Thirty years of Maeve
Maeve in numbers
Maeve is still climbing: from 24 girls in 1996 to 1,330 in 2025, its highest count so far. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2019 and 2022, from 225 to 990. It ranked 891st in 1996, reached 26th in 2024 and is still 26th. On average it was given to 30 girls a year in the late 1990s, 38 in the 2000s, 80 in the 2010s and 983 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
What the official statisticians said
“Maeve and Otis are still on the up after the second series of the successful Netflix show aired in 2020”
ONS, on 2021 births in England and Wales. Read the source
“Maeve and Otis, characters from the popular programme ‘Sex Education’, have seen a surge in popularity in 2020.”
ONS, on 2020 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+5%1,265 to 1,330
- 5 years+143%547 to 1,330
- 10 years+1,885%67 to 1,330
- 20 years+3,812%34 to 1,330
- Since 1996×5524 to 1,330
- Total, 1996 to 20257,195girls
† 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 26 · ONS · 1,265 in 2024
Rank 23 · NRS · 129 in 2024
Rank 55 · NISRA · 34 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 | 26 | 1,330 | +5% | 1 in 214 |
| 2024 | 26 | 1,265 | +14% | 1 in 229 |
| 2023 | 36 | 1,114 | +13% | 1 in 259 |
| 2022 | 48 | 990 | +51% | 1 in 298 |
| 2021 | 77 | 654 | +20% | 1 in 466 |
| 2020 | 94 | 547 | +143% | 1 in 547 |
| 2019 | =218 | 225 | +168% | 1 in 1,383 |
| 2018 | =507 | 84 | +9% | 1 in 3,803 |
| 2017 | =560 | 77 | +17% | 1 in 4,299 |
| 2016 | =638 | 66 | -1% | 1 in 5,140 |
| 2015 | =620 | 67 | +10% | 1 in 5,070 |
| 2014 | =652 | 61 | +7% | 1 in 5,548 |
| 2013 * | =699 | 57 | -5% | 1 in 5,991 |
| 2012 | =690 | 60 | +18% | 1 in 5,922 |
| 2011 | =744 | 51 | -4% | 1 in 6,920 |
| 2010 | =695 | 53 | -7% | 1 in 6,645 |
| 2009 | =647 | 57 | +54% | 1 in 6,037 |
| 2008 | =878 | 37 | -16% | 1 in 9,344 |
| 2007 | =755 | 44 | +2% | 1 in 7,625 |
| 2006 | =717 | 43 | +26% | 1 in 7,608 |
| 2005 | =824 | 34 | -13% | 1 in 9,271 |
| 2004 | =722 | 39 | +50% | 1 in 7,984 |
| 2003 | =933 | 26 | -7% | 1 in 11,655 |
| 2002 | =842 | 28 | -22% | 1 in 10,359 |
| 2001 | =696 | 36 | +13% | 1 in 8,055 |
| 2000 | =728 | 32 | +33% | 1 in 9,213 |
| 1999 | =900 | 24 | -37% | 1 in 12,609 |
| 1998 | =649 | 38 | +19% | n/a |
| 1997 | =736 | 32 | +33% | 1 in 9,797 |
| 1996 | =891 | 24 | 1 in 13,166 |
* 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 Maeve
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Maeve 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
Maeve is in our lists: Mythological baby names.