Thirty years of Rupert
Rupert in numbers
Rupert dipped to 33 boys in 2000 and has come back to 670 in 2025. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2012 and 2015, from 176 to 396. It ranked 335th in 1996 and reached 79th in 2025, its best place so far. On average it was given to 54 boys a year in the late 1990s, 58 in the 2000s, 355 in the 2010s and 636 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+5%637 to 670
- 5 years+18%568 to 670
- 10 years+69%396 to 670
- 20 years+1,458%43 to 670
- Since 1996×971 to 670
- Total, 1996 to 20258,156boys
† 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 79 · ONS · 637 in 2024
Rank 495 · NRS · 12 in 2024
Rank 344 · NISRA
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 | 79 | 670 | +5% | 1 in 449 |
| 2024 | =83 | 637 | -0% | 1 in 479 |
| 2023 | =80 | 639 | -5% | 1 in 474 |
| 2022 | =84 | 670 | +6% | 1 in 464 |
| 2021 | 93 | 631 | +11% | 1 in 507 |
| 2020 | 106 | 568 | -9% | 1 in 554 |
| 2019 | 102 | 621 | +4% | 1 in 530 |
| 2018 | 107 | 597 | +31% | 1 in 565 |
| 2017 | =127 | 456 | +4% | 1 in 763 |
| 2016 * | 136 | 438 | +11% | 1 in 813 |
| 2015 | 143 | 396 | +15% | 1 in 904 |
| 2014 | 166 | 345 | +39% | 1 in 1,034 |
| 2013 | =213 | 249 | +41% | 1 in 1,439 |
| 2012 | 268 | 176 | +13% | 1 in 2,127 |
| 2011 | 287 | 156 | +36% | 1 in 2,378 |
| 2010 | 360 | 115 | +8% | 1 in 3,226 |
| 2009 | =366 | 106 | +54% | 1 in 3,416 |
| 2008 | =500 | 69 | -15% | 1 in 5,260 |
| 2007 | =431 | 81 | +11% | 1 in 4,376 |
| 2006 | =443 | 73 | +70% | 1 in 4,691 |
| 2005 | =615 | 43 | -14% | 1 in 7,688 |
| 2004 | =523 | 50 | -4% | 1 in 6,567 |
| 2003 | =469 | 52 | +53% | 1 in 6,123 |
| 2002 | =586 | 34 | +0% | 1 in 9,001 |
| 2001 | =559 | 34 | +3% | 1 in 8,959 |
| 2000 | =568 | 33 | -6% | 1 in 9,382 |
| 1999 | =544 | 35 | -27% | 1 in 9,121 |
| 1998 | =437 | 48 | -24% | 1 in 6,790 |
| 1997 | =365 | 63 | -11% | 1 in 5,231 |
| 1996 | =335 | 71 | 1 in 4,697 |
* 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 Rupert
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Rupert 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