Hero

Used for both boys and girlsStatistical record

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

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

Hero: Recorded since 1999, its highest recorded position is #2,018, and it stood at #2,443 in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
31times a registrar ranked it
26years from first to last
#2018highest recorded position
7groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1999–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1999	#3225
2000	#3912
2001	#3998
2002	#3409
2004	#3725
2007	#3218
2009	#5556
2010	#4012
2011	#5785
2015	#2705
2016	#2966
2017	#3229
2018	#3518
2019	#2286
2021	#3961
2022	#2888
2023	#4709
2024	#3318

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 18 of the 26 years from 1999 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 1999–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1999
First recorded at #3225 among girls in England and Wales in 1999 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded2008–2024
Highest recorded position: #2018 among boys in England and Wales, in 2022 (recorded 2008–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #3318 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Hero appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 18 years beginning in 1999, and has registered 100 births with the name.

Hero 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.

Hero'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	#3225 (1999)	#2286 (2019)	#3318 (2024)	18 of 26	100 (1999–2024)	11 (2019)
England and Wales · Boys	#4432 (2008)	#2018 (2022)	#2443 (2024)	13 of 17	81 (2008–2024)	11 (2022)

Hero 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 Hero in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	4	1 of 10	4
2000s	23	6 of 10	4
2010sbusiest	49	7 of 10	7
2020s	24	4 of 10	6

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade — the 7 years of it this list covers, averaging 7 births a year.

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

Hero 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 1999 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2018 in England and Wales in 2022.

Hero'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	#3318	7	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#2443	9	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#4709	4	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#3523	5	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2888	8	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#2018	11	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#3961	5	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#2125	10	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2228	9	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2286	11	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3518	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#3011	6	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#3229	7	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#3449	5	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#2966	8	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#2556	8	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#2705	9	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#3908	4	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#3895	4	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#5785	3	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#4647	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4012	5	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#3744	4	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#4432	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#3218	6	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#3725	4	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#3409	4	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#3998	3	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3912	3	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3225	4	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 1999 and 2024, ranked in 21 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #2,018, first reached in 2022.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 11 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 4 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.

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.

Hermione · #265, 29y
Hermod · #176, 26y
Hershy · #1984, 20y
Hessa · #3218, 15y

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.

Advaith · #2018, 16y
Arad · #2018, 16y
Pheonix · #2018, 22y
Vittorio · #2018, 18y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Vittorio · #2018, 18y
Beyza · #2019, 22y
Faridah · #2019, 19y
Arfan · #2020, 22y

Hero 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 Hero without appearing here.

Hero moved ahead of

Donna Compare
In 2018 they stood at #3518 and #3518 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #2286 and #5591.
Rian Compare
In 2014 they stood at #4012 and #3533 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2015 that had become #2705 and #5730.
Finlay Compare
In 2015 they stood at #5785 and #5785 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #2966 and #5785.
Kari Compare
In 2015 they stood at #5785 and #5785 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #2966 and #5785.

Moved ahead of Hero

Eabha Compare
In 2020 they stood at #2286 and #2458 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3961 and #1069.
Malin Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2888 and #3970 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2023 that had become #4709 and #2346.
Arlo Compare
In 2020 they stood at #2286 and #3541 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3961 and #1785.
Noah Compare
In 2020 they stood at #2286 and #2869 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3961 and #2201.

Moved the opposite way to Hero

Aaron Compare
Between 2008 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hero went from #4432 to #2443 while Aaron went from #55 to #154.
Alan Compare
Between 2008 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hero went from #4432 to #2443 while Alan went from #226 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 2008 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hero went from #4432 to #2443 while Alex went from #47 to #171.
Alexander Compare
Between 2008 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hero went from #4432 to #2443 while Alexander went from #19 to #36.

Moved the same way as Hero

Kristin Compare
Between 1999 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Hero went from #3225 to #4709 and Kristin from #1805 to #5687.
Tracey Compare
Between 1999 and 2023 in England and Wales · Girls, Hero went from #3225 to #4709 and Tracey from #1675 to #5687.
Aksel Compare
Between 2008 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hero went from #4432 to #2443 and Aksel from #3158 to #1132.
Albie Compare
Between 2008 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hero went from #4432 to #2443 and Albie from #341 to #19.

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 1999 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #2018 in England and Wales in 2022. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Hero

Hero at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Hero across 2 official records

Hero by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Hero 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

Hero and the names beside it

Hero moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Hero

Moved the opposite way to Hero

Moved the same way as Hero

Hero at a glance

Hero across 2 official records

Hero by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Hero appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Hero and the names beside it

Hero moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Hero

Moved the opposite way to Hero

Moved the same way as Hero