2016

Scotland’s population continues to rise and reached its highest ever total in 2015.

Statistics published today by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) show that the estimated population of Scotland was 5,373,000 in mid-2015.

The figures show a rise of 25,400 (0.5 per cent) people since mid-2014.

The population increased because in-migration which includes people from the rest of the UK exceeded out-migration by approximately 28,000 people between mid-2014 and mid-2015. This was offset by approximately 2,000 more people dying than were born. Other changes, such as in armed forces and prisoners, resulted in a loss of approximately 500 people.

Between mid-2014 and mid-2015, approximately 37,800 people came to Scotland from overseas and approximately 18,200 left Scotland to go overseas giving a net migration gain of 19,600.

Between mid-2014 and mid-2015, approximately 47,200 people came to Scotland from the rest of the UK, and approximately 38,800 left Scotland to go in the opposite direction, giving a net migration gain of approximately 8,400.

In the year to 30 June 2015 there were more deaths than births for the first time since the year to mid-2006.

The full publication Mid-2015 population estimates scotland and corrected population estimates for mid-2012, mid-2013 and mid-2014 is available on this website.

An infographic is available for this publication on this website.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) today published lists of all the first forenames that were given to babies whose births were registered in 2015, and of the most common surnames in the Birth, Marriage and Death registers for 2015 (taking all the surnames in the three registers together).

The lists of baby names supersede the ‘Top 100s’ published on 17 December (which covered births registered in the first eleven months of 2015). The top names (Jack and Emily) have not changed. Jack was the top boys’ name for an eighth consecutive year, and Emily was the top girls’ name for the second year running. The other names in the two Top Tens are generally in the same order as published in December, with a few minor changes in the rankings.

The NRS website includes annual lists of babies’ first forenames back to 1974, and information about how the top names have changed. For example, the following names have been top in at least five of the years in that period:

• David was the top name for boys in 1974 and in every year from then until 1992;
• Ryan was top in every year from 1994 to 1998;
• Jack was the top in 13 of the 17 years from 1999 to 2015;
• Laura was the top name for girls in every year from 1979 to 1989;
• Emma was top in 8 of the 15 years from 1990 to 2004;
• Chloe was top in every year from 1998 to 2002; and
• Sophie was top in every year from 2005 to 2013. 

Many names which were once very popular have gone out of fashion. A table of the Top Ten names for each sex for 1975 and for every fifth year thereafter, shows that (for example):

• for girls, none of the names that were in the Top Ten in 1975 appeared in the Top Ten in 2000 or 2015, and none of the Top Ten in 2000 survived into the Top Ten in 2015;
• Nicola, which was the top name in 1975, had dropped out of the Top Ten by 1995 (when Nicole was in the Top Ten). Karen, which was second in 1975, had disappeared from the Top Ten by 1985; Susan, third in 1975, had gone by 1980.
• Sophie, which had not been in the Top Ten in any of the earlier selected years, was top in 2005 and 2010, and second in 2015. Emily, which was the top name in 2014 and 2015, had entered the Top Ten after 2000.
• for boys, David, John and Paul, which were the Top Three in 1975, did not appear anywhere in the Top Ten in 2000 or 2015. Paul had dropped out by 1990, John by 1995 and David by 2000.
• however, James, which was fourth in 1975, was also in the Top Ten in 2000 (fifth) and 2015 (third). Indeed, James is the only boys’ name which has been in the Top Ten in every one of the selected years;
• Jack and Lewis were not in the Top Ten in 1975, but were first and second in 2000 and first and fourth in 2015. Jack had entered the Top Ten after 1990, and Lewis after 1995. 

An Infographic and two Data Visualisations on the NRS website present some of the figures for baby names in a different way, including the numbers of babies with the same first forenames as some film characters, certain celebrities or their children.

The three top surnames in the Birth, Marriage and Death registers for 2015 (counting only the baby for births, both parties for marriages, and only the deceased for deaths) were Smith, Brown and Wilson. A table shows that these were the top three surnames, in that order, in 1975 and every fifth year thereafter.

