Thirty years of Lydia
Lydia in numbers
Lydia peaked in 1999 with 1,084 girls and has fallen since, to 317 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1999 and 2002, from 1,084 to 687. It ranked 61st in 1996, reached 50th in 1998 and ranks 158th now. On average it was given to 1,060 girls a year in the late 1990s, 725 in the 2000s, 524 in the 2010s and 324 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%287 to 317
- 5 years-13%366 to 317
- 10 years-42%550 to 317
- 20 years-51%649 to 317
- Since 1996-69%1,009 to 317
- Total, 1996 to 202518,670girls
† 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 158 · ONS · 287 in 2024
Rank 217 · NRS · 27 in 2024
Rank 117 · NISRA · 24 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 | =158 | 317 | +10% | 1 in 898 |
| 2024 | 174 | 287 | -10% | 1 in 1,009 |
| 2023 | 159 | 320 | +8% | 1 in 900 |
| 2022 | 173 | 295 | -18% | 1 in 1,000 |
| 2021 | 140 | 358 | -2% | 1 in 851 |
| 2020 | =136 | 366 | -2% | 1 in 818 |
| 2019 | 133 | 375 | -6% | 1 in 830 |
| 2018 | 130 | 398 | -15% | 1 in 803 |
| 2017 | 116 | 468 | -17% | 1 in 707 |
| 2016 | 100 | 563 | +2% | 1 in 603 |
| 2015 | 103 | 550 | -9% | 1 in 618 |
| 2014 | 94 | 602 | +9% | 1 in 562 |
| 2013 * | =100 | 552 | -6% | 1 in 619 |
| 2012 | 96 | 590 | +0% | 1 in 602 |
| 2011 | 100 | 589 | +7% | 1 in 599 |
| 2010 | 107 | 551 | -14% | 1 in 639 |
| 2009 | 91 | 639 | -3% | 1 in 538 |
| 2008 | 88 | 661 | -1% | 1 in 523 |
| 2007 | 86 | 667 | +2% | 1 in 503 |
| 2006 | 86 | 652 | +0% | 1 in 502 |
| 2005 | 84 | 649 | -15% | 1 in 486 |
| 2004 | 70 | 768 | +2% | 1 in 405 |
| 2003 | 69 | 754 | +10% | 1 in 402 |
| 2002 | 76 | 687 | -20% | 1 in 422 |
| 2001 | 59 | 861 | -6% | 1 in 337 |
| 2000 | 57 | 913 | -16% | 1 in 323 |
| 1999 | 50 | 1,084 | +0% | 1 in 279 |
| 1998 | 50 | 1,083 | +2% | n/a |
| 1997 | 56 | 1,062 | +5% | 1 in 295 |
| 1996 | 61 | 1,009 | 1 in 313 |
* 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 Lydia
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Lydia 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