Athena

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Athena: Recorded every year since 1996, it reached #93 in 2020, and it stood at #260 in 2025.

6registrars recorded it
51times a registrar ranked it
30years from first to last
#93highest recorded position
13groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#802
1997	#820
1998	#589
1999	#567
2000	#539
2001	#732
2002	#799
2003	#818
2004	#667
2005	#824
2006	#717
2007	#822
2008	#681
2009	#879
2010	#583
2011	#520
2012	#443
2013	#437
2014	#339
2015	#340
2016	#268
2017	#245
2018	#239
2019	#204
2020	#184
2021	#185
2022	#124
2023	#104
2024	#96

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

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2025: #260 among girls in Norway, #718 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 6 national registrars across 6 regions, 1996–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #802 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
Highest recorded2018–2020
Highest recorded position: #93 among girls in New Zealand, in 2020 (recorded 2018–2020).
New Zealand · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #718 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Athena appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 3,914 births with the name.

Athena across 4 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.

Athena'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	#802 (1996)	#96 (2024)	#96 (2024)	29 of 29	3,914 (1996–2024)	480 (2024)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#677 (2004)	#342 (2024)	#718 (2025)	10 of 22	49 (2004–2025)	11 (2024)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#439 (2014)	#253 (2024)	#253 (2024)	8 of 11	35 (2014–2024)	6 (2024)
New Zealand · Girls	#96 (2018)	#93 (2020)	#93 (2020)	2 of 3	85 (2018–2020)	43 (2018)

Athena by decade in England and Wales · Girls

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 Athena in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	148	4 of 10	37
2000s	399	10 of 10	40
2010s	1,464	10 of 10	146
2020sbusiest	1,903	5 of 10	381

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 381 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2021 and 2022, when recorded births rose by 138, from 277 to 415.

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

Athena 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 6 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #93 in New Zealand in 2020.

Athena'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	#96	480	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#104	461	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#124	415	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#185	277	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#184	270	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#204	242	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#239	210	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#245	205	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#268	186	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#340	139	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#339	135	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#437	96	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#443	102	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#520	81	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#583	68	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#879	38	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#681	53	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#822	39	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#717	43	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#824	34	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#667	44	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#818	32	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#799	31	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#732	34	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#539	51	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#567	49	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#589	44	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#820	27	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#802	28	High	Verified
2020	New Zealand	female	#93	42	High	Verified
2018	New Zealand	female	#96	43	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	female	#253	6	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	female	#302	5	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	female	#305	5	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	female	#298	5	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	female	#281	5	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#434	3	High	Verified
2016	Northern Ireland	female	#440	3	High	Verified
2014	Northern Ireland	female	#439	3	High	Verified
2025	Norway	female	#260	15	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#718	4	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#342	11	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#495	7	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#747	4	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#883	3	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#716	4	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	female	#512	7	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#873	3	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#896	3	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	female	#677	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#315	11	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
New Zealand hub — collected by NZ Department of Internal Affairs
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
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 6 registrars between 1996 and 2025, ranked in 30 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #93, first reached in 2020.

It held a top-100 place in 3 years.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 480 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2004, and 29 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.

Atharva · #829, 20y
Athea · #1569, 15y
Athina · #1557, 28y
Atika · #1914, 23y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 6 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.

Mikaela · #90, 34y
Malakai · #78, 28y
Tiana · #77, 31y
Travis · #77, 34y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Anika · #93, 30y
Baby · #93, 29y
Briana · #93, 31y
Zayn · #93, 30y

Athena was ranked #93 in New Zealand · Girls in 2020. 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.

Athena 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 Athena without appearing here.

Athena moved ahead of

Suzanne Compare
In 2005 they stood at #824 and #745 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2006 that had become #717 and #1585.
Tracy Compare
In 1997 they stood at #820 and #820 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1998 that had become #589 and #1392.
Susan Compare
In 2009 they stood at #879 and #865 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2010 that had become #583 and #1257.
Tracey Compare
In 1996 they stood at #802 and #783 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #820 and #1450.

Moved ahead of Athena

Ada Compare
In 2008 they stood at #681 and #699 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #879 and #547.
Ivy Compare
In 2004 they stood at #667 and #758 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #824 and #494.
Sienna Compare
In 2000 they stood at #539 and #655 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #732 and #449.
Mila Compare
In 2010 they stood at #583 and #616 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #520 and #261.

Moved the opposite way to Athena

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 while Abigail went from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 while Aimee went from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 while Aisling went from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 while Alex went from #161 to #2253.

Moved the same way as Athena

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 and Ada from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 and Alma from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 and Alyssa from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Athena went from #802 to #96 and Amalie from #2096 to #1128.

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 6 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #93 in New Zealand in 2020. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Athena

Athena at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Athena across 4 official records

Athena by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Athena 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 Athena

Athena and the names beside it

Athena moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Athena

Moved the opposite way to Athena

Moved the same way as Athena

Athena at a glance

Athena across 4 official records

Athena by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Athena 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 Athena

Athena and the names beside it

Athena moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Athena

Moved the opposite way to Athena

Moved the same way as Athena