Thirty years of Nathaniel
Nathaniel in numbers
Nathaniel has held steady for thirty years: never fewer than 294 boys a year and never more than 536. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2001 and 2004, from 348 to 483. On average it was given to 354 boys a year in the late 1990s, 423 in the 2000s, 476 in the 2010s and 351 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Similar spellings in the 2025 list†: Nathanael (37). Matched by their letters, not by meaning or origin. ONS counts each spelling separately, so these are not added to Nathaniel.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-2%370 to 361
- 5 years-3%373 to 361
- 10 years-30%517 to 361
- 20 years-20%453 to 361
- Since 1996+6%339 to 361
- Total, 1996 to 202512,512boys
† 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 149 · ONS · 370 in 2024
Rank 269 · NRS · 22 in 2024
Rank 212 · NISRA · 6 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 | 149 | 361 | -2% | 1 in 833 |
| 2024 | 144 | 370 | +26% | 1 in 824 |
| 2023 | =174 | 294 | -19% | 1 in 1,031 |
| 2022 | 149 | 361 | +4% | 1 in 860 |
| 2021 | 157 | 346 | -7% | 1 in 925 |
| 2020 | 148 | 373 | -9% | 1 in 843 |
| 2019 | 137 | 411 | -7% | 1 in 801 |
| 2018 | 131 | 440 | +10% | 1 in 767 |
| 2017 | =145 | 400 | -16% | 1 in 870 |
| 2016 * | 129 | 476 | -8% | 1 in 748 |
| 2015 | 124 | 517 | +7% | 1 in 693 |
| 2014 | 129 | 482 | +3% | 1 in 740 |
| 2013 | 127 | 469 | -13% | 1 in 764 |
| 2012 | =118 | 536 | +0% | 1 in 698 |
| 2011 | 119 | 535 | +8% | 1 in 693 |
| 2010 | 128 | 496 | -0% | 1 in 748 |
| 2009 | 117 | 498 | +6% | 1 in 727 |
| 2008 | 120 | 468 | +12% | 1 in 776 |
| 2007 | =129 | 419 | +6% | 1 in 846 |
| 2006 | =136 | 394 | -13% | 1 in 869 |
| 2005 | 120 | 453 | -6% | 1 in 730 |
| 2004 | 115 | 483 | +10% | 1 in 680 |
| 2003 | 116 | 441 | +12% | 1 in 722 |
| 2002 | 120 | 394 | +13% | 1 in 777 |
| 2001 | =123 | 348 | +5% | 1 in 875 |
| 2000 | 126 | 332 | -19% | 1 in 933 |
| 1999 | =114 | 409 | +24% | 1 in 781 |
| 1998 | 124 | 330 | -2% | 1 in 988 |
| 1997 | 123 | 337 | -1% | 1 in 978 |
| 1996 | =125 | 339 | 1 in 984 |
* ONS’s boys’ 2016 file repeats the October total as September, so the 2016 births total is about 932 too low and 1 in X for 2016 is slightly too low. 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 Nathaniel
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Nathaniel 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