Thirty years of Finlay
Finlay in numbers
Finlay peaked in 2007 with 1,343 boys and has fallen since, to 293 in 2025. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2001 and 2004, from 504 to 1,016. It ranked 312th in 1996, reached 57th in 2005 and ranks 175th now. On average it was given to 182 boys a year in the late 1990s, 963 in the 2000s, 611 in the 2010s and 284 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+5%280 to 293
- 5 years-6%311 to 293
- 10 years-44%520 to 293
- 20 years-75%1,172 to 293
- Since 1996×478 to 293
- Total, 1996 to 202518,172boys
† 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 175 · ONS · 280 in 2024
Rank 9 · NRS · 220 in 2024
Rank 149 · NISRA · 16 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 | =175 | 293 | +5% | 1 in 1,026 |
| 2024 | 181 | 280 | -6% | 1 in 1,089 |
| 2023 | =172 | 298 | +31% | 1 in 1,017 |
| 2022 | =220 | 228 | -22% | 1 in 1,362 |
| 2021 | =180 | 293 | -6% | 1 in 1,093 |
| 2020 | =168 | 311 | -0% | 1 in 1,011 |
| 2019 | 174 | 312 | -13% | 1 in 1,055 |
| 2018 | 156 | 359 | -13% | 1 in 940 |
| 2017 | =140 | 413 | -12% | 1 in 843 |
| 2016 * | 130 | 467 | -10% | 1 in 763 |
| 2015 | 123 | 520 | -15% | 1 in 689 |
| 2014 | 99 | 611 | -12% | 1 in 584 |
| 2013 | 87 | 691 | -13% | 1 in 519 |
| 2012 | 83 | 791 | -18% | 1 in 473 |
| 2011 | 66 | 967 | -1% | 1 in 384 |
| 2010 | 68 | 981 | -10% | 1 in 378 |
| 2009 | 61 | 1,093 | -9% | 1 in 331 |
| 2008 | =60 | 1,200 | -11% | 1 in 302 |
| 2007 | 59 | 1,343 | +6% | 1 in 264 |
| 2006 | 59 | 1,262 | +8% | 1 in 271 |
| 2005 | 57 | 1,172 | +15% | 1 in 282 |
| 2004 | 63 | 1,016 | +18% | 1 in 323 |
| 2003 | 68 | 860 | +16% | 1 in 370 |
| 2002 | 77 | 744 | +48% | 1 in 411 |
| 2001 | =101 | 504 | +16% | 1 in 604 |
| 2000 | 107 | 435 | +14% | 1 in 712 |
| 1999 | 123 | 380 | +109% | 1 in 840 |
| 1998 | =183 | 182 | +107% | 1 in 1,791 |
| 1997 | =298 | 88 | +13% | 1 in 3,745 |
| 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.
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Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
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Finlay 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