Bay

Used for both boys and girlsStatistical record

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

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

Bay: Recorded since 2003, it reached #1,363 in 2016, and it stood at #4,192 in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
22years from first to last
#1363highest recorded position
5groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 2003–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2003	#4373
2004	#2802
2005	#4798
2007	#2085
2008	#2150
2009	#2148
2010	#2843
2011	#2432
2012	#2521
2013	#1587
2014	#1702
2015	#1865
2016	#1689
2017	#1911
2018	#3518
2019	#3151
2020	#3447
2021	#2201
2022	#4645
2024	#4192

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 20 of the 22 years from 2003 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 2003–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded2003
First recorded at #4373 among girls in England and Wales in 2003 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded2007–2024
Highest recorded position: #1363 among boys in England and Wales, in 2016 (recorded 2007–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #4192 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Bay appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 20 years beginning in 2003, and has registered 197 births with the name.

Bay 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.

Bay'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	#4373 (2003)	#1587 (2013)	#4192 (2024)	20 of 22	197 (2003–2024)	19 (2013)
England and Wales · Boys	#4333 (2007)	#1363 (2016)	#5119 (2024)	18 of 18	162 (2007–2024)	19 (2016)

Bay 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 Bay in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
2000s	45	6 of 10	8
2010sbusiest	125	10 of 10	13
2020s	27	4 of 10	7

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 13 births a year.

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

Bay 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 2003 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #1363 in England and Wales in 2016.

Bay'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	#4192	5	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#5119	3	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#4991	3	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#4645	4	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#2320	9	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#2201	12	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#3990	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3447	6	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2228	9	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#3151	7	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#3937	4	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3518	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1683	14	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#1911	15	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#2734	7	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#1689	18	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1363	19	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#1865	15	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1786	13	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#1702	17	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1370	18	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#1587	19	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1462	16	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#2521	10	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1669	14	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#2432	10	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#3300	5	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#2843	8	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#2629	7	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#2148	11	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#2544	7	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#2150	11	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#2507	7	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#2085	11	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#4333	3	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#4798	3	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#2802	6	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#4373	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 2003 and 2024, ranked in 21 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #1,363, first reached in 2016.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 19 births, registered in England and Wales in 2013.

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 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

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.

Bawan · #1875, 20y
Baxter · #671, 25y
Bayan · #1773, 21y
Baylee · #1011, 29y

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.

Arion · #1363, 21y
Ayaaz · #1363, 17y
Dennie · #1363, 20y
Gruff · #1363, 18y

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 2000 and 2009.

Ayaaz · #1363, 17y
Gruff · #1363, 18y
Mael · #1363, 19y
Mohid · #1363, 22y

Bay 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 Bay without appearing here.

Bay moved ahead of

Debra Compare
In 2007 they stood at #4373 and #3099 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2008 that had become #2150 and #5545.
Morten Compare
In 2013 they stood at #3300 and #2390 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2014 that had become #1370 and #4632.
Kerry Compare
In 2012 they stood at #2521 and #2215 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #1587 and #4739.
Jeanette Compare
In 2006 they stood at #4798 and #4798 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2007 that had become #2085 and #5201.

Moved ahead of Bay

Robyn Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2320 and #3449 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4991 and #2325.
Anders Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2320 and #2529 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4991 and #2546.
Fiadh Compare
In 2017 they stood at #1911 and #2502 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #3518 and #1436.
Braxton Compare
In 2010 they stood at #2629 and #4678 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2011 that had become #3300 and #1398.

Moved the opposite way to Bay

Eabha Compare
Between 2004 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bay went from #2802 to #4192 while Eabha went from #4598 to #1262.
Carol Compare
Between 2003 and 2021 in England and Wales · Girls, Bay went from #4373 to #2201 while Carol went from #1722 to #3519.
Tyler Compare
Between 2003 and 2021 in England and Wales · Girls, Bay went from #4373 to #2201 while Tyler went from #289 to #5581.
Blake Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bay went from #2085 to #4192 while Blake went from #5201 to #432.

Moved the same way as Bay

Evan Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bay went from #2085 to #4192 and Evan from #3218 to #5891.
Teddy Compare
Between 2013 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Bay went from #1587 to #4192 and Teddy from #2460 to #5891.

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 2003 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #1363 in England and Wales in 2016. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Bay

Bay at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Bay across 2 official records

Bay by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Bay appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Bay and the names beside it

Bay moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Bay

Moved the opposite way to Bay

Moved the same way as Bay

Bay at a glance

Bay across 2 official records

Bay by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Bay appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Bay and the names beside it

Bay moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Bay

Moved the opposite way to Bay

Moved the same way as Bay