Murphy

Used for both boys and girlsStatistical record

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

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

Murphy: Recorded since 1997, its highest recorded position is #478, reached in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
28years from first to last
#478highest recorded position
7groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 2015–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2015	#3615
2016	#2966
2017	#1911
2018	#2090
2019	#2869
2020	#1846
2021	#1785
2022	#1180
2023	#981
2024	#1128

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 · Girls

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

In 2024: #478 among boys in Scotland, #535 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 #1761 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
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1128 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Murphy 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 571 births with the name.

Murphy 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.

Murphy'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	#1761 (1997)	#535 (2024)	#535 (2024)	27 of 28	571 (1997–2024)	72 (2024)
England and Wales · Girls	#3615 (2015)	#981 (2023)	#1128 (2024)	10 of 10	174 (2015–2024)	35 (2023)

Murphy 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 Murphy in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	9	2 of 10	5
2000s	131	10 of 10	13
2010s	203	10 of 10	20
2020sbusiest	228	5 of 10	46

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 46 births a year.

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

Murphy 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: #478 in Scotland in 2024.

Murphy'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	#1128	30	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#535	72	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#981	35	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#665	53	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#1180	28	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#925	33	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#1785	16	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#729	47	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#1846	15	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1150	23	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2869	8	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1253	20	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#2090	13	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#887	34	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#1911	15	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#968	31	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#2966	8	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1081	26	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#3615	6	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1186	22	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1486	16	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#2055	10	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1589	15	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1342	18	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#1911	11	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1749	12	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1403	16	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#952	26	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1347	15	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1190	17	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1077	18	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1410	11	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#1799	7	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1949	6	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#3036	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2901	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1761	6	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#478	6	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

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 27 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #478, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 72 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

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 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2024, 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.

Murad · #1410, 27y
Muriel · #179, 26y
Murray · #16, 50y
Murtaza · #836, 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.

Kabir · #479, 30y
Raife · #477, 25y
Amarachi · #476, 28y
Oluwatamilore · #476, 25y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Matty · #478, 26y
Reem · #478, 30y
Kabir · #479, 30y
Raife · #477, 25y

Murphy was ranked #478 in Scotland · Boys in 2024. 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.

Murphy 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 Murphy without appearing here.

Murphy moved ahead of

Cheryl Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2869 and #2286 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #1846 and #5493.
Belinda Compare
In 2015 they stood at #3615 and #2945 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #2966 and #5785.
Kristine Compare
In 2015 they stood at #3615 and #3252 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #2966 and #5785.
Kirsten Compare
In 2018 they stood at #2090 and #1977 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #2869 and #5591.

Moved ahead of Murphy

Ollie Compare
In 1997 they stood at #1761 and #2022 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #2901 and #924.
Cooper Compare
In 1997 they stood at #1761 and #2022 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #2901 and #1110.
Filip Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1077 and #1160 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #1190 and #615.
Mathias Compare
In 2008 they stood at #1403 and #1511 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #1749 and #1425.

Moved the opposite way to Murphy

Aaron Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 while Aaron went from #32 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 while Adam went from #20 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 while Alan went from #179 to #592.
Alexander Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 while Alexander went from #16 to #36.

Moved the same way as Murphy

Albie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 and Albie from #914 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 and Alfie from #92 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 and Alfred from #192 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Murphy went from #1761 to #535 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: #478 in Scotland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Murphy

Murphy at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Murphy across 2 official records

Murphy by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Murphy 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 Murphy

Murphy and the names beside it

Murphy moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Murphy

Moved the opposite way to Murphy

Moved the same way as Murphy

Murphy at a glance

Murphy across 2 official records

Murphy by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Murphy 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 Murphy

Murphy and the names beside it

Murphy moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Murphy

Moved the opposite way to Murphy

Moved the same way as Murphy