Thirty years of Sarah
Sarah in numbers
Sarah peaked in 1996 with 3,111 girls and has fallen since, to 371 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1996 and 1999, from 3,111 to 1,733. It ranked 18th in 1996 and ranks 131st now. On average it was given to 2,380 girls a year in the late 1990s, 1,064 in the 2000s, 582 in the 2010s and 391 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-1%375 to 371
- 5 years-12%422 to 371
- 10 years-36%581 to 371
- 20 years-61%962 to 371
- Since 1996-88%3,111 to 371
- Total, 1996 to 202528,326girls
† 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 131 · ONS · 375 in 2024
Rank 149 · NRS · 29 in 2024
Rank 106 · NISRA · 27 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 | 131 | 371 | -1% | 1 in 767 |
| 2024 | =130 | 375 | -4% | 1 in 773 |
| 2023 | =127 | 392 | +2% | 1 in 735 |
| 2022 | 131 | 384 | -5% | 1 in 768 |
| 2021 | =125 | 403 | -5% | 1 in 756 |
| 2020 | =115 | 422 | -12% | 1 in 710 |
| 2019 | 107 | 479 | -5% | 1 in 650 |
| 2018 | 103 | 503 | -5% | 1 in 635 |
| 2017 | 103 | 530 | -7% | 1 in 625 |
| 2016 | 96 | 572 | -2% | 1 in 593 |
| 2015 | 96 | 581 | -3% | 1 in 585 |
| 2014 | 95 | 601 | +5% | 1 in 563 |
| 2013 * | 96 | 574 | -3% | 1 in 595 |
| 2012 | 95 | 592 | -11% | 1 in 600 |
| 2011 | 90 | 663 | -8% | 1 in 532 |
| 2010 | 83 | 722 | -9% | 1 in 488 |
| 2009 | 79 | 793 | -15% | 1 in 434 |
| 2008 | 72 | 930 | +4% | 1 in 372 |
| 2007 | =70 | 897 | -8% | 1 in 374 |
| 2006 | 58 | 976 | +1% | 1 in 335 |
| 2005 | 56 | 962 | -7% | 1 in 328 |
| 2004 | 56 | 1,037 | -3% | 1 in 300 |
| 2003 | 49 | 1,066 | -8% | 1 in 284 |
| 2002 | 39 | 1,161 | -10% | 1 in 250 |
| 2001 | 38 | 1,285 | -16% | 1 in 226 |
| 2000 | 34 | 1,536 | -11% | 1 in 192 |
| 1999 | 31 | 1,733 | -16% | 1 in 175 |
| 1998 | 27 | 2,062 | -21% | n/a |
| 1997 | 22 | 2,613 | -16% | 1 in 120 |
| 1996 | 18 | 3,111 | 1 in 102 |
* 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 Sarah
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Sarah 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