Thirty years of Elijah
Elijah in numbers
Elijah has climbed from 78 boys in 1996 to 1,659 in 2025, close to its peak of 1,668 in 2020. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2013 and 2016, from 908 to 1,412. It ranked 312th in 1996, reached 23rd in 2024 and is still 23rd. On average it was given to 79 boys a year in the late 1990s, 263 in the 2000s, 1,141 in the 2010s and 1,613 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-0%1,661 to 1,659
- 5 years-1%1,668 to 1,659
- 10 years+28%1,294 to 1,659
- 20 years+453%300 to 1,659
- Since 1996×2178 to 1,659
- Total, 1996 to 202524,028boys
† 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 23 · ONS · 1,661 in 2024
Rank 59 · NRS · 67 in 2024
Rank 59 · NISRA · 44 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 | 23 | 1,659 | -0% | 1 in 181 |
| 2024 | 23 | 1,661 | +12% | 1 in 184 |
| 2023 | 31 | 1,482 | -4% | 1 in 204 |
| 2022 | 33 | 1,549 | -7% | 1 in 201 |
| 2021 | 33 | 1,657 | -1% | 1 in 193 |
| 2020 | 30 | 1,668 | +3% | 1 in 189 |
| 2019 | 38 | 1,621 | +7% | 1 in 203 |
| 2018 | 41 | 1,519 | +1% | 1 in 222 |
| 2017 | 41 | 1,511 | +7% | 1 in 230 |
| 2016 * | 44 | 1,412 | +9% | 1 in 252 |
| 2015 | 46 | 1,294 | +15% | 1 in 277 |
| 2014 | 53 | 1,125 | +24% | 1 in 317 |
| 2013 | 69 | 908 | +15% | 1 in 395 |
| 2012 | 82 | 792 | +13% | 1 in 473 |
| 2011 | 91 | 701 | +34% | 1 in 529 |
| 2010 | 120 | 523 | +25% | 1 in 709 |
| 2009 | =140 | 419 | -0% | 1 in 864 |
| 2008 | 136 | 421 | +13% | 1 in 862 |
| 2007 | =143 | 374 | +28% | 1 in 948 |
| 2006 | 165 | 293 | -2% | 1 in 1,169 |
| 2005 | 155 | 300 | +20% | 1 in 1,102 |
| 2004 | 168 | 249 | +15% | 1 in 1,319 |
| 2003 | 179 | 216 | +35% | 1 in 1,474 |
| 2002 | =210 | 160 | +63% | 1 in 1,913 |
| 2001 | =279 | 98 | -1% | 1 in 3,108 |
| 2000 | =273 | 99 | +19% | 1 in 3,127 |
| 1999 | =318 | 83 | +28% | 1 in 3,846 |
| 1998 | 361 | 65 | -29% | 1 in 5,014 |
| 1997 | =291 | 91 | +17% | 1 in 3,622 |
| 1996 | =312 | 78 | 1 in 4,275 |
* 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 Elijah
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
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Elijah 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