Thirty years of Layla
Layla in numbers
Layla peaked in 2012 with 1,796 girls and has fallen since, to 833 in 2025. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2008 and 2011, from 978 to 1,780. It ranked 270th in 1996, reached 29th in 2012 and ranks 50th now. On average it was given to 145 girls a year in the late 1990s, 541 in the 2000s, 1,427 in the 2010s and 849 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+10%760 to 833
- 5 years-11%939 to 833
- 10 years-42%1,428 to 833
- 20 years+57%530 to 833
- Since 1996×6138 to 833
- Total, 1996 to 202525,353girls
† 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 50 · ONS · 760 in 2024
Rank 43 · NRS · 89 in 2024
Rank 68 · NISRA · 23 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 | 50 | 833 | +10% | 1 in 342 |
| 2024 | 56 | 760 | -8% | 1 in 381 |
| 2023 | 53 | 826 | +1% | 1 in 349 |
| 2022 | 56 | 818 | -11% | 1 in 360 |
| 2021 | =53 | 917 | -2% | 1 in 332 |
| 2020 | 51 | 939 | -8% | 1 in 319 |
| 2019 | 48 | 1,025 | -11% | 1 in 304 |
| 2018 | 44 | 1,152 | -13% | 1 in 277 |
| 2017 | 38 | 1,329 | -2% | 1 in 249 |
| 2016 | 40 | 1,358 | -5% | 1 in 250 |
| 2015 | 35 | 1,428 | +3% | 1 in 238 |
| 2014 | 38 | 1,391 | -12% | 1 in 243 |
| 2013 * | 31 | 1,588 | -12% | 1 in 215 |
| 2012 | 29 | 1,796 | +1% | 1 in 198 |
| 2011 | 30 | 1,780 | +25% | 1 in 198 |
| 2010 | 44 | 1,419 | +11% | 1 in 248 |
| 2009 | 48 | 1,274 | +30% | 1 in 270 |
| 2008 | 68 | 978 | +37% | 1 in 354 |
| 2007 | 82 | 715 | +19% | 1 in 469 |
| 2006 | 90 | 599 | +13% | 1 in 546 |
| 2005 | 97 | 530 | +42% | 1 in 595 |
| 2004 | 140 | 372 | +6% | 1 in 837 |
| 2003 | 140 | 352 | +46% | 1 in 861 |
| 2002 | =179 | 241 | +30% | 1 in 1,204 |
| 2001 | =214 | 186 | +12% | 1 in 1,559 |
| 2000 | 241 | 166 | -3% | 1 in 1,776 |
| 1999 | =237 | 172 | +37% | 1 in 1,759 |
| 1998 | =292 | 126 | -13% | n/a |
| 1997 | =263 | 145 | +5% | 1 in 2,162 |
| 1996 | 270 | 138 | 1 in 2,290 |
* 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 Layla
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Layla 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