Nilay

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Nilay: Recorded since 1997, its highest recorded position is #2,425, and it stood at #5,891 in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
20times a registrar ranked it
28years from first to last
#2425highest recorded position
7groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 2001–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2001	#3998
2010	#4688
2016	#4096
2018	#3985
2019	#3541
2020	#5493
2021	#4634
2024	#5891

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 8 of the 24 years from 2001 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 1997–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1997
First recorded at #2859 among boys in England and Wales in 1997 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1997–2016
Highest recorded position: #2425 among boys in England and Wales, in 1999 (recorded 1997–2016).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #5891 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Nilay appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 12 years beginning in 1997, and has registered 42 births with the name.

Nilay 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.

Nilay'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	#3998 (2001)	#3541 (2019)	#5891 (2024)	8 of 24	33 (2001–2024)	6 (2019)
England and Wales · Boys	#2859 (1997)	#2425 (1999)	#3478 (2016)	12 of 20	42 (1997–2016)	5 (2016)

Nilay 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 Nilay in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	7	2 of 10	4
2000sbusiest	20	6 of 10	3
2010s	15	4 of 10	4

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 3 births a year.

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

Nilay appears in

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

Popularity data

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2425 in England and Wales in 1999.

Nilay'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	#5891	3	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#4634	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#5493	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#3541	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3985	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#4096	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#3478	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#4685	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#4805	3	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#3830	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4688	4	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#4527	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#4333	3	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#3009	4	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#3467	3	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#3998	3	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#3134	3	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#2501	4	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2425	4	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2859	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 1 registrar between 1997 and 2024, ranked in 18 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #2,425, first reached in 1999.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 6 births, registered in England and Wales in 2019.

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 8 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 2 years.

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.

4decades with a ranked yearRecorded in 4 decades →
5 yearslongest unbroken run of ranked years
8separate stretches the record falls into6 to 9 separate stretches →
2 yearslongest absence inside the recorded period2 to 3 years missing →
#5,891position in 2024, its most recent recorded year
1registrars publishing it in more than one category listIn one registrar's lists →
6births registered in its largest year, 2019Under 25 births →

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.

Nilah · #3148, 14y
Nilan · #779, 10y
Nile · #596, 29y
Nils · #21, 81y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 1 registrar, 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.

Aaren · #2425, 15y
Evangelos · #2425, 15y
John-Joseph · #2425, 15y
Lazarus · #2425, 13y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Aaren · #2425, 15y
Evangelos · #2425, 15y
John-Joseph · #2425, 15y
Jugraj · #2425, 10y

Nilay 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 Nilay without appearing here.

Nilay moved ahead of

Brent Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4685 and #3822 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #3478 and #4810.
Nils Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4805 and #2721 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #3478 and #4810.
Graeme Compare
In 2010 they stood at #4527 and #4527 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2011 that had become #3830 and #4647.
Arne Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4333 and #3095 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #3478 and #4023.

Moved ahead of Nilay

Rory Compare
In 2019 they stood at #3541 and #4001 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #5493 and #1939.
Ezra Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4688 and #5707 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #4096 and #1689.
Arlo Compare
In 1999 they stood at #2425 and #2943 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2000 that had become #2501 and #2142.
Leif Compare
In 1999 they stood at #2425 and #2943 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2000 that had become #2501 and #2501.

Moved the opposite way to Nilay

Arlo Compare
Between 1999 and 2016 in England and Wales · Boys, Nilay went from #2425 to #3478 while Arlo went from #2943 to #49.
Kasper Compare
Between 1999 and 2016 in England and Wales · Boys, Nilay went from #2425 to #3478 while Kasper went from #2425 to #435.
Leif Compare
Between 1999 and 2016 in England and Wales · Boys, Nilay went from #2425 to #3478 while Leif went from #2943 to #1704.

Moved the same way as Nilay

Ole Compare
Between 1999 and 2016 in England and Wales · Boys, Nilay went from #2425 to #3478 and Ole from #1383 to #2335.
Brooke Compare
Between 1997 and 2013 in England and Wales · Boys, Nilay went from #2859 to #4685 and Brooke from #1174 to #3822.
Erin Compare
Between 1997 and 2013 in England and Wales · Boys, Nilay went from #2859 to #4685 and Erin from #1345 to #4685.

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.

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2425 in England and Wales in 1999. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Nilay

Nilay at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Nilay across 2 official records

Nilay by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Nilay 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

Nilay and the names beside it

Nilay moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nilay

Moved the opposite way to Nilay

Moved the same way as Nilay

Nilay at a glance

Nilay across 2 official records

Nilay by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Nilay appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Nilay and the names beside it

Nilay moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nilay

Moved the opposite way to Nilay

Moved the same way as Nilay