Thirty years of John
John in numbers
John peaked in 1996 with 1,649 boys and has fallen since, to 296 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1996 and 1999, from 1,649 to 1,158. It ranked 46th in 1996 and ranks 174th now. On average it was given to 1,401 boys a year in the late 1990s, 925 in the 2000s, 567 in the 2010s and 336 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Similar spellings in the 2025 list†: Johan (30), Johann (9), Jahaan (5), Jahan (3), Jihan (3). Matched by their letters, not by meaning or origin. ONS counts each spelling separately, so these are not added to John.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-3%304 to 296
- 5 years-18%361 to 296
- 10 years-50%594 to 296
- 20 years-69%946 to 296
- Since 1996-82%1,649 to 296
- Total, 1996 to 202522,533boys
† 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 174 · ONS · 304 in 2024
Rank 102 · NRS · 66 in 2024
Rank 67 · NISRA · 38 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 | 174 | 296 | -3% | 1 in 1,016 |
| 2024 | 164 | 304 | -9% | 1 in 1,003 |
| 2023 | 158 | 334 | -7% | 1 in 907 |
| 2022 | 150 | 360 | +0% | 1 in 863 |
| 2021 | 154 | 359 | -1% | 1 in 892 |
| 2020 | 150 | 361 | -16% | 1 in 871 |
| 2019 | 131 | 431 | -11% | 1 in 764 |
| 2018 | 122 | 486 | -5% | 1 in 695 |
| 2017 | 118 | 513 | +0% | 1 in 679 |
| 2016 * | 120 | 512 | -14% | 1 in 696 |
| 2015 | 108 | 594 | -1% | 1 in 603 |
| 2014 | 101 | 601 | +4% | 1 in 594 |
| 2013 | 107 | 576 | -7% | 1 in 622 |
| 2012 | 104 | 618 | -4% | 1 in 606 |
| 2011 | 100 | 645 | -7% | 1 in 575 |
| 2010 | 94 | 690 | -9% | 1 in 538 |
| 2009 | 83 | 762 | -6% | 1 in 475 |
| 2008 | 83 | 810 | -10% | 1 in 448 |
| 2007 | 75 | 905 | +0% | 1 in 392 |
| 2006 | 73 | 905 | -4% | 1 in 378 |
| 2005 | 72 | 946 | -5% | 1 in 349 |
| 2004 | 64 | 995 | +8% | 1 in 330 |
| 2003 | 66 | 920 | +0% | 1 in 346 |
| 2002 | 64 | 916 | -8% | 1 in 334 |
| 2001 | 58 | 995 | -9% | 1 in 306 |
| 2000 | 58 | 1,096 | -5% | 1 in 282 |
| 1999 | 57 | 1,158 | -15% | 1 in 276 |
| 1998 | 53 | 1,357 | -6% | 1 in 240 |
| 1997 | 49 | 1,439 | -13% | 1 in 229 |
| 1996 | 46 | 1,649 | 1 in 202 |
* 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 John
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
John 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