Thirty years of Eric
Eric in numbers
Eric has risen from 98 boys in 1996 to 300 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 470 in 2018. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2013 and 2016, from 219 to 390. On average it was given to 87 boys a year in the late 1990s, 112 in the 2000s, 322 in the 2010s and 377 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%308 to 300
- 5 years-29%420 to 300
- 10 years-11%338 to 300
- 20 years+194%102 to 300
- Since 1996×398 to 300
- Total, 1996 to 20256,954boys
† 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 168 · ONS · 308 in 2024
Rank 333 · NRS · 16 in 2024
Rank 270 · NISRA · 8 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 | =168 | 300 | -3% | 1 in 1,002 |
| 2024 | 162 | 308 | -15% | 1 in 990 |
| 2023 | 145 | 363 | -17% | 1 in 835 |
| 2022 | =129 | 435 | -0% | 1 in 714 |
| 2021 | 132 | 437 | +4% | 1 in 733 |
| 2020 | =129 | 420 | -7% | 1 in 749 |
| 2019 | 126 | 451 | -4% | 1 in 730 |
| 2018 | 124 | 470 | +3% | 1 in 718 |
| 2017 | =127 | 456 | +17% | 1 in 763 |
| 2016 * | =147 | 390 | +15% | 1 in 913 |
| 2015 | 173 | 338 | +12% | 1 in 1,060 |
| 2014 | =189 | 301 | +37% | 1 in 1,185 |
| 2013 | =235 | 219 | -0% | 1 in 1,636 |
| 2012 | 234 | 220 | +14% | 1 in 1,702 |
| 2011 | 251 | 193 | +5% | 1 in 1,922 |
| 2010 | =256 | 184 | +16% | 1 in 2,016 |
| 2009 | =274 | 159 | +29% | 1 in 2,278 |
| 2008 | 320 | 123 | -19% | 1 in 2,951 |
| 2007 | =264 | 152 | +49% | 1 in 2,332 |
| 2006 | =342 | 102 | +0% | 1 in 3,357 |
| 2005 | =313 | 102 | -17% | 1 in 3,241 |
| 2004 | =265 | 123 | +34% | 1 in 2,669 |
| 2003 | =305 | 92 | +1% | 1 in 3,461 |
| 2002 | =301 | 91 | +5% | 1 in 3,363 |
| 2001 | =312 | 87 | -2% | 1 in 3,501 |
| 2000 | =304 | 89 | +16% | 1 in 3,479 |
| 1999 | =333 | 77 | -4% | 1 in 4,146 |
| 1998 | =317 | 80 | -15% | 1 in 4,074 |
| 1997 | 288 | 94 | -4% | 1 in 3,506 |
| 1996 | 280 | 98 | 1 in 3,403 |
* 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 Eric
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Eric 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