Thirty years of Matilda
Matilda in numbers
Matilda has risen from 200 girls in 1996 to 1,449 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 1,915 in 2016. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2005 and 2008, from 620 to 1,418. It ranked 211th in 1996 and reached 19th 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 245 girls a year in the late 1990s, 708 in the 2000s, 1,527 in the 2010s and 1,347 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+19%1,220 to 1,449
- 5 years+3%1,401 to 1,449
- 10 years-18%1,774 to 1,449
- 20 years+134%620 to 1,449
- Since 1996×7200 to 1,449
- Total, 1996 to 202531,414girls
† 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 19 · ONS · 1,220 in 2024
Rank 93 · NRS · 29 in 2024
Rank 111 · NISRA · 18 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 | 19 | 1,449 | +19% | 1 in 196 |
| 2024 | 31 | 1,220 | +1% | 1 in 237 |
| 2023 | 30 | 1,212 | -11% | 1 in 238 |
| 2022 | 29 | 1,363 | -5% | 1 in 216 |
| 2021 | 28 | 1,437 | +3% | 1 in 212 |
| 2020 | 29 | 1,401 | -10% | 1 in 214 |
| 2019 | 30 | 1,563 | -3% | 1 in 199 |
| 2018 | 31 | 1,618 | -7% | 1 in 197 |
| 2017 | 27 | 1,736 | -9% | 1 in 191 |
| 2016 | 25 | 1,915 | +8% | 1 in 177 |
| 2015 | 27 | 1,774 | +23% | 1 in 191 |
| 2014 | 36 | 1,440 | -0% | 1 in 235 |
| 2013 * | 36 | 1,446 | +13% | 1 in 236 |
| 2012 | 47 | 1,284 | +5% | 1 in 277 |
| 2011 | 48 | 1,225 | -4% | 1 in 288 |
| 2010 | 53 | 1,273 | -1% | 1 in 277 |
| 2009 | 46 | 1,285 | -9% | 1 in 268 |
| 2008 | 43 | 1,418 | +45% | 1 in 244 |
| 2007 | 62 | 981 | +16% | 1 in 342 |
| 2006 | 70 | 848 | +37% | 1 in 386 |
| 2005 | 89 | 620 | +26% | 1 in 508 |
| 2004 | 107 | 494 | +21% | 1 in 630 |
| 2003 | 122 | 409 | +11% | 1 in 741 |
| 2002 | 127 | 369 | +12% | 1 in 786 |
| 2001 | =136 | 330 | +2% | 1 in 879 |
| 2000 | 143 | 323 | +15% | 1 in 913 |
| 1999 | =158 | 282 | +13% | 1 in 1,073 |
| 1998 | 174 | 249 | -0% | n/a |
| 1997 | 177 | 250 | +25% | 1 in 1,254 |
| 1996 | =211 | 200 | 1 in 1,580 |
* 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 Matilda
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Matilda 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
Matilda is in our lists: Vintage baby names.