Thirty years of Joey
Joey in numbers
Joey peaked in 2014 with 627 boys and has fallen since, to 324 in 2025. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2010 and 2013, from 86 to 624. It ranked 704th in 1996, reached 97th in 2014 and ranks 163rd now. On average it was given to 26 boys a year in the late 1990s, 70 in the 2000s, 408 in the 2010s and 361 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+8%301 to 324
- 5 years-20%405 to 324
- 10 years-40%543 to 324
- 20 years+227%99 to 324
- Since 1996×1522 to 324
- Total, 1996 to 20257,052boys
† 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 163 · ONS · 301 in 2024
Rank 75 · NRS · 50 in 2024
Rank 72 · NISRA · 18 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 | 163 | 324 | +8% | 1 in 928 |
| 2024 | 168 | 301 | -7% | 1 in 1,013 |
| 2023 | 160 | 324 | -11% | 1 in 935 |
| 2022 | 146 | 365 | -19% | 1 in 851 |
| 2021 | =126 | 449 | +11% | 1 in 713 |
| 2020 | 137 | 405 | -1% | 1 in 776 |
| 2019 | =139 | 408 | +7% | 1 in 807 |
| 2018 | =147 | 382 | -15% | 1 in 884 |
| 2017 | 132 | 451 | -2% | 1 in 772 |
| 2016 * | 131 | 459 | -15% | 1 in 776 |
| 2015 | =117 | 543 | -13% | 1 in 660 |
| 2014 | 97 | 627 | +0% | 1 in 569 |
| 2013 | 102 | 624 | +86% | 1 in 574 |
| 2012 | 176 | 336 | +104% | 1 in 1,114 |
| 2011 | =273 | 165 | +92% | 1 in 2,248 |
| 2010 | =439 | 86 | -25% | 1 in 4,313 |
| 2009 | =343 | 115 | +28% | 1 in 3,149 |
| 2008 | =412 | 90 | +14% | 1 in 4,033 |
| 2007 | =436 | 79 | -9% | 1 in 4,487 |
| 2006 | =392 | 87 | -12% | 1 in 3,936 |
| 2005 | =322 | 99 | +32% | 1 in 3,339 |
| 2004 | =378 | 75 | +67% | 1 in 4,378 |
| 2003 | =519 | 45 | +36% | 1 in 7,076 |
| 2002 | =600 | 33 | -13% | 1 in 9,274 |
| 2001 | =518 | 38 | +0% | 1 in 8,016 |
| 2000 | =515 | 38 | +19% | 1 in 8,148 |
| 1999 | =575 | 32 | +7% | 1 in 9,976 |
| 1998 | =600 | 30 | +50% | 1 in 10,863 |
| 1997 | =788 | 20 | -9% | 1 in 16,478 |
| 1996 | =704 | 22 | 1 in 15,158 |
* 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 Joey
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Joey 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