Thirty years of Lily
Lily in numbers
Lily peaked in 2011 with 4,761 girls and has fallen since, to 2,249 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 2011 and 2014, from 4,761 to 2,965. It ranked 85th in 1996 and reached 2nd 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 813 girls a year in the late 1990s, 2,753 in the 2000s, 3,098 in the 2010s and 2,223 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%2,185 to 2,249
- 5 years+5%2,150 to 2,249
- 10 years-17%2,711 to 2,249
- 20 years-22%2,871 to 2,249
- Since 1996×3651 to 2,249
- Total, 1996 to 202575,089girls
† 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 2 · ONS · 2,185 in 2024
Rank 8 · NRS · 231 in 2024
Rank 5 · NISRA · 95 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 | 2 | 2,249 | +3% | 1 in 127 |
| 2024 | 3 | 2,185 | -5% | 1 in 133 |
| 2023 | 4 | 2,290 | +0% | 1 in 126 |
| 2022 | 5 | 2,281 | +5% | 1 in 129 |
| 2021 | 7 | 2,182 | +1% | 1 in 140 |
| 2020 | 7 | 2,150 | -6% | 1 in 139 |
| 2019 | 9 | 2,285 | +5% | 1 in 136 |
| 2018 | 13 | 2,184 | -9% | 1 in 146 |
| 2017 | 10 | 2,405 | -12% | 1 in 138 |
| 2016 | 7 | 2,722 | +0% | 1 in 125 |
| 2015 | 13 | 2,711 | -9% | 1 in 125 |
| 2014 | 9 | 2,965 | +3% | 1 in 114 |
| 2013 * | 12 | 2,883 | -24% | 1 in 118 |
| 2012 | 5 | 3,802 | -20% | 1 in 93 |
| 2011 | 3 | 4,761 | +12% | 1 in 74 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,257 | +7% | 1 in 83 |
| 2009 | 8 | 3,967 | -2% | 1 in 87 |
| 2008 | 8 | 4,047 | +1% | 1 in 85 |
| 2007 | 8 | 4,011 | +18% | 1 in 84 |
| 2006 | 9 | 3,407 | +19% | 1 in 96 |
| 2005 | 16 | 2,871 | +2% | 1 in 110 |
| 2004 | 16 | 2,803 | +26% | 1 in 111 |
| 2003 | 23 | 2,221 | +30% | 1 in 136 |
| 2002 | 28 | 1,706 | +25% | 1 in 170 |
| 2001 | 35 | 1,368 | +22% | 1 in 212 |
| 2000 | 45 | 1,124 | +12% | 1 in 262 |
| 1999 | 53 | 1,007 | +15% | 1 in 301 |
| 1998 | 61 | 873 | +21% | n/a |
| 1997 | 75 | 721 | +11% | 1 in 435 |
| 1996 | 85 | 651 | 1 in 485 |
* 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 Lily
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Lily 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
Lily is in our lists: Nature baby names, Flower baby names, Short baby names.