Thirty years of Charles
Charles in numbers
Charles peaked in 1998 with 1,868 boys and has fallen since, to 437 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1998 and 2001, from 1,868 to 1,290. It ranked 44th in 1996, reached 41st in 1998 and ranks 119th now. On average it was given to 1,759 boys a year in the late 1990s, 1,371 in the 2000s, 963 in the 2010s and 525 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-3%452 to 437
- 5 years-32%646 to 437
- 10 years-56%985 to 437
- 20 years-68%1,372 to 437
- Since 1996-75%1,738 to 437
- Total, 1996 to 202533,528boys
† 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 119 · ONS · 452 in 2024
Rank 298 · NRS · 28 in 2024
Rank 143 · NISRA · 15 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 | 119 | 437 | -3% | 1 in 688 |
| 2024 | 119 | 452 | +2% | 1 in 675 |
| 2023 | 121 | 442 | -17% | 1 in 686 |
| 2022 | 102 | 533 | -17% | 1 in 583 |
| 2021 | =91 | 639 | -1% | 1 in 501 |
| 2020 | 88 | 646 | -9% | 1 in 487 |
| 2019 | =86 | 707 | -7% | 1 in 465 |
| 2018 | 81 | 758 | -14% | 1 in 445 |
| 2017 | 73 | 877 | -4% | 1 in 397 |
| 2016 * | 72 | 910 | -8% | 1 in 391 |
| 2015 | 66 | 985 | -5% | 1 in 364 |
| 2014 | 63 | 1,037 | +1% | 1 in 344 |
| 2013 | 61 | 1,029 | -5% | 1 in 348 |
| 2012 | 62 | 1,088 | -0% | 1 in 344 |
| 2011 | 60 | 1,090 | -5% | 1 in 340 |
| 2010 | 62 | 1,152 | -6% | 1 in 322 |
| 2009 | 58 | 1,225 | -9% | 1 in 296 |
| 2008 | 56 | 1,346 | -7% | 1 in 270 |
| 2007 | 54 | 1,454 | +1% | 1 in 244 |
| 2006 | 50 | 1,443 | +5% | 1 in 237 |
| 2005 | 49 | 1,372 | -5% | 1 in 241 |
| 2004 | 49 | 1,440 | +11% | 1 in 228 |
| 2003 | 48 | 1,302 | -1% | 1 in 245 |
| 2002 | 48 | 1,309 | +1% | 1 in 234 |
| 2001 | 50 | 1,290 | -16% | 1 in 236 |
| 2000 | 44 | 1,530 | -8% | 1 in 202 |
| 1999 | 41 | 1,667 | -11% | 1 in 192 |
| 1998 | 41 | 1,868 | +6% | 1 in 174 |
| 1997 | 42 | 1,762 | +1% | 1 in 187 |
| 1996 | 44 | 1,738 | 1 in 192 |
* 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 Charles
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Charles 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