National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Babies' First Names

Babies' First Names

This section contains information and data on the most popular first forenames given to babies whose births were registered in Scotland.
The pages include the current publication, and previous editions which go back to 1998. An Occasional Paper provides a little information about changes in the first forenames between 1900 and 1950, and between 1950 and 2000.There is also a separate list of names for each year going back to 1974, and Comma Separated Value (CSV) files which contain summary records which cover all the years for which the full lists have been produced.

Babies' First Names - Publications

Latest Babies' First Names 2023

Previous

Babies' First Names 2022

Archive

Historical Publications back to 1998 plus the Occasional Paper

The annual publications appear in December, and cover names given to babies whose births were registered in the first eleven months (or so) of the year.
The material below is based on all births registered in the whole of each calendar year, and therefore is not updated to cover another year until mid-March.

Babies’ First Names - Full Lists for each year

Points to note about the lists (PDF 213 KB)

Latest

Full lists of babies’ first names 2020 to 2021

Archive

Historical back to 1974

Visualisation Baby names trends in Scotland since 1974 app

Summary

Summary records back to 1974

Statistics for other parts of the United Kingdom (UK)

Further information for the rest of the UK can be found via the following links:

England & Wales - Office For National Statistics website

Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland Statistical Research Agency website

Note:

Figures for England & Wales and/or Northern Ireland may not always be on exactly the same basis as National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures, there can be differences in the coverage of what at first sight appear to be the same statistics.

Contact Us

Please get in touch if you need any further information, or have any suggestions for improvement.

E-mail: [email protected]

Lead Statistician: Phillipa Haxton

For media enquiries, please contact [email protected] 

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