Ebony

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Ebony: Recorded every year since 1993, it reached #56 in 2002, and it stood at #902 in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
81times a registrar ranked it
32years from first to last
#56highest recorded position
17groupings 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	#211
1997	#206
1998	#150
1999	#177
2000	#142
2001	#143
2002	#125
2003	#116
2004	#115
2005	#106
2006	#119
2007	#150
2008	#138
2009	#148
2010	#184
2011	#179
2012	#211
2013	#220
2014	#260
2015	#294
2016	#338
2017	#354
2018	#413
2019	#377
2020	#505
2021	#536
2022	#562
2023	#600
2024	#902

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 Republic of Ireland in 19 of the 31 years from 1993 to 2023.

In 2023: #600 among girls in England and Wales, #856 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1993–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1993
First recorded at #91 among girls in New South Wales, Australia in 1993 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
New South Wales, Australia · Girls
Highest recorded1993–2006
Highest recorded position: #56 among girls in New South Wales, Australia, in 2002 (recorded 1993–2006).
New South Wales, Australia · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #902 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Ebony appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 29 ranked years and 7,122 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1993.

Ebony 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.

Ebony'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
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#516 (1993)	#352 (2002)	#856 (2023)	19 of 31	84 (1993–2023)	10 (2006)
England and Wales · Girls	#211 (1996)	#106 (2005)	#902 (2024)	29 of 29	7,122 (1996–2024)	478 (2005)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#358 (1997)	#193 (2005)	#424 (2019)	19 of 23	108 (1997–2019)	9 (2005)
New South Wales, Australia · Girls	#91 (1993)	#56 (2002)	#85 (2006)	14 of 14	1,553 (1993–2006)	135 (2002)

Ebony 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 Ebony in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	966	4 of 10	242
2000sbusiest	3,943	10 of 10	394
2010s	1,885	10 of 10	189
2020s	328	5 of 10	66

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 394 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1997 and 1998, when recorded births rose by 105, from 204 to 309.

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

Ebony 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 4 regions, from 1993 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #56 in New South Wales, Australia in 2002.

Ebony'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	#902	40	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#600	63	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#562	69	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#536	76	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#505	80	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#377	116	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#413	107	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#354	133	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#338	145	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#294	163	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#260	187	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#220	233	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#211	237	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#179	284	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#184	280	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#148	367	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#138	386	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#150	368	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#119	446	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#106	478	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#115	461	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#116	418	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#125	375	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#143	317	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#142	327	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#177	253	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#150	309	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#206	204	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#211	200	High	Verified
2006	New South Wales, Australia	female	#85	91	Insufficient	Not yet available
2005	New South Wales, Australia	female	#86	89	Insufficient	Not yet available
2004	New South Wales, Australia	female	#80	90	Insufficient	Not yet available
2003	New South Wales, Australia	female	#62	113	Insufficient	Not yet available
2002	New South Wales, Australia	female	#56	135	Insufficient	Not yet available
2001	New South Wales, Australia	female	#64	120	Insufficient	Not yet available
2000	New South Wales, Australia	female	#66	122	Insufficient	Not yet available
1999	New South Wales, Australia	female	#74	109	Insufficient	Not yet available
1998	New South Wales, Australia	female	#78	106	Insufficient	Not yet available
1997	New South Wales, Australia	female	#63	124	Insufficient	Not yet available
1996	New South Wales, Australia	female	#69	111	Insufficient	Not yet available
1995	New South Wales, Australia	female	#64	126	Insufficient	Not yet available
1994	New South Wales, Australia	female	#70	123	Insufficient	Not yet available
1993	New South Wales, Australia	female	#91	94	Insufficient	Not yet available
2019	Northern Ireland	female	#424	3	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#313	5	High	Verified
2015	Northern Ireland	female	#269	6	High	Verified
2014	Northern Ireland	female	#247	7	High	Verified
2012	Northern Ireland	female	#297	6	High	Verified
2011	Northern Ireland	female	#311	5	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	female	#237	8	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	female	#201	9	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	female	#212	9	High	Verified
2007	Northern Ireland	female	#351	4	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	female	#265	6	High	Verified
2005	Northern Ireland	female	#193	9	High	Verified
2004	Northern Ireland	female	#238	6	High	Verified
2003	Northern Ireland	female	#331	3	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	female	#286	4	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	female	#230	6	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	female	#248	5	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	female	#301	4	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	female	#358	3	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#856	3	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#716	4	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	female	#568	6	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#752	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#612	6	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	female	#910	3	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#893	3	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#750	4	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#842	3	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	female	#367	10	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	female	#461	6	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#655	3	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	female	#352	8	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	female	#498	4	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	female	#413	5	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	female	#528	3	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	female	#498	3	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	female	#534	3	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
New South Wales, Australia hub — collected by NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
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 4 registrars between 1993 and 2024, ranked in 32 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #56, first reached in 2002.

It held a top-100 place in 14 years, 14 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 478 births, registered in England and Wales in 2005.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1993, and 4 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.

Eboni · #920, 24y
Ebonie · #821, 29y
Ebrahim · #853, 29y
Ebrima · #1596, 24y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 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.

Cassie · #55, 36y
Ashlee · #53, 36y
Lochlan · #60, 29y
Brooklyn · #61, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Lainey · #56, 29y
Ruairidh · #56, 24y
Abby · #55, 33y
Aoibhe · #55, 31y

Ebony was ranked #56 in New South Wales, Australia · Girls in 2002. 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.

Ebony 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 Ebony without appearing here.

Ebony moved ahead of

Mona Compare
In 2005 they stood at #655 and #655 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2006 that had become #367 and #764.
Janet Compare
In 2017 they stood at #910 and #910 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2018 that had become #568 and #896.
Kim Compare
In 2017 they stood at #752 and #584 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2018 that had become #568 and #896.
Lorraine Compare
In 2017 they stood at #910 and #910 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2018 that had become #568 and #896.

Moved ahead of Ebony

May Compare
In 2023 they stood at #600 and #637 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #902 and #610.
Rita Compare
In 2023 they stood at #600 and #851 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #902 and #625.
Saoirse Compare
In 2019 they stood at #377 and #392 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #505 and #307.
Deborah Compare
In 2023 they stood at #600 and #657 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #902 and #708.

Moved the opposite way to Ebony

Abigail Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 while Abigail went from #234 to #84.
Alice Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 while Alice went from #78 to #38.
Anna Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 while Anna went from #57 to #23.
Annie Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 while Annie went from #213 to #48.

Moved the same way as Ebony

Aoife Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 and Aoife from #5 to #31.
Audrey Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 and Audrey from #234 to #856.
Diane Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 and Diane from #320 to #727.
Eileen Compare
Between 1993 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Ebony went from #516 to #856 and Eileen from #113 to #445.

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 4 regions, from 1993 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #56 in New South Wales, Australia in 2002. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Ebony

Ebony at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Ebony across 4 official records

Ebony by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Ebony 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 Ebony

Ebony and the names beside it

Ebony moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Ebony

Moved the opposite way to Ebony

Moved the same way as Ebony

Ebony at a glance

Ebony across 4 official records

Ebony by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Ebony 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 Ebony

Ebony and the names beside it

Ebony moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Ebony

Moved the opposite way to Ebony

Moved the same way as Ebony