Thirty years of Chester
Chester in numbers
Chester has risen from 24 boys in 1996 to 388 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 691 in 2020. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2016 and 2019, from 248 to 680. It ranked 654th in 1996, reached 84th in 2020 and ranks 128th now. On average it was given to 28 boys a year in the late 1990s, 34 in the 2000s, 238 in the 2010s and 570 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-16%464 to 388
- 5 years-44%691 to 388
- 10 years+57%247 to 388
- 20 years+1,392%26 to 388
- Since 1996×1624 to 388
- Total, 1996 to 20256,250boys
† 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 128 · ONS · 464 in 2024
Rank 441 · NRS · 12 in 2024
Fewer than 3 babies, or not published · NISRA
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 | 128 | 388 | -16% | 1 in 775 |
| 2024 | 116 | 464 | -20% | 1 in 657 |
| 2023 | 89 | 583 | -5% | 1 in 520 |
| 2022 | 91 | 612 | -10% | 1 in 508 |
| 2021 | 87 | 680 | -2% | 1 in 471 |
| 2020 | 84 | 691 | +2% | 1 in 455 |
| 2019 | 90 | 680 | +23% | 1 in 484 |
| 2018 | 112 | 555 | +99% | 1 in 608 |
| 2017 | 195 | 279 | +13% | 1 in 1,248 |
| 2016 * | =225 | 248 | +0% | 1 in 1,436 |
| 2015 | =231 | 247 | +113% | 1 in 1,450 |
| 2014 | =359 | 116 | +90% | 1 in 3,076 |
| 2013 | =581 | 61 | -18% | 1 in 5,875 |
| 2012 | =507 | 74 | +25% | 1 in 5,059 |
| 2011 | =588 | 59 | -6% | 1 in 6,287 |
| 2010 | =543 | 63 | -6% | 1 in 5,888 |
| 2009 | =520 | 67 | +5% | 1 in 5,405 |
| 2008 | =527 | 64 | +52% | 1 in 5,671 |
| 2007 | =677 | 42 | +35% | 1 in 8,440 |
| 2006 | =814 | 31 | +19% | 1 in 11,045 |
| 2005 | =872 | 26 | +53% | 1 in 12,715 |
| 2004 | =1,110 | 17 | -29% | 1 in 19,313 |
| 2003 | =833 | 24 | +26% | 1 in 13,267 |
| 2002 | =907 | 19 | -10% | 1 in 16,108 |
| 2001 | =814 | 21 | -19% | 1 in 14,505 |
| 2000 | =691 | 26 | -10% | 1 in 11,908 |
| 1999 | =603 | 29 | +4% | 1 in 11,008 |
| 1998 | =629 | 28 | -13% | 1 in 11,639 |
| 1997 | =554 | 32 | +33% | 1 in 10,299 |
| 1996 | =654 | 24 | 1 in 13,895 |
* 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 Chester
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Chester 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