Top 50 Highest Rising Names England and Wales 2021

It is clear that films and television had a huge impact on the names that rose the most in 2021. Disney's Raya and Luca have seen significant gains as have Enola and Creed. 

Celebrity babies in 2021, as usual, have seen a rise such as Axel (Perrie Edwards), Brody (Georgia Kousoulou), Lennie (Mrs Hinch), Rafe (Chris and Rosie Ramsey), Daisy (Katie Perry and Orlando Bloom - Autumn 2020), Noa (Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev) and Sienna (Princess Beatrice). 

On top of this are sound-alikes to popular favourites. Alvey for Alfie and Albie, Jax for Max, Nova for Lola and Maeva for Maeve. 

 

The highest risers in rank are usually names well below the top 1000. The reason for this is (in this lower part of the rankings) that just ten births can make a name shift thousands of places. A name in the top 10, however, needs hundreds more births to move up the ranks. 

 

Here are the highest risers in rank in 2021 in England and Wales:

2020 rank	2021 rank	Name	2020 count	2021 count	Rank increase		2020 rank	2021 rank	Name	2020 count	2021 count	Rank increase
5493	1866	Bloom	15	3	3627		4608	1595	Braylon	15	3	3013
5493	2073	Nancy-Rae	13	3	3420		4608	1595	Gruff*	15	3	3013
4535	1224	Elaia	27	4	3311		4608	1782	Harshiv	13	3	2826

*Gruff is a Welsh short form of Gruffydd, pronounced GRIFF.

And the top 10 highest risers in rank in the top 1000:

2020 rank	2021 rank	Name	2020 count	2021 count	Rank increase		2020 rank	2021 rank	Name	2020 count	2021 count	Rank increase
2300	734	Enola	51	11	1566		2682	871	Creed	35	7	1811
1449	588	Elyza	66	21	861		1935	854	Zohaan	36	11	1081
1773	983	Ayzel	35	16	790		1492	719	Alvie	48	16	773
1773	983	Neveah	35	16	790		993	362	Zohan	125	28	631
1618	860	Goldie	41	18	758		1492	871	Niam	35	16	621
1687	936	Clemmie	37	17	751		1492	888	Koda	34	16	604
1267	521	Ayzal	78	25	746		1379	815	Zephyr	39	18	564
1200	537	Inara	75	27	663		1492	939	Orhan	32	16	553
1556	901	Navy	39	19	655		1379	854	Advik	36	18	525
1507	860	Avie	41	20	647		993	471	Alvey	86	28	522

 

As we can see above, ranks themselves can also be misleading. Olivia might have ranked in the number one spot for the last six years, but more babies were given the name in 1999 -- when the name ranked #4 -- than in any other year since. It is always more illuminating to look at the actual number of babies being named rather than the increase in rank. 

Below is a run-down of the top 50 names that rose the most in birth count from 2020 to 2021 in England and Wales:

 

2020 rank	2021 rank	Name	2020 count	2021 count	Birth count increase		2020 rank	2021 rank	Name	2020 count	2021 count	Birth count increase
24	15	Daisy	1873	1571	302		45	28	Luca	1807	1323	484
80	57	Margot	892	652	240		4	1	Noah	4525	4042	483
22	16	Sienna	1869	1638	231		53	40	Jude	1482	1175	307
14	8	Florence	2180	1963	217		69	59	Hudson	1069	812	257
12	6	Freya	2187	1982	205		35	32	Albie	1729	1473	256
99	74	Olive	691	510	181		31	26	Teddy	1875	1627	248
62	50	Delilah	981	801	180		27	20	Arlo	2154	1908	246
44	38	Penelope	1194	1020	174		126	90	Brody	645	432	213
47	39	Mila	1133	973	160		82	67	Oakley	908	697	211
180	116	Ophelia	433	277	156		44	36	Reuben	1534	1339	195
144	101	Nova	506	352	154		102	74	Blake	771	583	188
33	27	Millie	1472	1319	153		46	41	Louie	1461	1292	169
97	76	Lyla	667	517	150		71	63	Rowan	938	774	164
393	203	Raya	251	110	141		14	11	Theodore	2889	2737	152
25	22	Phoebe	1678	1543	135		6	6	Leo	3465	3314	151
41	36	Maisie	1229	1094	135		28	23	Roman	1923	1776	147
64	56	Aurora	910	781	129		42	37	Mason	1517	1370	147
59	51	Lottie	954	830	124		144	111	Miles	533	390	143
68	58	Mabel	885	768	117		43	39	Rory	1483	1344	139
49	42	Hallie	1070	954	116		51	45	Hugo	1325	1196	129
94	77	Maeve	654	547	107		96	81	Otis	737	612	125
45	40	Bonnie	1121	1015	106		59	51	Ezra	1226	1105	121
120	101	Nellie	506	400	106		54	48	Ronnie	1285	1172	113
129	106	Eloise	492	386	106		189	148	Remy	385	273	112
256	175	Clementine	290	184	106		195	150	Brodie	381	270	111
32	29	Maya	1433	1331	102		159	131	River	442	334	108
354	221	Maeva	226	125	101		91	80	Alfred	739	635	104
141	111	Frankie	460	363	97		168	138	Axel	411	311	100
205	156	Polly	337	240	97		993	362	Zohan	125	28	97
48	45	Violet	1057	962	95		185	151	Enzo	380	285	95
39	37	Aria	1202	1108	94		85	76	Caleb	758	665	93
454	264	Noa	179	90	89		68	64	Jesse	929	841	88
267	196	Ayah	265	178	87		131	113	Beau	507	419	88
12	10	Willow	2067	1982	85		123	110	Ruben	540	454	86
135	113	Maddison	452	367	85		211	162	Otto	326	241	85
151	119	River	423	339	84		39	38	Sebastian	1516	1435	81
115	103	Martha	505	422	83		95	85	Ralph	692	615	77
316	220	Flora	227	144	83		482	299	Lennie	157	80	77
180	138	Cleo	359	277	82		13	12	Freddie	2873	2797	76
182	142	Harlow	354	273	81		269	213	Rafe	248	175	73
153	123	Nora	406	326	80		222	180	Rio	293	222	71
6	5	Ivy	2245	2166	79		257	208	Rafferty	255	184	71
132	112	Annie	457	382	75		111	99	Nathan	595	525	70
320	234	Daphne	214	142	72		128	116	Leonardo	498	428	70
92	80	Lyra	630	559	71		134	118	Jax	485	416	69
98	91	Eden	585	514	71		201	168	Sidney	319	252	67
117	108	Autumn	481	410	71		33	34	Max	1650	1585	65
19	18	Elsie	1840	1772	68		63	61	Frederick	1017	952	65
95	84	Heidi	610	542	68		81	75	Sonny	762	699	63
52	48	Imogen	998	932	66		106	93	Rupert	631	568	63