Names / Boys / England and Wales

Ilyas

Ilyas was given to 276 boys in England and Wales in 2025, ranking 182nd, its highest place in thirty years.

276babies in 2025
#182rank, up 19 on 2024
1 in 1,090†boys born in 2025
+128%†since 2020 (121)

Thirty years of Ilyas

IlyasEvery year 1996 to 2025 published (3 or more babies)

Ilyas in numbers

Ilyas is still climbing: from 14 boys in 1996 to 276 in 2025, its highest count so far. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2021 and 2024, from 151 to 250. On average it was given to 16 boys a year in the late 1990s, 51 in the 2000s, 106 in the 2010s and 199 in the 2020s so far.

† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.

Similar spellings in the 2025 list†: Ilyaas (25), Ilias (14), Ilyes (6), Illyas (4), Ilyass (3). Matched by their letters, not by meaning or origin. ONS counts each spelling separately, so these are not added to Ilyas.

Milestones

First year in each band
1996In the top 1,000 from 1996
2004First in the top 500
2025Its peak: 276 babies
Not yetin the top 100

Change

  • On last year+10%250 to 276
  • 5 years+128%121 to 276
  • 10 years+136%117 to 276
  • 20 years+452%50 to 276
  • Since 1996×2014 to 276
  • Total, 1996 to 20252,828boys

† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.

Names around it

Similar thirty-year curve†: Muhammad, Zayd, Oakley, Luca, Musa. Similar popularity shape, not similar sound or meaning.

Across the three nations, 2025

Each from its own statistics office, never added together
England and Wales276

Rank 182 · ONS · 250 in 2024

Scotland6

Rank 495 · NRS · 3 in 2024

Northern IrelandNot in the latest list

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
Ilyas year by year
YearRankBabiesChange†1 in X†
2025182276+10%1 in 1,090
2024=201250+17%1 in 1,220
2023=229213+17%1 in 1,423
2022=258182+21%1 in 1,707
2021=310151+25%1 in 2,120
2020=359121-18%1 in 2,599
2019322147+31%1 in 2,239
2018=387112+7%1 in 3,014
2017=419105+2%1 in 3,315
2016 *=410103-12%1 in 3,457
2015=373117+9%1 in 3,061
2014=381107+8%1 in 3,334
2013=40999-5%1 in 3,620
2012=395104+14%1 in 3,599
2011=43191+25%1 in 4,076
2010=48673+1%1 in 5,082
2009=49172-5%1 in 5,029
2008=46576+12%1 in 4,776
2007=48268+31%1 in 5,213
2006=56052+4%1 in 6,585
2005=53550-9%1 in 6,612
2004=47755+41%1 in 5,970
2003=57739+3%1 in 8,164
2002=54638+12%1 in 8,054
2001=55934+17%1 in 8,959
2000=62429+81%1 in 10,676
1999=94816-6%1 in 19,953
1998=88717+0%1 in 19,170
1997=87417+21%1 in 19,386
1996=976141 in 23,820

* 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 Ilyas

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Ilyas 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

OM

Oliver Mackman

Editor, BabyData

Oliver Mackman is the named editor of BabyData and a director of Best Business Loans Ltd (Companies House 16833937), the company that operates the site. He is accountable for its editorial standards, sourcing and corrections, and requires every number to cite the underlying rule and the official UK dataset behind it, with pregnancy tools reviewed against NHS and gov.uk guidance before publication.

Last reviewed: 12 October 2026