Thirty years of Lucy
Lucy in numbers
Lucy peaked in 1998 with 4,515 girls and has fallen since, to 346 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 2006 and 2009, from 3,506 to 2,597. It ranked 15th in 1996, reached 7th in 2003 and ranks 143rd now. On average it was given to 4,135 girls a year in the late 1990s, 3,570 in the 2000s, 1,571 in the 2010s and 510 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-12%392 to 346
- 5 years-54%755 to 346
- 10 years-77%1,525 to 346
- 20 years-90%3,534 to 346
- Since 1996-91%3,753 to 346
- Total, 1996 to 202571,001girls
† 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 143 · ONS · 392 in 2024
Rank 37 · NRS · 113 in 2024
Rank 34 · NISRA · 45 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 | 143 | 346 | -12% | 1 in 823 |
| 2024 | 123 | 392 | -6% | 1 in 739 |
| 2023 | =117 | 419 | -22% | 1 in 687 |
| 2022 | 90 | 540 | -11% | 1 in 546 |
| 2021 | 85 | 607 | -20% | 1 in 502 |
| 2020 | 69 | 755 | -14% | 1 in 397 |
| 2019 | 61 | 882 | -3% | 1 in 353 |
| 2018 | 61 | 910 | -16% | 1 in 351 |
| 2017 | 49 | 1,089 | -14% | 1 in 304 |
| 2016 | 43 | 1,273 | -17% | 1 in 266 |
| 2015 | 32 | 1,525 | -8% | 1 in 223 |
| 2014 | 30 | 1,664 | -1% | 1 in 203 |
| 2013 * | 28 | 1,683 | -12% | 1 in 203 |
| 2012 | 27 | 1,908 | -14% | 1 in 186 |
| 2011 | 23 | 2,228 | -12% | 1 in 158 |
| 2010 | 21 | 2,544 | -2% | 1 in 138 |
| 2009 | 16 | 2,597 | -10% | 1 in 132 |
| 2008 | 14 | 2,876 | -10% | 1 in 120 |
| 2007 | 11 | 3,178 | -9% | 1 in 106 |
| 2006 | 8 | 3,506 | -1% | 1 in 93 |
| 2005 | 8 | 3,534 | -10% | 1 in 89 |
| 2004 | 7 | 3,908 | -3% | 1 in 80 |
| 2003 | 7 | 4,032 | +6% | 1 in 75 |
| 2002 | 10 | 3,796 | -5% | 1 in 76 |
| 2001 | 9 | 4,012 | -6% | 1 in 72 |
| 2000 | 10 | 4,257 | +5% | 1 in 69 |
| 1999 | 13 | 4,037 | -11% | 1 in 75 |
| 1998 | 10 | 4,515 | +7% | n/a |
| 1997 | 12 | 4,235 | +13% | 1 in 74 |
| 1996 | 15 | 3,753 | 1 in 84 |
* 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 Lucy
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Lucy 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