King

maleStatistical record

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

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

King: Recorded every year since 1997, it reached #451 in 2002, and it stood at #857 in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
32times a registrar ranked it
28years from first to last
#451highest recorded position
10groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1997–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1997	#2022
1998	#1821
1999	#2097
2000	#2142
2001	#2587
2003	#1771
2004	#1410
2005	#1991
2006	#2538
2007	#2741
2008	#2097
2009	#1425
2010	#1724
2011	#1447
2012	#1589
2013	#1404
2014	#1144
2015	#1279
2016	#858
2017	#572
2018	#619
2019	#628
2020	#719
2021	#871
2022	#810
2023	#779
2024	#857

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 · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 27 of the 28 years from 1997 to 2024.

In 2014: #715 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #1144 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1997–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1997
First recorded at #2022 among boys in England and Wales in 1997 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded2002–2014
Highest recorded position: #451 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 2002 (recorded 2002–2014).
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #857 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

King appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 27 years beginning in 1997, and has registered 612 births with the name.

King 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.

King'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 · Boys	#2022 (1997)	#572 (2017)	#857 (2024)	27 of 28	612 (1997–2024)	67 (2017)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#451 (2002)	#451 (2002)	#715 (2014)	5 of 13	15 (2002–2014)	3 (2002)

King 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 King in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	16	3 of 10	5
2000s	74	9 of 10	8
2010s	323	10 of 10	32
2020sbusiest	199	5 of 10	40

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 40 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2016 and 2017, when recorded births rose by 30, from 37 to 67.

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

King 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 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #451 in Republic of Ireland in 2002.

King'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	#857	37	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#779	42	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#810	39	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#871	35	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#719	46	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#628	57	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#619	58	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#572	67	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#858	37	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1279	20	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1144	23	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1404	17	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1589	15	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1447	16	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1724	13	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1425	16	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#2097	9	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#2741	6	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#2538	6	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1991	8	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1410	12	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1771	8	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#2587	4	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#2142	5	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2097	5	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1821	6	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2022	5	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	male	#715	3	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	male	#629	3	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	male	#518	3	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#506	3	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	male	#451	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 1997 and 2024, ranked in 28 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #451, first reached in 2002.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 67 births, registered in England and Wales in 2017.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2002, and 5 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.

Kinan · #2301, 14y
Kine · #18, 57y
Kinga · #236, 51y
Kingsley · #270, 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.

Akeem · #451, 29y
Immanuel · #451, 29y
Jawad · #451, 30y
Kehinde · #451, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Akeem · #451, 29y
Anderson · #451, 29y
Ayooluwa · #451, 11y
Immanuel · #451, 29y

King was ranked #451 in Republic of Ireland · Boys 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.

King 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 King without appearing here.

King moved ahead of

Tor Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2741 and #2435 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #2097 and #4432.
Brent Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2741 and #1756 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #2097 and #3687.
Kim Compare
In 2007 they stood at #2741 and #2435 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #2097 and #3687.
Johannes Compare
In 2012 they stood at #1589 and #1313 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2013 that had become #1404 and #2660.

Moved ahead of King

Hunter Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1410 and #1878 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #1991 and #1135.
Cillian Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1410 and #3009 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #1991 and #1190.
Filip Compare
In 1998 they stood at #1821 and #2901 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1999 that had become #2097 and #1664.
Theodor Compare
In 2019 they stood at #628 and #663 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #719 and #627.

Moved the opposite way to King

Aaron Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 while Aaron went from #32 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 while Adam went from #20 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 while Alan went from #179 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as King

Albie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 and Albie from #914 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 and Alfie from #92 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 and Alfred from #192 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, King went from #2022 to #857 and Archie from #141 to #10.

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 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #451 in Republic of Ireland in 2002. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

King

King at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

King across 2 official records

King by decade in England and Wales · Boys

King 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 King

King and the names beside it

King moved ahead of

Moved ahead of King

Moved the opposite way to King

Moved the same way as King

King at a glance

King across 2 official records

King by decade in England and Wales · Boys

King 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 King

King and the names beside it

King moved ahead of

Moved ahead of King

Moved the opposite way to King

Moved the same way as King