Further information can be found in the following sections on this website:

• Babies' Names 2015 contains full lists of babies’ first names for 2015, in alphabetical order in Table 4 and in rank order in Table 5.
• Babies’ First Names - Full Lists for each year contains lists of babies' first names in rank order from 1974.
• How the top names have changed contains information over how the top names have changed from the first available data.
• Most Common Surnames in Birth, Marriage and Death registers contains information about the most common surnames back every fifth year back to 1975.

Provisional figures for births, deaths, adoptions, marriages and civil partnerships registered during 2015 are published today by the National Records of Scotland.

The statistics show that 57,573 deaths were registered in Scotland in 2015 – 3,334 (6.1 per cent) more than in 2014. This is the highest number of deaths recorded since 2003.

The provisional figures also show that:

• 55,100 births were registered in the year – 1,625 (2.9 per cent) fewer than in 2014. This is the lowest number of births recorded since 2005 and continues the general decline in number of births since 2008. 
• The number of marriages in 2015 rose by 622 compared to 2014 but levels are still historically low. Of the total of 29,691 marriages registered in 2015, 1,671 involved same sex couples and, of the same sex marriages, 935 were changes from previous civil partnerships. 
• There were 64 civil partnerships (33 male and 31 female), 372 fewer than during 2014. 
• Deaths from cancer rose by 1.3 per cent to 16,049, deaths from coronary heart disease rose by 3.4 per cent to 7,109, and there were 4,302 deaths from cerebrovascular disease (a rise of 4.3 per cent). There was a 13.8 per cent increase (to 7,629) in deaths from respiratory diseases.

The full publication 2015 Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events - Preliminary Annual Figures is available on this website.

Two Infographics are also available for this publication on this website.

NRS has released valuation rolls from 1930 on ScotlandsPeople. The last remaining households left on St Kilda are listed in the newly-released records, providing a snapshot of the remote island community shortly before evacuation on 29 August 1930. The 1930 rolls join nine previous releases on ScotlandsPeople, the family history website of the National Records of Scotland, spanning 75 years between 1855 and 1930, and bringing the total of index entries available to researchers to over 108 million.

St Kilda was Britain’s remotest settlement, lying more than 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides off Scotland’s north-west coast. By 1930 the community was fragile. There were only 36 islanders left: 13 men, 10 women, 8 girls and 5 boys. They occupied 10 of the 16 single storey cottages rented from the heir of landowner, Norman MacLeod of Macleod, who lived at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye. Learn more about the last islanders of St Kilda on the ScotlandsPeople website and about the island’s remarkable history in a special feature drawn from the NRS archive collection.

The newly-released Valuation Rolls include 2,550,479 indexed names and addresses for every owner, tenant and occupier of property, and a record of its annual rent, throughout Scotland. By comparison there are just over 1 million in the first rolls in 1855 and 2.1 million names in 1925. Between 1855 and 1930 Scotland’s population grew from over 3 million to over 4.8 million.

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop said:

"I welcome the latest addition to the amazing resources that National Records of Scotland makes available so that people across the world can discover more about Scotland’s story through the history of families and communities."

Tim Ellis, Registrar General and Keeper of the Records of Scotland, said:

“The sixteen householders listed on St Kilda in 1930 are just a few among more than 2.5 million names, but they stand for a traditional way of life that was about to end when the remaining islanders were evacuated. The Valuation Rolls we are putting online now span three quarters of a century from the earliest in 1855 and allow people to discover more about Scots almost twenty years after the Census of 1911. They are an invaluable resource for researchers to explore when investigating family and local history. The latest release is part of the commitment by National Records of Scotland to progressively improve access to the key records that researchers want."

National Records of Scotland, GD1/713/1/10

The number of people registered to vote in elections in Scotland has dropped, according to figures published today by National Records of Scotland.

The registered electorates for local councils, the Scottish Parliament, the UK Parliament and the European Parliament have all seen reductions.

This is the first year since 2009 that Scottish electorates haven fallen.

