Thirty years of Sophie
Sophie in numbers
Sophie peaked in 1996 with 7,087 girls and has fallen since, to 724 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 1996 and 1999, from 7,087 to 5,031. It ranked 1st in 1996 and ranks 63rd now. On average it was given to 6,028 girls a year in the late 1990s, 4,489 in the 2000s, 2,895 in the 2010s and 1,094 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-18%886 to 724
- 5 years-53%1,525 to 724
- 10 years-74%2,779 to 724
- 20 years-84%4,422 to 724
- Since 1996-90%7,087 to 724
- Total, 1996 to 2025104,514girls
† 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 63 · ONS · 886 in 2024
Rank 12 · NRS · 164 in 2024
Rank 15 · NISRA · 74 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 | 63 | 724 | -18% | 1 in 393 |
| 2024 | 50 | 886 | -6% | 1 in 327 |
| 2023 | 51 | 940 | -16% | 1 in 306 |
| 2022 | 39 | 1,115 | -19% | 1 in 264 |
| 2021 | 30 | 1,375 | -10% | 1 in 222 |
| 2020 | 26 | 1,525 | -12% | 1 in 196 |
| 2019 | 23 | 1,727 | -14% | 1 in 180 |
| 2018 | 17 | 2,007 | -6% | 1 in 159 |
| 2017 | 16 | 2,129 | -15% | 1 in 155 |
| 2016 | 14 | 2,505 | -10% | 1 in 135 |
| 2015 | 11 | 2,779 | -4% | 1 in 122 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,905 | -4% | 1 in 117 |
| 2013 * | 9 | 3,013 | -14% | 1 in 113 |
| 2012 | 9 | 3,496 | -11% | 1 in 102 |
| 2011 | 6 | 3,923 | -12% | 1 in 90 |
| 2010 | 2 | 4,469 | +0% | 1 in 79 |
| 2009 | 5 | 4,452 | +2% | 1 in 77 |
| 2008 | 7 | 4,380 | +5% | 1 in 79 |
| 2007 | 6 | 4,188 | -3% | 1 in 80 |
| 2006 | 6 | 4,309 | -3% | 1 in 76 |
| 2005 | 3 | 4,422 | -5% | 1 in 71 |
| 2004 | 4 | 4,670 | +2% | 1 in 67 |
| 2003 | 5 | 4,592 | -2% | 1 in 66 |
| 2002 | 5 | 4,688 | +3% | 1 in 62 |
| 2001 | 5 | 4,560 | -1% | 1 in 64 |
| 2000 | 7 | 4,624 | -8% | 1 in 64 |
| 1999 | 5 | 5,031 | -11% | 1 in 60 |
| 1998 | 5 | 5,682 | -10% | n/a |
| 1997 | 3 | 6,311 | -11% | 1 in 50 |
| 1996 | 1 | 7,087 | 1 in 45 |
* 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 Sophie
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Sophie 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