Names / Years / 1996

Most popular baby names in 1996

In 1996 the most popular baby name in England and Wales was Sophie for girls (7,087 babies) and Jack for boys (10,779 babies), from the official ONS figures. 649,468 babies were born that year.

Number one girl, 1996
Sophie
7,087 girls
1 in 45 girls†
Number one boy, 1996
Jack
10,779 boys
1 in 31 boys†

The top 100, 1996

The first year in the series

Girls

  1. 1Sophie7,087
  2. 2Chloe6,824
  3. 3Jessica6,711
  4. 4Emily6,415
  5. 5Lauren6,299
  6. 6Hannah5,916
  7. 7Charlotte5,866
  8. 8Rebecca5,828
  9. 9Amy5,206
  10. 10Megan4,948
  11. 11Shannon4,649
  12. 12Katie4,337
  13. 13Bethany4,271
  14. 14Emma4,232
  15. 15Lucy3,753
  16. 16Georgia3,723
  17. 17Laura3,582
  18. 18Sarah3,111
  19. 19Jade2,750
  20. 20Danielle2,641
  21. 21Abigail2,595
  22. 22Eleanor2,555
  23. 23Holly2,498
  24. 24Olivia2,456
  25. 25Alice2,357
Show 26 to 100
  1. 26Elizabeth2,225
  2. 27Rachel2,105
  3. 28Paige2,052
  4. 29Molly2,026
  5. 30Ellie1,900
  6. 31Zoe1,897
  7. 32Samantha1,854
  8. 33Natasha1,751
  9. 34Chelsea1,735
  10. 35Leah1,705
  11. 36Nicole1,679
  12. 37Victoria1,627
  13. 38Alexandra1,595
  14. 39Georgina1,593
  15. 40Amber1,422
  16. 41Grace1,421
  17. 42Natalie1,393
  18. 43Jodie1,354
  19. 44Louise1,309
  20. 45Abbie1,297
  21. 46Melissa1,282
  22. 47Anna1,274
  23. 48Katherine1,266
  24. 48Stephanie1,266
  25. 50Gemma1,261
  26. 51Kayleigh1,206
  27. 52Courtney1,203
  28. 53Kirsty1,202
  29. 54Jennifer1,200
  30. 55Jasmine1,145
  31. 56Ella1,137
  32. 57Hayley1,088
  33. 58Ashleigh1,081
  34. 59Kate1,055
  35. 60Harriet1,046
  36. 61Lydia1,009
  37. 62Francesca966
  38. 63Amelia929
  39. 63Ellen929
  40. 65Phoebe910
  41. 66Caitlin906
  42. 67Hollie896
  43. 68Catherine880
  44. 69Rosie879
  45. 70Aimee876
  46. 71Daisy828
  47. 72Bethan825
  48. 73Kimberley799
  49. 74Kelly789
  50. 75Naomi766
  51. 76Sian731
  52. 77Rachael721
  53. 78Heather713
  54. 79Demi689
  55. 80Robyn683
  56. 81Mollie667
  57. 82Yasmin661
  58. 83Beth656
  59. 84Rhiannon654
  60. 85Lily651
  61. 86Kathryn635
  62. 87Nicola629
  63. 88Leanne616
  64. 89Chantelle609
  65. 90Claire564
  66. 91Imogen555
  67. 92Poppy537
  68. 93Madeleine536
  69. 94Isobel522
  70. 95Sophia516
  71. 96Maria511
  72. 97Stacey509
  73. 98Alicia504
  74. 99Gabrielle501
  75. 100Erin486

Boys

  1. 1Jack10,779
  2. 2Daniel10,338
  3. 3Thomas9,603
  4. 4James9,385
  5. 5Joshua7,887
  6. 6Matthew7,426
  7. 7Ryan6,496
  8. 8Joseph6,193
  9. 9Samuel6,161
  10. 10Liam5,802
  11. 11Jordan5,750
  12. 12Luke5,664
  13. 13Connor5,009
  14. 14Alexander4,840
  15. 15Benjamin4,805
  16. 16Adam4,538
  17. 17Harry4,434
  18. 18Jake4,331
  19. 19George4,287
  20. 20Callum4,281
  21. 21William4,269
  22. 22Michael4,187
  23. 23Oliver3,655
  24. 24Lewis3,569
  25. 25Christopher3,483
Show 26 to 100
  1. 26Kieran2,882
  2. 27Nathan2,744
  3. 28Jamie2,688
  4. 29Andrew2,676
  5. 30Robert2,644
  6. 31Bradley2,557
  7. 32David2,517
  8. 33Aaron2,511
  9. 34Ben2,332
  10. 35Jacob2,249
  11. 36Mohammed2,112
  12. 37Kyle2,046
  13. 38Charlie1,912
  14. 39Jonathan1,881
  15. 40Ashley1,874
  16. 41Reece1,811
  17. 42Cameron1,791
  18. 43Alex1,762
  19. 44Charles1,738
  20. 45Edward1,658
  21. 46John1,649
  22. 47Sam1,638
  23. 48Scott1,632
  24. 49Sean1,594
  25. 50Joe1,567
  26. 51Dominic1,519
  27. 52Nicholas1,385
  28. 53Brandon1,337
  29. 54Rhys1,259
  30. 55Mark1,222
  31. 56Max1,192
  32. 57Dylan1,186
  33. 58Henry1,135
  34. 59Peter1,128
  35. 60Stephen1,122
  36. 61Louis1,100
  37. 62Richard1,089
  38. 63Conor1,081
  39. 64Lee1,053
  40. 65Anthony1,045
  41. 66Patrick1,039
  42. 67Tyler1,007
  43. 68Ross1,004
  44. 69Jason1,001
  45. 70Elliot919
  46. 71Billy914
  47. 72Paul898
  48. 73Steven877
  49. 74Shane846
  50. 75Joel793
  51. 76Shaun773
  52. 77Toby761
  53. 78Curtis757
  54. 79Mitchell725
  55. 80Dean719
  56. 81Craig705
  57. 82Timothy691
  58. 83Aidan680
  59. 83Declan680
  60. 85Marcus674
  61. 86Harrison663
  62. 87Simon656
  63. 88Elliott645
  64. 89Jay639
  65. 90Christian627
  66. 91Calum614
  67. 92Ethan604
  68. 93Rory601
  69. 94Josh595
  70. 95Macauley577
  71. 96Zachary574
  72. 97Mohammad567
  73. 98Danny565
  74. 99Kane545
  75. 100Owen536

Counts are babies given that exact spelling. Names with the same count share a rank. Hover a name for its 30 years. 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.

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Oliver Mackman

Editor, BabyData

Oliver Mackman is the named editor of BabyData and a director of Best Business Loans Ltd (Companies House 16833937), the company that operates the site. He is accountable for its editorial standards, sourcing and corrections, and requires every number to cite the underlying rule and the official UK dataset behind it, with pregnancy tools reviewed against NHS and gov.uk guidance before publication.

Last reviewed: 12 October 2026