Thirty years of Reuben
Reuben in numbers
Reuben has climbed from 160 boys in 1996 to 1,412 in 2025, close to its peak of 1,534 in 2021. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2004 and 2007, from 475 to 791. It ranked 200th in 1996 and reached 29th 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 187 boys a year in the late 1990s, 529 in the 2000s, 1,194 in the 2010s and 1,426 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Similar spellings in the 2025 list†: Ruben (527), Robin (485), Rueben (107), Robyn (7), Rubin (5). Matched by their letters, not by meaning or origin. ONS counts each spelling separately, so these are not added to Reuben.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-2%1,442 to 1,412
- 5 years+5%1,339 to 1,412
- 10 years+19%1,188 to 1,412
- 20 years+149%567 to 1,412
- Since 1996×9160 to 1,412
- Total, 1996 to 202526,534boys
† 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 29 · ONS · 1,442 in 2024
Rank 37 · NRS · 106 in 2024
Rank 29 · NISRA · 53 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 | 29 | 1,412 | -2% | 1 in 213 |
| 2024 | 33 | 1,442 | +6% | 1 in 211 |
| 2023 | 37 | 1,356 | -8% | 1 in 223 |
| 2022 | 36 | 1,475 | -4% | 1 in 211 |
| 2021 | 36 | 1,534 | +15% | 1 in 209 |
| 2020 | 44 | 1,339 | -6% | 1 in 235 |
| 2019 | 44 | 1,424 | -5% | 1 in 231 |
| 2018 | 42 | 1,504 | +15% | 1 in 224 |
| 2017 | 49 | 1,309 | -1% | 1 in 266 |
| 2016 * | 48 | 1,322 | +11% | 1 in 269 |
| 2015 | 51 | 1,188 | +2% | 1 in 301 |
| 2014 | 51 | 1,166 | +2% | 1 in 306 |
| 2013 | 54 | 1,144 | +13% | 1 in 313 |
| 2012 | 68 | 1,014 | +8% | 1 in 369 |
| 2011 | 72 | 941 | +1% | 1 in 394 |
| 2010 | 71 | 931 | +9% | 1 in 398 |
| 2009 | 79 | 854 | +11% | 1 in 424 |
| 2008 | 87 | 768 | -3% | 1 in 473 |
| 2007 | 88 | 791 | +16% | 1 in 448 |
| 2006 | 97 | 680 | +20% | 1 in 504 |
| 2005 | 102 | 567 | +19% | 1 in 583 |
| 2004 | 118 | 475 | +20% | 1 in 691 |
| 2003 | 122 | 396 | +53% | 1 in 804 |
| 2002 | 154 | 259 | +2% | 1 in 1,182 |
| 2001 | =152 | 253 | +5% | 1 in 1,204 |
| 2000 | 151 | 242 | +25% | 1 in 1,279 |
| 1999 | =175 | 194 | -9% | 1 in 1,646 |
| 1998 | 159 | 213 | +18% | 1 in 1,530 |
| 1997 | 180 | 181 | +13% | 1 in 1,821 |
| 1996 | =200 | 160 | 1 in 2,084 |
* 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 Reuben
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
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Reuben 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