Thirty years of Ayat
Ayat in numbers
Ayat is still climbing: from 3 girls in 1999 (its first published year) to 317 in 2025, its highest count so far. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2018 and 2021, from 145 to 266.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year+33%238 to 317
- 5 years+27%249 to 317
- 10 years+340%72 to 317
- 20 years+3,070%10 to 317
- Since 1999 (first published)×1063 to 317
- Total, 1996 to 20252,525girls
† 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 158 · ONS · 238 in 2024
Rank 324 · NRS · 5 in 2024
Rank 397 · NISRA
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 | =158 | 317 | +33% | 1 in 898 |
| 2024 | =205 | 238 | +24% | 1 in 1,217 |
| 2023 | =236 | 192 | -27% | 1 in 1,500 |
| 2022 | =193 | 264 | -1% | 1 in 1,117 |
| 2021 | 195 | 266 | +7% | 1 in 1,146 |
| 2020 | =198 | 249 | +41% | 1 in 1,203 |
| 2019 | =275 | 177 | +22% | 1 in 1,759 |
| 2018 | =330 | 145 | +11% | 1 in 2,203 |
| 2017 | =358 | 131 | +22% | 1 in 2,527 |
| 2016 | =415 | 107 | +49% | 1 in 3,170 |
| 2015 | =585 | 72 | -31% | 1 in 4,718 |
| 2014 | =411 | 105 | +78% | 1 in 3,223 |
| 2013 * | =676 | 59 | -12% | 1 in 5,788 |
| 2012 * | =624 | 67 | +139% | 1 in 5,303 |
| 2011 * | =1,168 | 28 | +22% | 1 in 12,605 |
| 2010 | =1,332 | 23 | +53% | 1 in 15,313 |
| 2009 | =1,752 | 15 | +36% | 1 in 22,940 |
| 2008 | =2,150 | 11 | -8% | 1 in 31,431 |
| 2007 | =1,965 | 12 | +100% | 1 in 27,959 |
| 2006 | =3,116 | 6 | -40% | 1 in 54,528 |
| 2005 | =2,084 | 10 | +0% | 1 in 31,522 |
| 2004 | =1,952 | 10 | +100% | 1 in 31,137 |
| 2003 | =3,099 | 5 | -38% | 1 in 60,606 |
| 2002 | =2,105 | 8 | +60% | 1 in 36,256 |
| 2001 | =2,783 | 5 | 1 in 57,996 | |
| 2000 | n/a | under 3 | ||
| 1999 | =3,900 | 3 | 1 in 100,869 | |
| 1998 | n/a | under 3 | ||
| 1997 | n/a | under 3 | ||
| 1996 | n/a | under 3 |
* 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. ONS’s own figures for the most popular girls’ names jump in 2012 for a reason we have not been able to establish, so read changes for 2011 to 2013 with care. 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 Ayat
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Ayat 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