Preston

maleStatistical record

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

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

Preston: Recorded every year since 1996, it reached #149 in 2006, and it stood at #577 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
68times a registrar ranked it
30years from first to last
#149highest recorded position
14groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1235
1997	#845
1998	#1642
1999	#1383
2000	#1002
2001	#1595
2002	#1077
2003	#1248
2004	#1222
2005	#781
2006	#149
2007	#203
2008	#235
2009	#263
2010	#232
2011	#204
2012	#207
2013	#217
2014	#248
2015	#268
2016	#285
2017	#330
2018	#325
2019	#369
2020	#436
2021	#514
2022	#548
2023	#704
2024	#721

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 every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #404 among boys in Northern Ireland, #655 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #721 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1996–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1235 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #149 among boys in England and Wales, in 2006 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #577 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Boys

Preston appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 3,370 births with the name.

Preston 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.

Preston'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	#1235 (1996)	#149 (2006)	#721 (2024)	29 of 29	3,370 (1996–2024)	330 (2006)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#247 (2006)	#247 (2006)	#577 (2025)	20 of 20	153 (2006–2025)	14 (2006)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#167 (2006)	#167 (2006)	#404 (2024)	19 of 19	120 (2006–2024)	12 (2006)

Preston 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 Preston in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	44	4 of 10	11
2000s	1,019	10 of 10	102
2010sbusiest	1,971	10 of 10	197
2020s	336	5 of 10	67

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 197 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2005 and 2006, when recorded births rose by 299, from 31 to 330.

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

Preston 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 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #149 in England and Wales in 2006.

Preston'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	#721	49	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#704	49	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#548	70	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#514	76	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#436	92	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#369	119	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#325	145	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#330	146	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#285	178	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#268	191	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#248	218	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#217	242	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#207	268	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#204	257	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#232	207	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#263	170	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#235	190	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#203	232	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#149	330	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#781	31	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1222	15	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1248	13	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#1077	15	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1595	8	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1002	15	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1383	9	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1642	7	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#845	18	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#1235	10	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	male	#404	3	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#395	3	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	male	#414	3	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	male	#433	3	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	male	#392	3	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	male	#254	7	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	male	#283	6	High	Verified
2017	Northern Ireland	male	#250	7	High	Verified
2016	Northern Ireland	male	#281	6	High	Verified
2015	Northern Ireland	male	#211	10	High	Verified
2014	Northern Ireland	male	#213	10	High	Verified
2013	Northern Ireland	male	#188	12	High	Verified
2012	Northern Ireland	male	#231	8	High	Verified
2011	Northern Ireland	male	#245	7	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	male	#267	6	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	male	#262	6	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	male	#378	3	High	Verified
2007	Northern Ireland	male	#276	5	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	male	#167	12	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	male	#577	5	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	male	#655	4	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	7	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#779	3	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	male	#454	7	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#637	4	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	male	#564	5	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	male	#435	8	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	male	#495	6	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#372	10	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	male	#459	7	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	male	#468	7	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#352	11	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	male	#379	10	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#455	7	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#373	10	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	6	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	male	#412	8	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	male	#271	14	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#247	14	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 1996 and 2025, ranked in 30 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #149, first reached in 2006.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 330 births, registered in England and Wales in 2006.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2006, and 10 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.

Prem · #1127, 29y
Presley · #378, 27y
Primrose · #157, 29y
Prince · #273, 29y

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.

Lyle · #148, 29y
Macey · #148, 29y
Dua · #151, 26y
Ariel · #146, 31y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Cain · #149, 31y
Ailsa · #148, 29y
Ffion · #148, 29y
Lyle · #148, 29y

Preston was ranked #149 in England and Wales · Boys in 2006. 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.

Preston 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 Preston without appearing here.

Preston moved ahead of

Shannon Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1595 and #1467 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #1077 and #3225.
Kim Compare
In 1998 they stood at #1642 and #1367 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1999 that had become #1383 and #2943.
Graeme Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1595 and #1595 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #1077 and #2636.
Geoffrey Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1222 and #1160 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #781 and #1851.

Moved ahead of Preston

Alfred Compare
In 2019 they stood at #564 and #646 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2020 that had become #637 and #271.
Tadhg Compare
In 2022 they stood at #548 and #600 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #704 and #419.
Derek Compare
In 2021 they stood at #454 and #552 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2022 that had become #779 and #509.
Jeremy Compare
In 2023 they stood at #472 and #584 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2024 that had become #655 and #394.

Moved the opposite way to Preston

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Preston

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Preston went from #1235 to #721 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 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #149 in England and Wales in 2006. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Preston

Preston at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Preston across 3 official records

Preston by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Preston 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 Preston

Preston and the names beside it

Preston moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Preston

Moved the opposite way to Preston

Moved the same way as Preston

Preston at a glance

Preston across 3 official records

Preston by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Preston 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 Preston

Preston and the names beside it

Preston moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Preston

Moved the opposite way to Preston

Moved the same way as Preston