On 1 December 2015:

• 4.03 million people were registered to vote in the local government and Scottish Parliament elections – a decrease of around 100,000 (2.5 per cent) compared to 2 March 2015.
• 3.90 million people were registered to vote in UK Parliament elections – a decrease of around 139,000 (3.4 per cent).
• The number of European Union (EU) citizens registered to vote in local government and Scottish Parliament elections increased by around 7,000, to nearly 96,000 (8.2 per cent). This is likely to underestimate the total number of EU citizens resident in Scotland, since some may not register to vote.  

Additional background information

It is likely that the move to Individual Electoral Registration (IER) is the main cause for the drop in the number of electors seen in Scotland. Scotland completed the move to IER slightly later than other parts of the UK, to allow for the smooth running of the Scottish Independence Referendum. As such the drop seen in the December 2015 data for Scotland is therefore comparable to the fall seen in the March 2015 data for England and Wales (2.0 per cent and 3.1 per cent falls respectively).

The deadline for registration to vote in the next Scottish Parliamentary Election is 18 April 2016.

The full publication Electoral Statistics – Scotland 1st December 2015 is available on this website.

We are pleased to announce that five new non-executive members have been appointed to the Management Board of National Records of Scotland.  They bring with them a range of skills including digital, legal and financial experience.

Tim Ellis, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland said “I am delighted that our Board is being strengthened by such high calibre individuals, who will support us as we focus on providing high quality services and delivery of our Strategy”.

We welcome the following members from 1 February 2016:

Bill Matthews

Bill is a former senior executive with Motorola in Scotland, and subsequently spent a number of years in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. He now combines management consultancy across a variety of sectors with a number of non-executive positions.  Bill is the National Trustee for Scotland of the BBC Trust, Chair of the BBC Pension Trust, Deputy Chair of the Security Industry Authority and since November 2012 has been a member of the British Transport Police Authority.

Catherine McFie

Catherine has undertaken a variety of management roles in the NHS covering Construction Procurement, Change and Risk Management, Business Case Development and Project and Programme Management and Assurance. Prior to that, Catherine worked for 25 years in the IT industry in both Development and Sales & Marketing. Catherine has undertaken a number of Gateway Reviews on behalf of the Scottish Government and continues to take part in this assurance role.

Colin Ledlie

Colin is an independent non-executive director. He is an experienced risk professional and actuary who has held senior executive roles as Chief Actuary and Chief Risk Officer at Standard Life plc. Colin currently holds non-executive board positions at Guardian Assurance, ReAssure and BUPA Insurance Services Limited.  Colin holds a number of volunteer roles at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. He is Deputy Chair of the Finance and Investment Board and a member of the International Board.

Gordon Shipley

Gordon is currently a Director in the Crime and Policing Group at the Home Office, responsible for procuring a replacement voice and data service for the emergency services nationally. With a background in large equipment procurement, Gordon was previously Head of Systems and Technology at the Olympic Delivery Authority. Gordon is a Fellow of the Association of Project Managers and joined the National Records of Scotland as a Non-Executive Director on the Audit and Risk Committee in 2012.

Mandy Gallacher

Mandy is a communications specialist and change manager who has worked in local government, the NHS and central government. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management and joined the National Records of Scotland as a Non-Executive on the Audit and Risk Committee in 2012.

The new appointees will join our current non-executives, Ian Doig and Michael Moss, who have supported NRS for a number of years and will continue to offer their valuable insight as we proceed on our journey of transformation.

Further information about National Records of Scotland is available on this website

From 1 January 2016, Scottish Cabinet papers and other government records opened for the first time at National Records of Scotland (NRS) show details about the first full year of operation of the newly-established Scottish Executive, now the Scottish Government.

A central event in the year 2000 was the death of Donald Dewar, Scotland’s first First Minister. The Scottish Cabinet minutes show the impact his death had on Government and Parliamentary business. The files include details of the Cabinet meeting Mr Dewar chaired the day before he died (10 October 2000). Following this meeting, an accident occurred on the steps of Bute House as he was leaving the building which led to his death.  A minute of an extraordinary Cabinet meeting held the following day is a sombre but historic note recording the death of the First Minister.

