Forest

maleStatistical record

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

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

Forest: Recorded since 1996, its highest recorded position is #535, reached in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
26times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#535highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#3795
2017	#5765
2018	#5666
2019	#3151
2020	#4535
2021	#3961
2022	#3533
2023	#3598
2024	#4843

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 · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in 9 of the 29 years from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #535 among boys in Scotland, #773 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #3795 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #4843 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Forest appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 16 ranked years and 394 births registered; the earliest is England and Wales · Girls, from 1996.

Forest across 2 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.

Forest'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
England and Wales · Girls	#3795 (1996)	#3151 (2019)	#4843 (2024)	9 of 29	41 (1996–2024)	7 (2019)
England and Wales · Boys	#3849 (2005)	#550 (2023)	#773 (2024)	16 of 20	394 (2005–2024)	69 (2023)

Forest by decade in England and Wales · 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 Forest in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
2000s	10	3 of 10	3
2010s	114	8 of 10	14
2020sbusiest	270	5 of 10	54

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 54 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2023 and 2024, when recorded births fell by 25, from 69 to 44.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Forest 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 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #535 in Scotland in 2024.

Forest'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	female	#4843	4	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#773	44	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#3598	6	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#550	69	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#3533	6	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#688	49	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#3961	5	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#584	65	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#4535	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#745	43	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#3151	7	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1030	27	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#5666	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1610	15	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#5765	3	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1339	19	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1498	17	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#2020	11	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#2690	7	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#2216	9	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#2270	9	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#4527	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#3589	4	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#3849	3	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#3795	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#535	5	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 17 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #535, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 69 births, registered in England and Wales in 2023.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

Its record falls into 5 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 8 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2024, and 28 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.

Fodhla · #178, 13y
Ford · #535, 24y
Forrest · #392, 24y
Fortune · #375, 13y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 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.

Alvie · #535, 13y
Torran · #535, 15y
Wallace · #535, 20y
Bence · #534, 18y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Benji · #535, 25y
Dax · #535, 24y
Ford · #535, 24y
Franco · #535, 28y

Forest was ranked #535 in Scotland · Boys in 2024. 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.

Forest 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 Forest without appearing here.

Forest moved ahead of

Arne Compare
In 2014 they stood at #3589 and #3095 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2015 that had become #2020 and #4747.
Daithi Compare
In 2011 they stood at #4527 and #4527 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #2270 and #4805.
Erin Compare
In 2011 they stood at #4527 and #3227 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #2270 and #4805.
Kim Compare
In 2011 they stood at #4527 and #2544 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #2270 and #4805.

Moved the opposite way to Forest

Aaron Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 while Aaron went from #45 to #154.
Alan Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 while Alan went from #241 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 while Alex went from #53 to #171.
Alexander Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 while Alexander went from #22 to #36.

Moved the same way as Forest

Albie Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 and Albie from #426 to #19.
Alfred Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 and Alfred from #166 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 and Archie from #38 to #10.
Arlo Compare
Between 2005 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Forest went from #3849 to #773 and Arlo from #766 to #15.

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 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #535 in Scotland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Forest

Forest at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Forest across 2 official records

Forest by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Forest appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Forest

Forest and the names beside it

Forest moved ahead of

Moved the opposite way to Forest

Moved the same way as Forest

Forest at a glance

Forest across 2 official records

Forest by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Forest appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Forest

Forest and the names beside it

Forest moved ahead of

Moved the opposite way to Forest

Moved the same way as Forest