Carey

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Carey: Recorded since 1985, with a gap of 10 years, its highest recorded position is #519, and it stood at #5,687 in 2023.

2registrars recorded it
26times a registrar ranked it
39years from first to last
#519highest recorded position
5groupings it qualifies for

What stands out in Carey's record

Absent from every published list for 10 years inside its own recorded period, then ranked again. Names by longest absence

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2023

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1434
1997	#1666
1998	#2165
1999	#3225
2004	#3725
2005	#2970
2006	#4157
2010	#5707
2012	#5876
2014	#4003
2015	#4736
2016	#4096
2020	#2843
2023	#5687

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 14 of the 28 years from 1996 to 2023.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1985–2023 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1434 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 recent2023
Most recently recorded at #5687 among girls in England and Wales, in 2023.
England and Wales · Girls

Carey appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 14 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 78 births with the name.

Carey 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.

Carey'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	#1434 (1996)	#1434 (1996)	#5687 (2023)	14 of 28	78 (1996–2023)	12 (1996)
England and Wales · Boys	#2863 (1996)	#2074 (1998)	#2960 (2020)	11 of 25	46 (1996–2020)	7 (2013)

Carey 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 Carey in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	33	4 of 10	8
2000s	14	3 of 10	5
2010sbusiest	20	5 of 10	4
2020s	11	2 of 10	6

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 4 births a year.

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

Carey 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 1985 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #519 in Republic of Ireland in 1985.

Carey'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
2023	England and Wales	female	#5687	3	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#2843	8	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2960	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#4749	3	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#4096	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#4810	3	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#4736	4	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#4003	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#2660	7	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#5876	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#5707	3	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#3744	4	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#4333	3	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#4157	4	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#2970	6	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#3725	4	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#2857	4	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#2501	4	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3225	4	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#2165	7	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2074	5	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1666	10	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2337	4	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#1434	12	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#2863	3	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	female	#519	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
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 2 registrars between 1985 and 2023, ranked in 21 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #519, first reached in 1985.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 12 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

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 10 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 11 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.

5decades with a ranked yearRecorded in 5 decades →
5 yearslongest unbroken run of ranked years
8separate stretches the record falls into6 to 9 separate stretches →
10 yearslongest absence inside the recorded period10 to 19 years missing →
#5,687position in 2023, its most recent recorded year
11 yearsyears between the first and last registrar to record itAcross 11 to 20 years →
1registrars publishing it in more than one category listIn one registrar's lists →
12births registered in its largest year, 1996Under 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.

Cara · #19, 60y
Caragh · #80, 47y
Cari · #919, 29y
Cariad · #1416, 29y

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.

Alvina · #519, 25y
Samual · #519, 26y
Andrey · #518, 24y
Christa · #518, 25y

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1980 and 1989.

Alvina · #519, 25y
Ciera · #517, 21y
Corrine · #516, 11y
Janna · #516, 28y

Carey was ranked #519 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 1985. 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.

Carey 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 Carey without appearing here.

Carey moved ahead of

Tayla Compare
In 2012 they stood at #3744 and #2318 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2013 that had become #2660 and #4685.
Anders Compare
In 2019 they stood at #4749 and #2259 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #2960 and #4608.
Brent Compare
In 2019 they stood at #4749 and #3412 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #2960 and #4608.
Brooke Compare
In 2012 they stood at #3744 and #2318 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2013 that had become #2660 and #3822.

Moved ahead of Carey

Blake Compare
In 2011 they stood at #3225 and #3900 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #5876 and #1893.
Cameron Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2843 and #3899 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2023 that had become #5687 and #2201.
Hayden Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2843 and #3117 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2023 that had become #5687 and #2346.
Diane Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2843 and #3899 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2023 that had become #5687 and #2504.

Moved the opposite way to Carey

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 while Ada went from #2683 to #37.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 while Alma went from #2096 to #228.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 while Alyssa went from #783 to #241.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 while Amalie went from #2096 to #865.

Moved the same way as Carey

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 and Abigail from #21 to #134.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 and Aimee from #70 to #1206.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 and Aisling from #440 to #2504.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Carey went from #1434 to #5687 and Alex from #161 to #2504.

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 1985 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #519 in Republic of Ireland in 1985. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Carey

Carey at a glance

What stands out in Carey's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Carey across 2 official records

Carey by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Carey appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Names published alongside Carey

Carey and the names beside it

Carey moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Carey

Moved the opposite way to Carey

Moved the same way as Carey

Carey at a glance

What stands out in Carey's record

Carey across 2 official records

Carey by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Carey appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Names published alongside Carey

Carey and the names beside it

Carey moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Carey

Moved the opposite way to Carey

Moved the same way as Carey