Lionel

maleStatistical record

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

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

Lionel: Recorded since 1966, with a gap of 18 years, its highest recorded position is #222, and it stood at #226 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
37times a registrar ranked it
60years from first to last
#222highest recorded position
10groupings it qualifies for

What stands out in Lionel's record

Absent from every published list for 18 years inside its own recorded period, then ranked again. Names by longest absence

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2357
1997	#2337
1998	#2074
1999	#2425
2000	#2142
2002	#3225
2003	#1962
2004	#1878
2005	#2418
2006	#1643
2007	#1506
2008	#2276
2009	#1649
2010	#2036
2011	#2194
2012	#1507
2013	#1339
2014	#1327
2015	#1046
2016	#1570
2017	#2172
2018	#1132
2019	#1083
2020	#1111
2021	#1595
2022	#1420
2023	#1071
2024	#847

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 Republic of Ireland in 6 of the 57 years from 1966 to 2022.

In 2024: #380 among boys in Norway, #847 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1966–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1966
First recorded at #229 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1966 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1966–2022
Highest recorded position: #222 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 1967 (recorded 1966–2022).
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #226 among boys in Norway, in 2025.
Norway · Boys

Lionel appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 28 ranked years and 388 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Boys, from 1966.

Lionel 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.

Lionel'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	#229 (1966)	#222 (1967)	#779 (2022)	6 of 57	23 (1966–2022)	5 (1967)
England and Wales · Boys	#2357 (1996)	#847 (2024)	#847 (2024)	28 of 29	388 (1996–2024)	38 (2024)
Norway · Boys	#236 (2023)	#226 (2025)	#226 (2025)	3 of 3	46 (2023–2025)	19 (2023)

Lionel 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 Lionel in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	17	4 of 10	4
2000s	75	9 of 10	8
2010s	174	10 of 10	17
2020sbusiest	122	5 of 10	24

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 24 births a year.

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

Lionel 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 1966 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #222 in Republic of Ireland in 1967.

Lionel'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	#847	38	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1071	27	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1420	18	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1595	15	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1111	24	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1083	25	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1132	24	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#2172	10	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1570	16	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1046	27	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1327	19	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1339	18	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1507	16	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#2194	9	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#2036	10	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1649	13	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#2276	8	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1506	14	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1643	11	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#2418	6	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1878	8	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1962	7	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#3225	3	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#2142	5	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2425	4	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2074	5	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2337	4	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#2357	4	High	Verified
2025	Norway	male	#226	19	High	Verified
2024	Norway	male	#380	8	High	Verified
2023	Norway	male	#236	19	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#779	3	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#720	3	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	male	#333	3	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#258	5	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	male	#222	5	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	male	#229	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
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 1966 and 2025, ranked in 33 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #222, first reached in 1967.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 38 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 18 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 57 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.

Lio · #1595, 11y
Lion · #2501, 11y
Lior · #1595, 12y
Liora · #869, 22y

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.

Chelsey · #221, 30y
Rianna · #223, 29y
Charis · #220, 29y
Demi-Leigh · #220, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Finton · #222, 22y
Neasa · #222, 60y
Vernon · #222, 26y
Fionan · #223, 41y

Lionel was ranked #222 in Republic of Ireland · Boys in 1967. 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.

Lionel 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 Lionel without appearing here.

Lionel moved ahead of

Garry Compare
In 2008 they stood at #2276 and #2276 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #1649 and #3227.
Glenn Compare
In 2011 they stood at #2194 and #1909 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #1507 and #3039.
Espen Compare
In 2004 they stood at #3225 and #3225 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #2418 and #3849.
Brett Compare
In 2017 they stood at #2172 and #2172 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2018 that had become #1132 and #2445.

Moved ahead of Lionel

Theodor Compare
In 2009 they stood at #1649 and #2544 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2010 that had become #2036 and #1201.
Hudson Compare
In 1998 they stood at #2074 and #2419 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1999 that had become #2425 and #1850.
Craig Compare
In 1975 they stood at #222 and #245 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1976 that had become #258 and #190.
Darragh Compare
In 1966 they stood at #229 and #256 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 1967 that had become #222 and #208.

Moved the opposite way to Lionel

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Lionel

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Lionel went from #2357 to #847 and Archie from #192 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 3 regions, from 1966 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #222 in Republic of Ireland in 1967. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Lionel

Lionel at a glance

What stands out in Lionel's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Lionel across 3 official records

Lionel by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Lionel appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Lionel

Lionel and the names beside it

Lionel moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lionel

Moved the opposite way to Lionel

Moved the same way as Lionel

Lionel at a glance

What stands out in Lionel's record

Lionel across 3 official records

Lionel by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Lionel appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Lionel

Lionel and the names beside it

Lionel moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lionel

Moved the opposite way to Lionel

Moved the same way as Lionel