Thirty years of Leo
Leo in numbers
Leo has risen from 149 boys in 1996 to 3,278 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 3,781 in 2017. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2003 and 2006, from 774 to 2,047. It ranked 210th in 1996 and reached 3rd in 2025, its best place so far: fewer babies get the name than at its peak, but the names above it have fallen further. On average it was given to 178 boys a year in the late 1990s, 1,264 in the 2000s, 3,277 in the 2010s and 3,401 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
What the official statisticians said
“Tony Blair's decision to name his youngest child Leo appears to have been a popular one”
General Register Office, on 2004 births in England and Wales. Read the source
Quoted word for word from the official releases, including their own “may” and “could”. Baby Data has not added reasons of its own. Releases for Scotland and Northern Ireland are about babies there, not in England and Wales.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-1%3,324 to 3,278
- 5 years-1%3,314 to 3,278
- 10 years-5%3,468 to 3,278
- 20 years+90%1,723 to 3,278
- Since 1996×22149 to 3,278
- Total, 1996 to 202566,527boys
† 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 3 · ONS · 3,324 in 2024
Rank 7 · NRS · 260 in 2024
Rank 5 · NISRA · 94 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 | 3 | 3,278 | -1% | 1 in 92 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3,324 | -3% | 1 in 92 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3,416 | -5% | 1 in 89 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,610 | +4% | 1 in 86 |
| 2021 | 6 | 3,465 | +5% | 1 in 92 |
| 2020 | 6 | 3,314 | -9% | 1 in 95 |
| 2019 | 6 | 3,637 | -2% | 1 in 90 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,721 | -2% | 1 in 91 |
| 2017 | 7 | 3,781 | +6% | 1 in 92 |
| 2016 * | 13 | 3,563 | +3% | 1 in 100 |
| 2015 | 15 | 3,468 | +2% | 1 in 103 |
| 2014 | 16 | 3,414 | +5% | 1 in 105 |
| 2013 | 17 | 3,264 | +4% | 1 in 110 |
| 2012 | 20 | 3,134 | +18% | 1 in 119 |
| 2011 | 27 | 2,664 | +25% | 1 in 139 |
| 2010 | 36 | 2,123 | +6% | 1 in 175 |
| 2009 | 40 | 2,011 | +6% | 1 in 180 |
| 2008 | 40 | 1,903 | +12% | 1 in 191 |
| 2007 | 43 | 1,697 | -17% | 1 in 209 |
| 2006 | 33 | 2,047 | +19% | 1 in 167 |
| 2005 | 37 | 1,723 | +54% | 1 in 192 |
| 2004 | 57 | 1,119 | +45% | 1 in 293 |
| 2003 | 77 | 774 | +29% | 1 in 411 |
| 2002 | 88 | 601 | +19% | 1 in 509 |
| 2001 | =101 | 504 | +93% | 1 in 604 |
| 2000 | 142 | 261 | +21% | 1 in 1,186 |
| 1999 | 160 | 216 | +13% | 1 in 1,478 |
| 1998 | 176 | 192 | +25% | 1 in 1,697 |
| 1997 | 212 | 154 | +3% | 1 in 2,140 |
| 1996 | =210 | 149 | 1 in 2,238 |
* 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 Leo
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Leo 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
Leo is in our lists: Short baby names.