Thirty years of Billy
Billy in numbers
Billy peaked in 2005 with 955 boys and has fallen since, to 481 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 2005 and 2008, from 955 to 678. It ranked 71st in 1996, reached 68th in 1998 and ranks 110th now. On average it was given to 877 boys a year in the late 1990s, 761 in the 2000s, 523 in the 2010s and 458 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+11%434 to 481
- 5 years+5%458 to 481
- 10 years-10%534 to 481
- 20 years-50%955 to 481
- Since 1996-47%914 to 481
- Total, 1996 to 202519,089boys
† 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 110 · ONS · 434 in 2024
Rank 208 · NRS · 17 in 2024
Rank 212 · NISRA · 7 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 | =110 | 481 | +11% | 1 in 625 |
| 2024 | =127 | 434 | -10% | 1 in 703 |
| 2023 | 108 | 484 | +9% | 1 in 626 |
| 2022 | 124 | 445 | -0% | 1 in 698 |
| 2021 | 128 | 446 | -3% | 1 in 718 |
| 2020 | 122 | 458 | +6% | 1 in 687 |
| 2019 | 130 | 432 | +6% | 1 in 762 |
| 2018 | 140 | 407 | -13% | 1 in 829 |
| 2017 | 124 | 468 | -4% | 1 in 744 |
| 2016 * | 127 | 485 | -9% | 1 in 734 |
| 2015 | 120 | 534 | +3% | 1 in 671 |
| 2014 | 122 | 516 | -3% | 1 in 691 |
| 2013 | 112 | 531 | -7% | 1 in 675 |
| 2012 | 110 | 574 | -6% | 1 in 652 |
| 2011 | 106 | 611 | -8% | 1 in 607 |
| 2010 | 101 | 667 | +8% | 1 in 556 |
| 2009 | 103 | 617 | -9% | 1 in 587 |
| 2008 | 98 | 678 | -14% | 1 in 535 |
| 2007 | 89 | 786 | -5% | 1 in 451 |
| 2006 | 82 | 825 | -14% | 1 in 415 |
| 2005 | 71 | 955 | +6% | 1 in 346 |
| 2004 | =71 | 899 | +28% | 1 in 365 |
| 2003 | 84 | 703 | -1% | 1 in 453 |
| 2002 | 81 | 709 | -3% | 1 in 432 |
| 2001 | =78 | 730 | +3% | 1 in 417 |
| 2000 | =76 | 706 | -13% | 1 in 439 |
| 1999 | 71 | 815 | -9% | 1 in 392 |
| 1998 | 68 | 894 | +1% | 1 in 365 |
| 1997 | 70 | 885 | -3% | 1 in 372 |
| 1996 | 71 | 914 | 1 in 365 |
* 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 Billy
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Billy 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