981 | -7% | 1 in 121 |
| 2008 | 19 | 3,215 | +4% | 1 in 113 |
| 2007 | 22 | 3,087 | +1% | 1 in 115 |
| 2006 | 24 | 3,059 | +1% | 1 in 112 |
| 2005 | 22 | 3,015 | -6% | 1 in 110 |
| 2004 | 20 | 3,191 | -2% | 1 in 103 |
| 2003 | 20 | 3,252 | -5% | 1 in 98 |
| 2002 | 19 | 3,423 | +2% | 1 in 89 |
| 2001 | 20 | 3,366 | -6% | 1 in 90 |
| 2000 | 21 | 3,570 | -10% | 1 in 87 |
| 1999 | 20 | 3,951 | -11% | 1 in 81 |
| 1998 | 19 | 4,460 | -5% | 1 in 73 |
| 1997 | 16 | 4,698 | -3% | 1 in 70 |
| 1996 | 14 | 4,840 | 1 in 69 |
* ONS’s boys’ 2016 file repeats the October total as September, so the 2016 births total is about 932 too low and 1 in X for 2016 is slightly too low. 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 Alexander
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Alexander 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