Howard

maleStatistical record

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

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

Howard: Recorded since 1954, its highest recorded position is #90, and it stood at #1,951 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
56times a registrar ranked it
71years from first to last
#90highest recorded position
13groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#427
1997	#538
1998	#554
1999	#776
2000	#773
2001	#814
2002	#993
2003	#1092
2004	#1038
2005	#1851
2006	#1643
2007	#2023
2008	#1511
2009	#1649
2010	#1171
2011	#2039
2012	#1229
2013	#1462
2014	#1935
2015	#1511
2016	#1804
2017	#1398
2018	#1455
2019	#2488
2020	#2076
2021	#1860
2022	#2018
2023	#1799
2024	#1951

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 · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Republic of Ireland in 26 of the 46 years from 1964 to 2009.

In 2009: #701 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #1649 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1954–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1964
First recorded at #232 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1964 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1951 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Howard appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 29 ranked years and 495 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Boys, from 1964.

Howard 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.

Howard'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 · Boys	#232 (1964)	#199 (1966)	#701 (2009)	26 of 46	139 (1964–2009)	10 (1976)
England and Wales · Boys	#427 (1996)	#427 (1996)	#1951 (2024)	29 of 29	495 (1996–2024)	47 (1996)

Howard by decade in England and Wales · Boys

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 Howard in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	134	4 of 10	34
2000sbusiest	151	10 of 10	15
2010s	152	10 of 10	15
2020s	58	5 of 10	12

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 15 births a year.

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

Howard 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 3 regions, from 1954 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #90 in New South Wales, Australia in 1954.

Howard'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	male	#1951	12	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1799	13	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#2018	11	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1860	12	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2076	10	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#2488	8	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1455	17	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1398	18	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1804	13	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1511	16	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1935	11	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1462	16	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1229	21	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#2039	10	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1171	22	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1649	13	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1511	14	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#2023	9	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1643	11	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1851	9	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1038	19	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1092	16	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#993	17	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#814	21	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#773	22	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#776	21	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#554	33	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#538	33	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#427	47	High	Verified
1954	New South Wales, Australia	male	#90	66	Insufficient	Not yet available
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#701	3	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#493	4	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	male	#451	3	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	male	#229	7	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	male	#272	4	High	Verified
1986	Republic of Ireland	male	#317	3	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	male	#207	8	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	male	#217	8	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	male	#260	5	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#288	4	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#292	4	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#255	5	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	male	#253	6	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#211	10	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#227	8	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	male	#254	6	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	male	#238	6	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	male	#233	7	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#219	7	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	male	#246	5	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#222	5	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#208	6	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	male	#199	6	High	Verified
1965	Republic of Ireland	male	#250	3	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	male	#232	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
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 3 registrars between 1954 and 2024, ranked in 53 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #90, first reached in 1954.

It held a top-100 place in 1 year.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 66 births, registered in New South Wales, Australia in 1954.

Its record falls into 5 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 9 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1964, and 42 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.

Hosea · #2027, 16y
Hosna · #2150, 14y
Howie · #1706, 22y
Hriday · #2263, 14y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 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.

Dearbhla · #90, 57y
Marlene · #91, 54y
Harold · #88, 50y
Leonora · #92, 48y

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1950 and 1959.

Cornelia · #90, 63y
Ted · #90, 55y
Kaye · #89, 20y
Harold · #88, 50y

Howard was ranked #90 in New South Wales, Australia · Boys in 1954. 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.

Howard 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 Howard without appearing here.

Howard moved ahead of

Graham Compare
In 2023 they stood at #1799 and #1533 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1951 and #5119.
Glenn Compare
In 2011 they stood at #2039 and #1909 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #1229 and #3039.
Grant Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2488 and #1869 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #2076 and #3334.
Keith Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2488 and #1869 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #2076 and #3334.

Moved ahead of Howard

Darragh Compare
In 2018 they stood at #1455 and #1991 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #2488 and #974.
Filip Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1038 and #1160 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #1851 and #615.
Gerard Compare
In 2010 they stood at #1171 and #1201 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2011 that had become #2039 and #958.
Hudson Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1038 and #1160 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #1851 and #982.

Moved the opposite way to Howard

Alexander Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 while Alexander went from #116 to #50.
Benjamin Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 while Benjamin went from #139 to #68.
Conor Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 while Conor went from #56 to #4.
Daniel Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 while Daniel went from #19 to #3.

Moved the same way as Howard

Adrian Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 and Adrian from #65 to #114.
Alfred Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 and Alfred from #134 to #472.
Arthur Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 and Arthur from #98 to #220.
Denis Compare
Between 1964 and 2009 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Howard went from #232 to #701 and Denis from #21 to #159.

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 3 regions, from 1954 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #90 in New South Wales, Australia in 1954. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Howard

Howard at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Howard across 2 official records

Howard by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Howard appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Howard

Howard and the names beside it

Howard moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Howard

Moved the opposite way to Howard

Moved the same way as Howard

Howard at a glance

Howard across 2 official records

Howard by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Howard appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Howard

Howard and the names beside it

Howard moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Howard

Moved the opposite way to Howard

Moved the same way as Howard