The Top Baby Names in England and Wales

The top baby names in England and Wales were revealed today, with Muhammad taking the top spot for the second year in a row.

More than 5,721 boys were given the specific spelling of Muhammad in 2024, a rise of 23 per cent on last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Noah came in second, with Oliver in third, just as they did in 2023. Four Keirs were born in 2023, but none last year after Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

Olivia and Amelia held the top two spots for baby girl names for the third year in a row, but Isla dropped out of the top three after being replaced by Lily.

Olivia has been in the top three for girls’ names every year since 2006, with 2,761 girls given the name in 2024.

2024 marks the second time just one spelling of the Muhammad has topped the charts, although when all thirty-plus iterations are grouped together it has been the most common for over a decade, the Daily Mail’s analysis suggests.

Each year the ONS analyses the latest baby name data, uncovering trends in how certain names have fallen out of favour or soared in popularity.

The biggest gainer in the top 25 list of girl’s names was May, which has jumped 14 places compared to last year, with 1,592 namings in total. Bonnie saw the second largest rise – going up 10 places.

For boys, Rory rose fastest year on year, followed by Elijah.

Mohammed, a different spelling, entered the top 100 boys’ names for England and Wales 100 years ago, debuting at 91st in 1924.

Its prevalence dropped considerably in the lead up to and during WW2 but began to rise in the 1960s.

That particular iteration of the name was the only one to appear in the ONS’ top 100 data from 1924 until Mohammad joined in the early 1980s.

Muhammad, now the most popular of the trio, first broke into the top 100 in the mid-1980s and has seen the fastest growth of all three iterations since.

The name means ‘praiseworthy’ or ‘commendable’ and stems from the Arabic word ‘hamad’ meaning ‘to praise’ and is shared with the founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad.

Increasing sizes of Muslim communities across the UK fuelled by immigration, as well as the popularity of sporting figures such as Mo Farah, Mohamed Salah and Muhammad Ali are likely to have sparked the increase.

The ONS only provides statistics based on the exact spelling and does not group names, as some groupings are subjective and not straightforward.

Royal names continued to fall in popularity on the whole.

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Previous analysis of baby names show they now come from a much wider range of countries and languages than they used to.

The favourite baby names at the turn of the millennium were predominantly of English, Hebrew and Latin origin.

Now, two decades later, Italian, Arabic, Norse, and even Scottish-Spanish names also top the list.

Experts say parents now have a much broader frame of reference, and that there’s a ‘real shift’ away from traditional choices.

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