Thirty years of Francesca
Francesca in numbers
Francesca peaked in 1998 with 1,052 girls and has fallen since, to 434 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1998 and 2001, from 1,052 to 695. It ranked 62nd in 1996, reached 53rd in 1998 and ranks 107th now. On average it was given to 979 girls a year in the late 1990s, 654 in the 2000s, 606 in the 2010s and 446 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%455 to 434
- 5 years-5%459 to 434
- 10 years-34%661 to 434
- 20 years-38%700 to 434
- Since 1996-55%966 to 434
- Total, 1996 to 202519,186girls
† 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 107 · ONS · 455 in 2024
Rank 191 · NRS · 28 in 2024
Rank 205 · NISRA · 7 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 | =107 | 434 | -5% | 1 in 656 |
| 2024 | 102 | 455 | +9% | 1 in 637 |
| 2023 | =117 | 419 | -5% | 1 in 687 |
| 2022 | 118 | 441 | -5% | 1 in 669 |
| 2021 | 110 | 466 | +2% | 1 in 654 |
| 2020 | 112 | 459 | -7% | 1 in 652 |
| 2019 | 106 | 491 | -13% | 1 in 634 |
| 2018 | 93 | 567 | -6% | 1 in 563 |
| 2017 | 89 | 600 | -2% | 1 in 552 |
| 2016 | =88 | 611 | -8% | 1 in 555 |
| 2015 | 83 | 661 | +2% | 1 in 514 |
| 2014 | 87 | 646 | -5% | 1 in 524 |
| 2013 * | 81 | 679 | +9% | 1 in 503 |
| 2012 | 90 | 622 | +3% | 1 in 571 |
| 2011 | 99 | 602 | +4% | 1 in 586 |
| 2010 | 102 | 580 | -3% | 1 in 607 |
| 2009 | 98 | 598 | -2% | 1 in 575 |
| 2008 | 92 | 613 | -1% | 1 in 564 |
| 2007 | 89 | 620 | -8% | 1 in 541 |
| 2006 | 85 | 677 | -3% | 1 in 483 |
| 2005 | 75 | 700 | +8% | 1 in 450 |
| 2004 | 79 | 647 | +2% | 1 in 481 |
| 2003 | 80 | 633 | +6% | 1 in 479 |
| 2002 | 88 | 599 | -14% | 1 in 484 |
| 2001 | 76 | 695 | -8% | 1 in 417 |
| 2000 | 67 | 757 | -18% | 1 in 389 |
| 1999 | 56 | 921 | -12% | 1 in 329 |
| 1998 | 53 | 1,052 | +8% | n/a |
| 1997 | 60 | 975 | +1% | 1 in 322 |
| 1996 | 62 | 966 | 1 in 327 |
* ONS’s girls’ 2013 file repeats the May total as April, so the 2013 births total is about 1,360 too high and 1 in X for 2013 is slightly too high. 1 in X is not shown for girls in 1998: one monthly total is missing from the ONS girls’ 1998 file. 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 Francesca
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Francesca 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