Thirty years of Charlie
Charlie in numbers
Charlie peaked in 2012 with 5,571 boys and has fallen since, to 1,679 in 2025. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2003 and 2006, from 2,936 to 4,734. It ranked 38th in 1996, reached 4th in 2012 and ranks 22nd now. On average it was given to 2,206 boys a year in the late 1990s, 3,845 in the 2000s, 4,564 in the 2010s and 2,253 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-14%1,956 to 1,679
- 5 years-40%2,810 to 1,679
- 10 years-65%4,831 to 1,679
- 20 years-58%4,033 to 1,679
- Since 1996-12%1,912 to 1,679
- Total, 1996 to 2025106,440boys
† 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 22 · ONS · 1,956 in 2024
Rank 16 · NRS · 159 in 2024
Rank 4 · NISRA · 106 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 | 22 | 1,679 | -14% | 1 in 179 |
| 2024 | 17 | 1,956 | -3% | 1 in 156 |
| 2023 | 17 | 2,010 | -16% | 1 in 151 |
| 2022 | 16 | 2,391 | -11% | 1 in 130 |
| 2021 | 14 | 2,674 | -5% | 1 in 120 |
| 2020 | 12 | 2,810 | -16% | 1 in 112 |
| 2019 | 9 | 3,355 | -0% | 1 in 98 |
| 2018 | 10 | 3,365 | -10% | 1 in 100 |
| 2017 | 9 | 3,724 | -11% | 1 in 93 |
| 2016 * | 7 | 4,190 | -13% | 1 in 85 |
| 2015 | 6 | 4,831 | +4% | 1 in 74 |
| 2014 | 5 | 4,642 | -8% | 1 in 77 |
| 2013 | 5 | 5,039 | -10% | 1 in 71 |
| 2012 | 4 | 5,571 | +1% | 1 in 67 |
| 2011 | 5 | 5,516 | +2% | 1 in 67 |
| 2010 | 5 | 5,410 | +0% | 1 in 69 |
| 2009 | 7 | 5,409 | +2% | 1 in 67 |
| 2008 | 7 | 5,291 | +2% | 1 in 69 |
| 2007 | 7 | 5,194 | +10% | 1 in 68 |
| 2006 | 10 | 4,734 | +17% | 1 in 72 |
| 2005 | 12 | 4,033 | +10% | 1 in 82 |
| 2004 | 15 | 3,666 | +25% | 1 in 90 |
| 2003 | 24 | 2,936 | +14% | 1 in 108 |
| 2002 | 29 | 2,585 | +15% | 1 in 118 |
| 2001 | 32 | 2,250 | -4% | 1 in 135 |
| 2000 | 33 | 2,355 | +0% | 1 in 131 |
| 1999 | 32 | 2,350 | -2% | 1 in 136 |
| 1998 | 35 | 2,401 | +11% | 1 in 136 |
| 1997 | 40 | 2,161 | +13% | 1 in 153 |
| 1996 | 38 | 1,912 | 1 in 174 |
* 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 Charlie
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Charlie 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