Kirk

maleStatistical record

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

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

Kirk: Recorded since 1970, it reached #206 in 2000, and it stood at #4,107 in 2023.

3registrars recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
54years from first to last
#206highest recorded position
11groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2023

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#573
1997	#484
1998	#600
1999	#1082
2000	#881
2001	#473
2002	#463
2003	#642
2004	#938
2005	#1851
2006	#1401
2007	#1578
2008	#1828
2009	#2126
2010	#3865
2011	#1788
2012	#2117
2013	#2216
2014	#3362
2015	#1586
2016	#2335
2017	#4812
2018	#3959
2019	#3937
2020	#3334
2022	#4001
2023	#4107

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 England and Wales in 27 of the 28 years from 1996 to 2023.

In 2004: #264 among boys in Northern Ireland, #938 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1970–2023 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1970
First recorded at #278 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1970 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1997–2004
Highest recorded position: #206 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 2000 (recorded 1997–2004).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2023
Most recently recorded at #4107 among boys in England and Wales, in 2023.
England and Wales · Boys

Kirk appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 27 ranked years and 420 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Boys, from 1970.

Kirk across 3 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.

Kirk'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	#573 (1996)	#463 (2002)	#4107 (2023)	27 of 28	420 (1996–2023)	47 (2002)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#278 (1970)	#278 (1970)	#319 (1988)	6 of 19	19 (1970–1988)	4 (1970)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#271 (1997)	#206 (2000)	#264 (2004)	5 of 8	20 (1997–2004)	6 (2000)

Kirk 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 Kirk in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	111	4 of 10	28
2000sbusiest	221	10 of 10	22
2010s	75	10 of 10	8
2020s	13	3 of 10	4

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 22 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2000 and 2001, when recorded births rose by 26, from 18 to 44.

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

Kirk 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 1970 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #206 in Northern Ireland in 2000.

Kirk'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	male	#4107	4	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#4001	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#3334	5	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#3937	4	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#3959	4	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#4812	3	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#2335	9	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1586	15	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#3362	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#2216	9	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#2117	10	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1788	12	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#3865	4	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#2126	9	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1828	11	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1578	13	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1401	14	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1851	9	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#938	22	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#642	34	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#463	47	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#473	44	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#881	18	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1082	13	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#600	30	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#484	39	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#573	29	High	Verified
2004	Northern Ireland	male	#264	4	High	Verified
2003	Northern Ireland	male	#299	3	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	male	#243	4	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	male	#206	6	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	male	#271	3	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	male	#319	3	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	male	#304	3	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	male	#318	3	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#326	3	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	male	#304	3	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	male	#278	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
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 3 registrars between 1970 and 2023, ranked in 33 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #206, first reached in 2000.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 47 births, registered in England and Wales in 2002.

Its record falls into 6 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 7 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 27 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.

Kiril · #2266, 15y
Kirill · #422, 21y
Kirpa · #2504, 13y
Kirsten · #20, 80y

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.

Aylin · #207, 33y
Ellie-May · #205, 29y
Emily-Rose · #205, 29y
Paulius · #208, 32y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1970 and 1979.

Ruari · #205, 38y
Aurimas · #208, 20y
Kim-Andre · #208, 23y
Paulius · #208, 32y

Kirk was ranked #206 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 2000. 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.

Kirk 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 Kirk without appearing here.

Kirk moved ahead of

Ashleigh Compare
In 2000 they stood at #881 and #881 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #473 and #1595.
Garry Compare
In 2022 they stood at #4001 and #3048 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4107 and #4991.
Glenn Compare
In 2019 they stood at #3959 and #3412 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #3334 and #3848.

Moved ahead of Kirk

Theodor Compare
In 2009 they stood at #2126 and #2544 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2010 that had become #3865 and #1201.
Hans Compare
In 2016 they stood at #2335 and #3478 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2017 that had become #4812 and #2172.
Gustav Compare
In 2016 they stood at #2335 and #3478 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2017 that had become #4812 and #2512.
Rune Compare
In 2018 they stood at #3959 and #4749 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #3937 and #2104.

Moved the opposite way to Kirk

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 while Albie went from #853 to #22.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 while Alfie went from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 while Alfred went from #218 to #76.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 while Archie went from #192 to #13.

Moved the same way as Kirk

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 and Aaron from #33 to #146.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 and Adam from #16 to #41.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 and Alan from #163 to #464.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2023 in England and Wales · Boys, Kirk went from #573 to #4107 and Alex from #43 to #152.

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 1970 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #206 in Northern Ireland in 2000. Source data last verified 2026-07-22.

Kirk

Kirk at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Kirk across 3 official records

Kirk by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Kirk appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Kirk

Kirk and the names beside it

Kirk moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kirk

Moved the opposite way to Kirk

Moved the same way as Kirk

Kirk at a glance

Kirk across 3 official records

Kirk by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Kirk appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Kirk

Kirk and the names beside it

Kirk moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kirk

Moved the opposite way to Kirk

Moved the same way as Kirk