Thirty years of Benjamin
Benjamin in numbers
Benjamin peaked in 2004 with 5,144 boys and has fallen since, to 808 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 2004 and 2007, from 5,144 to 3,638. It ranked 15th in 1996, reached 6th in 2002 and ranks 61st now. On average it was given to 4,697 boys a year in the late 1990s, 4,253 in the 2000s, 2,323 in the 2010s and 1,112 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-4%841 to 808
- 5 years-43%1,426 to 808
- 10 years-65%2,328 to 808
- 20 years-82%4,414 to 808
- Since 1996-83%4,805 to 808
- Total, 1996 to 202591,220boys
† 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 61 · ONS · 841 in 2024
Rank 120 · NRS · 66 in 2024
Rank 61 · NISRA · 31 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 | 61 | 808 | -4% | 1 in 372 |
| 2024 | 61 | 841 | -20% | 1 in 363 |
| 2023 | 53 | 1,057 | -5% | 1 in 287 |
| 2022 | 51 | 1,117 | -22% | 1 in 278 |
| 2021 | 42 | 1,423 | -0% | 1 in 225 |
| 2020 | 40 | 1,426 | -16% | 1 in 221 |
| 2019 | 33 | 1,701 | -2% | 1 in 193 |
| 2018 | 35 | 1,743 | -10% | 1 in 194 |
| 2017 | 33 | 1,927 | -10% | 1 in 181 |
| 2016 * | 33 | 2,153 | -8% | 1 in 165 |
| 2015 | 30 | 2,328 | -7% | 1 in 154 |
| 2014 | 28 | 2,490 | -2% | 1 in 143 |
| 2013 | 30 | 2,532 | -1% | 1 in 142 |
| 2012 | 32 | 2,564 | -8% | 1 in 146 |
| 2011 | 25 | 2,789 | -7% | 1 in 133 |
| 2010 | 22 | 3,005 | -9% | 1 in 123 |
| 2009 | 15 | 3,319 | +1% | 1 in 109 |
| 2008 | 18 | 3,275 | -10% | 1 in 111 |
| 2007 | 14 | 3,638 | -13% | 1 in 97 |
| 2006 | 12 | 4,188 | -5% | 1 in 82 |
| 2005 | 11 | 4,414 | -14% | 1 in 75 |
| 2004 | 9 | 5,144 | +3% | 1 in 64 |
| 2003 | 7 | 4,999 | -2% | 1 in 64 |
| 2002 | 6 | 5,095 | +20% | 1 in 60 |
| 2001 | 14 | 4,238 | +0% | 1 in 72 |
| 2000 | 16 | 4,217 | -8% | 1 in 73 |
| 1999 | 15 | 4,559 | -2% | 1 in 70 |
| 1998 | 16 | 4,643 | -3% | 1 in 70 |
| 1997 | 13 | 4,782 | -0% | 1 in 69 |
| 1996 | 15 | 4,805 | 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 Benjamin
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Benjamin 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