Thirty years of Ophelia
Ophelia in numbers
Ophelia has risen from 17 girls in 1996 to 578 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 645 in 2024. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2020 and 2023, from 277 to 620. It ranked 1,112th in 1996, reached 73rd in 2024 and ranks 81st now. On average it was given to 24 girls a year in the late 1990s, 45 in the 2000s, 182 in the 2010s and 526 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
What the official statisticians said
“Parents later in the year may have been inspired by Taylor Swift’s song “The Fate of Ophelia””
National Records of Scotland, on 2025 births in Scotland. 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-10%645 to 578
- 5 years+109%277 to 578
- 10 years+193%197 to 578
- 20 years+1,345%40 to 578
- Since 1996×3417 to 578
- Total, 1996 to 20255,517girls
† 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 81 · ONS · 645 in 2024
Rank 183 · NRS · 14 in 2024
Rank 334 · 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 | 81 | 578 | -10% | 1 in 493 |
| 2024 | 73 | 645 | +4% | 1 in 449 |
| 2023 | 74 | 620 | +3% | 1 in 465 |
| 2022 | 81 | 603 | +39% | 1 in 489 |
| 2021 | =116 | 433 | +56% | 1 in 704 |
| 2020 | =180 | 277 | -2% | 1 in 1,081 |
| 2019 | 177 | 282 | -16% | 1 in 1,104 |
| 2018 | 161 | 335 | +38% | 1 in 954 |
| 2017 | =212 | 243 | +37% | 1 in 1,362 |
| 2016 | =283 | 177 | -10% | 1 in 1,916 |
| 2015 | =253 | 197 | +40% | 1 in 1,724 |
| 2014 | =326 | 141 | -7% | 1 in 2,400 |
| 2013 * | =306 | 152 | +32% | 1 in 2,247 |
| 2012 | 406 | 115 | +6% | 1 in 3,090 |
| 2011 | =412 | 108 | +52% | 1 in 3,268 |
| 2010 | =559 | 71 | -28% | 1 in 4,960 |
| 2009 | =421 | 99 | +46% | 1 in 3,476 |
| 2008 | =557 | 68 | +15% | 1 in 5,084 |
| 2007 | =604 | 59 | +18% | 1 in 5,686 |
| 2006 | =639 | 50 | +25% | 1 in 6,543 |
| 2005 | =736 | 40 | +8% | 1 in 7,880 |
| 2004 | =758 | 37 | +106% | 1 in 8,415 |
| 2003 | =1,224 | 18 | +6% | 1 in 16,835 |
| 2002 | =1,192 | 17 | -35% | 1 in 17,062 |
| 2001 | =871 | 26 | -19% | 1 in 11,153 |
| 2000 | =728 | 32 | +19% | 1 in 9,213 |
| 1999 | =816 | 27 | -4% | 1 in 11,208 |
| 1998 | =801 | 28 | +27% | n/a |
| 1997 | =946 | 22 | +29% | 1 in 14,251 |
| 1996 | =1,112 | 17 | 1 in 18,587 |
* 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 Ophelia
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Ophelia 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