Thirty years of Tommy
Tommy in numbers
Tommy has risen from 247 boys in 1996 to 1,160 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 2,013 in 2020. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2017 and 2020, from 1,036 to 2,013. It ranked 144th in 1996, reached 22nd in 2020 and ranks 44th now. On average it was given to 336 boys a year in the late 1990s, 396 in the 2000s, 1,131 in the 2010s and 1,642 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-12%1,324 to 1,160
- 5 years-42%2,013 to 1,160
- 10 years+8%1,075 to 1,160
- 20 years+162%442 to 1,160
- Since 1996×5247 to 1,160
- Total, 1996 to 202526,460boys
† 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 44 · ONS · 1,324 in 2024
Rank 26 · NRS · 154 in 2024
Rank 14 · NISRA · 77 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 | 44 | 1,160 | -12% | 1 in 259 |
| 2024 | 39 | 1,324 | -19% | 1 in 230 |
| 2023 | 26 | 1,629 | -11% | 1 in 186 |
| 2022 | 23 | 1,824 | -4% | 1 in 170 |
| 2021 | 24 | 1,901 | -6% | 1 in 168 |
| 2020 | 22 | 2,013 | +7% | 1 in 156 |
| 2019 | 26 | 1,877 | +44% | 1 in 175 |
| 2018 | 50 | 1,299 | +25% | 1 in 260 |
| 2017 | 61 | 1,036 | -3% | 1 in 336 |
| 2016 * | 57 | 1,066 | -1% | 1 in 334 |
| 2015 | 60 | 1,075 | -4% | 1 in 333 |
| 2014 | 55 | 1,120 | -7% | 1 in 319 |
| 2013 | 52 | 1,207 | -6% | 1 in 297 |
| 2012 | 55 | 1,281 | +31% | 1 in 292 |
| 2011 | 65 | 980 | +168% | 1 in 379 |
| 2010 | 156 | 366 | -16% | 1 in 1,014 |
| 2009 | 137 | 434 | +16% | 1 in 834 |
| 2008 | 147 | 375 | +9% | 1 in 968 |
| 2007 | 156 | 343 | -17% | 1 in 1,033 |
| 2006 | 128 | 414 | -6% | 1 in 827 |
| 2005 | 123 | 442 | -2% | 1 in 748 |
| 2004 | 121 | 452 | +20% | 1 in 726 |
| 2003 | 129 | 376 | +1% | 1 in 847 |
| 2002 | 125 | 373 | -1% | 1 in 821 |
| 2001 | 116 | 375 | +0% | 1 in 812 |
| 2000 | 119 | 375 | -4% | 1 in 826 |
| 1999 | 120 | 392 | -3% | 1 in 814 |
| 1998 | 115 | 403 | +34% | 1 in 809 |
| 1997 | 128 | 301 | +22% | 1 in 1,095 |
| 1996 | =144 | 247 | 1 in 1,350 |
* 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 Tommy
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Tommy 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
Tommy is in our lists: Vintage baby names.