Other matters of interest considered by Cabinet include student tuition fees and a fuel shortage in Scotland following the impact of a blockade of the Grangemouth oil refinery.

These files form part of the annual release of archived information by the Scottish Government. Since 2009 the Scottish Government has proactively opened over 13,000 files at 15 years. This adds to a considerable amount of information from the year 2000 which is already publicly available at NRS, due to the Scottish Government’s policy of proactive release. That includes files on areas as diverse as proposals for a Borders Rail Link and land reform legislation.

In welcoming the latest file releases, Tim Ellis, Chief Executive of NRS and Keeper of the Records of Scotland, said  ‘The annual release of Scottish Government information is always much anticipated and of interest to many people, including historians, researchers and the wider public. Last year saw the release of the first Cabinet Papers and minutes of the then new Scottish Executive, shedding light on the earliest days of the first administration.  This year’s release – including the first full year of Scottish Cabinet information – continues this process and I hope generates a similar level of interest.’

Also welcoming this latest release of information, Joe FitzPatrick, Minister for Parliamentary Business, said ‘I look forward to the latest release of Scottish Government information by National Records of Scotland.  As with last year’s first release of Scottish Cabinet information, I anticipate those files now being made public will make fascinating reading.

‘Information made available at National Records of Scotland as well as the wealth of information proactively made available on the Scottish Government’s website demonstrates this Government’s ongoing commitment to openness and transparency.’ 

Following the New Year public holiday, the newly opened files will be available to view in our public search room from Tuesday 5 January.  The Cabinet files will be available in digital format. Many of the other paper files will be available in January without the need to pre-order, though some are held off-site and require to be ordered in advance. Details are found in the file lists below.

The full list of files released in 2016 can be viewed in either PDF or Rich Text Format.  Also published is a list of the government files from the year 2000 already available. The open records complement many of those on the end year release list.

Please note that you will need a current reader’s ticket to see files in our search room. See how to obtain a reader’s ticket, and what preparations to make, in the preparing to visit page of our website.

Files Release List (PDF 220KB)
Files Release List (RTF 1.83MB)

Year 2000 Files Opened Prior to January 2016 (PDF 114KB)
Year 2000 Files Opened Prior to January 2016 (RTF 1.25MB)

The annual release of births, deaths and marriages by the National Records of Scotland today includes the marriage record of Captain Bruce Seton, a dashing actor-turned-soldier who married his actress wife an hour after being divorced in a Scottish court on St Valentine’s Day 1940.

Seton’s marriage was one of 53,597 that took place in Scotland in 1940, and that are all being made available online through the official website ScotlandsPeople.

The year 1940 saw the introduction of civil marriages performed by registrars in Scottish register offices from 1st  July onwards. Although only 4% of marriages from July onwards were performed by registrars, in 1941 over 11% of marriages were civil. This was the start of the trend that in 2014 saw 52% of all Scottish marriages being conducted as civil marriages

Every year on 1 January new data collected by the Registrar General for Scotland becomes available to the public online via the ScotlandsPeople website. The records can also be searched at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh and at local family history centres in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Alloa, Hawick and Inverness. The statutory registers are opened to the public in line with the falling away of specific closure periods: 100 years for birth records, 75 years for marriage records and 50 years for death records.

Tim Ellis, Registrar General and Keeper of the Records of Scotland, said:

“I am pleased that we’ve been able to add a further almost quarter of a million records of  the of births, deaths and marriages to the already substantial information available on ScotlandsPeople.  This year’s release, which includes civil marriages from 1940, the first time they were performed by registrars in Scottish register offices, is an interesting reflection of a changing Scottish society at that time – and an opportune moment, too, to celebrate the important work of registrars across Scotland over many decades.”

Read more about Captain Bruce Seton’s story and search the records on the ScotlandsPeople website