Lance

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Lance: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Lance: Recorded since 1954, it reached #43 in 1983, and it stood at #1,595 in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
69times a registrar ranked it
71years from first to last
#43highest recorded position
16groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#513
1997	#613
1998	#629
1999	#809
2000	#848
2001	#910
2002	#907
2003	#795
2004	#875
2005	#691
2006	#748
2007	#1053
2008	#1024
2009	#1033
2010	#1344
2011	#1045
2012	#1051
2013	#1339
2014	#1144
2015	#1442
2016	#1271
2017	#1703
2018	#1610
2019	#1655
2020	#1273
2021	#1688
2022	#1420
2023	#1461
2024	#1595

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in New Zealand in 35 of the 38 years from 1954 to 1991.

In 2005: #518 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #691 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1954–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1954
First recorded at #94 among boys in New Zealand in 1954 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
New Zealand · Boys
Highest recorded1954–1991
Highest recorded position: #43 among boys in New Zealand, in 1983 (recorded 1954–1991).
New Zealand · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1595 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Lance appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is New Zealand · Boys, which has ranked it in 35 years beginning in 1954, and has registered 2,958 births with the name.

Lance across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Lance's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
New Zealand · Boys	#94 (1954)	#43 (1983)	#99 (1991)	35 of 38	2,958 (1954–1991)	130 (1963)
England and Wales · Boys	#513 (1996)	#513 (1996)	#1595 (2024)	29 of 29	636 (1996–2024)	37 (2005)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#330 (1983)	#317 (1986)	#518 (2005)	4 of 23	12 (1983–2005)	3 (1983)

Lance by decade in New Zealand · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Lance in New Zealand · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1950s	457	6 of 10	76
1960sbusiest	954	10 of 10	95
1970s	702	8 of 10	88
1980s	734	9 of 10	82
1990s	111	2 of 10	56

Across New Zealand · Boys, the 1960s were its busiest decade, averaging 95 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1982 and 1983, when recorded births rose by 58, from 68 to 126.

See the names New Zealandhas recorded the most births with →

Lance appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1954 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #43 in New Zealand in 1983.

Lance's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#1595	16	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1461	17	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1420	18	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1688	14	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1273	20	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1655	14	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1610	15	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1703	14	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1271	21	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1442	17	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1144	23	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1339	18	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1051	26	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1045	25	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1344	18	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1033	25	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1024	25	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1053	23	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#748	34	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#691	37	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#875	24	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#795	26	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#907	19	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#910	18	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#848	19	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#809	20	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#629	28	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#613	27	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#513	35	High	Verified
1961	New South Wales, Australia	male	#98	64	Insufficient	Not yet available
1991	New Zealand	male	#99	52	High	Verified
1990	New Zealand	male	#89	59	High	Verified
1989	New Zealand	male	#81	66	High	Verified
1988	New Zealand	male	#90	61	High	Verified
1987	New Zealand	male	#83	61	High	Verified
1986	New Zealand	male	#65	77	High	Verified
1985	New Zealand	male	#53	100	High	Verified
1984	New Zealand	male	#49	104	High	Verified
1983	New Zealand	male	#43	126	High	Verified
1982	New Zealand	male	#67	68	High	Verified
1981	New Zealand	male	#66	71	High	Verified
1979	New Zealand	male	#63	89	High	Verified
1978	New Zealand	male	#67	83	High	Verified
1976	New Zealand	male	#99	61	High	Verified
1974	New Zealand	male	#85	79	High	Verified
1973	New Zealand	male	#70	96	High	Verified
1972	New Zealand	male	#65	111	High	Verified
1971	New Zealand	male	#94	81	High	Verified
1970	New Zealand	male	#74	102	High	Verified
1969	New Zealand	male	#93	79	High	Verified
1968	New Zealand	male	#86	78	High	Verified
1967	New Zealand	male	#90	72	High	Verified
1966	New Zealand	male	#77	90	High	Verified
1965	New Zealand	male	#73	97	High	Verified
1964	New Zealand	male	#71	99	High	Verified
1963	New Zealand	male	#60	130	High	Verified
1962	New Zealand	male	#75	103	High	Verified
1961	New Zealand	male	#69	114	High	Verified
1960	New Zealand	male	#73	92	High	Verified
1959	New Zealand	male	#68	102	High	Verified
1958	New Zealand	male	#75	92	High	Verified
1957	New Zealand	male	#77	86	High	Verified
1956	New Zealand	male	#81	62	High	Verified
1955	New Zealand	male	#80	63	High	Verified
1954	New Zealand	male	#94	52	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	male	#518	3	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	male	#319	3	High	Verified
1986	Republic of Ireland	male	#317	3	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	male	#330	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
New South Wales, Australia hub — collected by NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages
New Zealand hub — collected by NZ Department of Internal Affairs
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1954 and 2024, ranked in 64 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #43, first reached in 1983.

It held a top-100 place in 35 years, 21 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 130 births, registered in New Zealand in 1963.

Its record falls into 5 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 4 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1961, and 42 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Lana · #114, 43y
Lanah · #894, 16y
Landon · #866, 25y
Lane · #2357, 13y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Roslyn · #43, 62y
Ailbhe · #44, 59y
Veronica · #42, 65y
Kaja · #41, 68y

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1950 and 1959.

Desmond · #43, 68y
Glenda · #43, 41y
Roslyn · #43, 62y
Ylva · #43, 58y

Lance was ranked #43 in New Zealand · Boys in 1983. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Lance and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Lance without appearing here.

Lance moved ahead of

Barry Compare
In 2004 they stood at #875 and #815 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #691 and #1617.
Graham Compare
In 2021 they stood at #1688 and #1391 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #1420 and #2165.
Ross Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1420 and #1366 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #1461 and #2160.
Gary Compare
In 2021 they stood at #1688 and #1329 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #1420 and #2018.

Moved ahead of Lance

Darragh Compare
In 2018 they stood at #1610 and #1991 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #1655 and #974.
Conan Compare
In 2020 they stood at #1273 and #1379 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2021 that had become #1688 and #1023.
Hudson Compare
In 2006 they stood at #748 and #885 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #1053 and #538.
Magnus Compare
In 2006 they stood at #748 and #863 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #1053 and #584.

Moved the opposite way to Lance

Geoffrey Compare
Between 1954 and 1985 in New Zealand · Boys, Lance went from #94 to #53 while Geoffrey went from #31 to #98.
Ian Compare
Between 1954 and 1985 in New Zealand · Boys, Lance went from #94 to #53 while Ian went from #12 to #79.
Ross Compare
Between 1954 and 1985 in New Zealand · Boys, Lance went from #94 to #53 while Ross went from #29 to #96.
Wayne Compare
Between 1954 and 1984 in New Zealand · Boys, Lance went from #94 to #49 while Wayne went from #19 to #88.

Moved the same way as Lance

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lance went from #513 to #1595 and Aaron from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lance went from #513 to #1595 and Adam from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lance went from #513 to #1595 and Alan from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lance went from #513 to #1595 and Alex from #43 to #171.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1954 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #43 in New Zealand in 1983. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Lance

Lance at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Lance across 3 official records

Lance by decade in New Zealand · Boys

Lance appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Lance

Lance and the names beside it

Lance moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lance

Moved the opposite way to Lance

Moved the same way as Lance

Lance at a glance

Lance across 3 official records

Lance by decade in New Zealand · Boys

Lance appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Lance

Lance and the names beside it

Lance moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lance

Moved the opposite way to Lance

Moved the same way as Lance