Thirty years of Sophia
Sophia in numbers
Sophia peaked in 2012 with 2,855 girls and has fallen since, to 1,547 in 2025. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2009 and 2012, from 1,693 to 2,855. It ranked 95th in 1996, reached 7th in 2019 and ranks 13th now. On average it was given to 554 girls a year in the late 1990s, 1,006 in the 2000s, 2,552 in the 2010s and 1,783 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-4%1,610 to 1,547
- 5 years-24%2,028 to 1,547
- 10 years-44%2,744 to 1,547
- 20 years+65%940 to 1,547
- Since 1996×3516 to 1,547
- Total, 1996 to 202548,483girls
† 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 13 · ONS · 1,610 in 2024
Rank 9 · NRS · 214 in 2024
Rank 15 · NISRA · 91 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 | 13 | 1,547 | -4% | 1 in 184 |
| 2024 | 13 | 1,610 | -4% | 1 in 180 |
| 2023 | 12 | 1,679 | -7% | 1 in 172 |
| 2022 | 14 | 1,813 | -10% | 1 in 163 |
| 2021 | 12 | 2,019 | -0% | 1 in 151 |
| 2020 | 10 | 2,028 | -13% | 1 in 148 |
| 2019 | 7 | 2,332 | -1% | 1 in 133 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2,344 | -2% | 1 in 136 |
| 2017 | 11 | 2,398 | -9% | 1 in 138 |
| 2016 | 11 | 2,636 | -4% | 1 in 129 |
| 2015 | 12 | 2,744 | -0% | 1 in 124 |
| 2014 | 12 | 2,752 | -0% | 1 in 123 |
| 2013 * | 15 | 2,764 | -3% | 1 in 124 |
| 2012 | 15 | 2,855 | +7% | 1 in 124 |
| 2011 | 18 | 2,661 | +31% | 1 in 133 |
| 2010 | 27 | 2,031 | +20% | 1 in 173 |
| 2009 | 35 | 1,693 | +12% | 1 in 203 |
| 2008 | 39 | 1,510 | +8% | 1 in 229 |
| 2007 | 37 | 1,398 | +23% | 1 in 240 |
| 2006 | 49 | 1,137 | +21% | 1 in 288 |
| 2005 | 60 | 940 | +7% | 1 in 335 |
| 2004 | 63 | 879 | +24% | 1 in 354 |
| 2003 | 74 | 709 | +14% | 1 in 427 |
| 2002 | 86 | 622 | +8% | 1 in 466 |
| 2001 | 88 | 577 | -2% | 1 in 503 |
| 2000 | 89 | 591 | +10% | 1 in 499 |
| 1999 | 98 | 536 | -10% | 1 in 565 |
| 1998 | =87 | 596 | +5% | n/a |
| 1997 | 91 | 566 | +10% | 1 in 554 |
| 1996 | 95 | 516 | 1 in 612 |
* 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 Sophia
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Sophia 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