Thirty years of James
James in numbers
James peaked in 1997 with 9,853 boys and has fallen since, to 1,211 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1999 and 2002, from 8,748 to 6,377. It ranked 4th in 1996, reached 2nd in 1997 and ranks 42nd now. On average it was given to 9,296 boys a year in the late 1990s, 5,925 in the 2000s, 3,748 in the 2010s and 1,529 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%1,252 to 1,211
- 5 years-39%1,977 to 1,211
- 10 years-69%3,912 to 1,211
- 20 years-79%5,654 to 1,211
- Since 1996-87%9,385 to 1,211
- Total, 1996 to 2025143,089boys
† 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 42 · ONS · 1,252 in 2024
Rank 14 · NRS · 203 in 2024
Rank 3 · NISRA · 143 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 | 42 | 1,211 | -3% | 1 in 248 |
| 2024 | 40 | 1,252 | -12% | 1 in 244 |
| 2023 | 35 | 1,430 | -7% | 1 in 212 |
| 2022 | 34 | 1,534 | -13% | 1 in 202 |
| 2021 | 30 | 1,772 | -10% | 1 in 181 |
| 2020 | 24 | 1,977 | -15% | 1 in 159 |
| 2019 | 22 | 2,336 | -8% | 1 in 141 |
| 2018 | 21 | 2,536 | -13% | 1 in 133 |
| 2017 | 17 | 2,925 | -18% | 1 in 119 |
| 2016 * | 12 | 3,580 | -8% | 1 in 99 |
| 2015 | 11 | 3,912 | -6% | 1 in 92 |
| 2014 | 9 | 4,167 | -2% | 1 in 86 |
| 2013 | 9 | 4,236 | -6% | 1 in 85 |
| 2012 | 10 | 4,495 | -9% | 1 in 83 |
| 2011 | 8 | 4,945 | +14% | 1 in 75 |
| 2010 | 10 | 4,351 | -4% | 1 in 85 |
| 2009 | 9 | 4,544 | -12% | 1 in 80 |
| 2008 | 9 | 5,170 | +1% | 1 in 70 |
| 2007 | 9 | 5,136 | -5% | 1 in 69 |
| 2006 | 6 | 5,411 | -4% | 1 in 63 |
| 2005 | 4 | 5,654 | -8% | 1 in 58 |
| 2004 | 4 | 6,135 | -3% | 1 in 54 |
| 2003 | 4 | 6,305 | -1% | 1 in 51 |
| 2002 | 4 | 6,377 | -9% | 1 in 48 |
| 2001 | 4 | 7,026 | -6% | 1 in 43 |
| 2000 | 3 | 7,489 | -14% | 1 in 41 |
| 1999 | 3 | 8,748 | -5% | 1 in 36 |
| 1998 | 3 | 9,197 | -7% | 1 in 35 |
| 1997 | 2 | 9,853 | +5% | 1 in 33 |
| 1996 | 4 | 9,385 | 1 in 36 |
* 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 James
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
James 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
James is in our lists: Royal baby names.