For the 10th consecutive year, Olivia has been crowned the most popular name for baby girls in England and Wales, while Muhammad held the top spot for boys for the third year running, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics. Lily moved up to second place for girls, overtaking Amelia, which dropped to third. Leo became the third most popular boys' name, pushing out Oliver.
There were 585,396 live births in 2025 in England and Wales – 284,681 female and 300,715 male – with Olivia given to 2,386 baby girls and Muhammad (including spellings) to 5,957 boys, making up 1.4% of all birth names. The top 10 names accounted for 9.1% of all births.
“Olivia remained most popular girls' name for 10th year; Muhammad topped boys' for 3rd; ONS data reveals 2025 trends.”
Clare Green, an expert from baby-naming website Nameberry, told the BBC she was not surprised by the results. “Change happens so slowly at the top and once a name becomes popular it normally stays there for quite a long time,” she said. “[Names] can build momentum – the more people give their child a name, the more other parents hear it and like the sound of it, so it snowballs.”
But US-based baby name consultant Colleen Slagen said she could not believe Olivia had retained the top spot and “that there isn’t this reverse effect of people wanting something less popular”. She conceded that while baby names come and go “like other pop culture trends”, families tend to be risk averse. “Parents get anxious about making a choice that they like, but that is also going to suit their child for the rest of their life,” she told the BBC.
Olivia was the most popular name in three of nine regions in England and was the favourite for Wales, while Muhammad was the most popular in four of nine England regions and ranked 34th in Wales. In Scotland, Freya replaced Olivia as the top girls' name, while Noah held the top spot for boys, according to National Records of Scotland.
Other names making up the top 10 for girls include Isla in fourth, followed by Florence, Freya, Poppy, Elsie, Ivy and new entry Isabella. For boys, Luca is fourth, with Arthur, Oliver, George, Oscar, Theodore and Freddie completing the top 10.
New additions to the top 100 names include Eliana, Gracie, Anaya, Alba, Marnie, Lilah and Frankie for girls; and Vincent, Carter, Stanley and Ruben for boys. The girls' names that saw the largest popularity increase were Eliana, rising 54 places; Anaya, up 24; and Alba, by 24. For boys, this was Vinnie, by 33 places; Ruben, by 26; and Vincent, by 25. The girls' names that dropped off the top 100 were Jessica, down 44 places; Ellie, falling by 31; and Amelia, decreasing by 22. Bodhi fell by 18 places; Grayson by 14; and Brody by seven to knock them off the top 100.
Slagen observed that the top 10 girls' names are “very nicknameable”, which parents find appealing. “People will say, ‘I want them to have a CEO name, but be able to give them a more playful name while they’re younger’,” she said. She also noted that most were “very feminine, elegant names... many have a very similar makeup, with a tonne of vowels and soft consonants”. She said “unisex names” appeared to be having a moment in the US, but on the whole “people are just going to be more comfortable giving their girl a definitively feminine name”.
