Willoughby

maleStatistical record

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

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

Willoughby: Recorded since 1997, it reached #1,124 in 2008, and it stood at #2,921 in 2024.

1registrar recorded it
28times a registrar ranked it
28years from first to last
#1124highest recorded position
7groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 2020–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2020	#4535
2024	#5891

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 · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 26 of the 28 years from 1997 to 2024.

Official data for England and Wales, 1997–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1997
First recorded at #2337 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 recorded1997–2024
Highest recorded position: #1124 among boys in England and Wales, in 2008 (recorded 1997–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #5891 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Willoughby appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 26 years beginning in 1997, and has registered 244 births with the name.

Willoughby 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.

Willoughby'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	#2337 (1997)	#1124 (2008)	#2921 (2024)	26 of 28	244 (1997–2024)	22 (2008)
England and Wales · Girls	#4535 (2020)	#4535 (2020)	#5891 (2024)	2 of 5	7 (2020–2024)	4 (2020)

Willoughby 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 Willoughby in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	11	3 of 10	4
2000s	71	8 of 10	9
2010sbusiest	123	10 of 10	12
2020s	39	5 of 10	8

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 12 births a year.

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

Willoughby appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #1124 in England and Wales in 2008.

Willoughby'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	#5891	3	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#2921	7	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#2325	9	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1879	12	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#3451	5	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#4535	4	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2960	6	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1369	18	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1875	12	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1470	17	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#2335	9	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1673	14	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#2079	10	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1920	11	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1962	11	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1688	13	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#2400	8	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1302	18	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1124	22	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#3589	4	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#2087	8	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#3849	3	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#3651	3	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1962	7	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#2005	6	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2425	4	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2901	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2337	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 1 registrar between 1997 and 2024, ranked in 26 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #1,124, first reached in 2008.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 22 births, registered in England and Wales in 2008.

Its record falls into 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 2 years.

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.

4decades with a ranked yearRecorded in 4 decades →
23 yearslongest unbroken run of ranked years20 to 29 unbroken years →
2separate stretches the record falls into2 separate stretches →
2 yearslongest absence inside the recorded period2 to 3 years missing →
#2,921position in 2024, its most recent recorded year
22births registered in its largest year, 2008Under 25 births →

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.

Willie · #304, 14y
Willis · #1152, 28y
Willow · #5, 30y
Willow-Grace · #778, 14y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 1 registrar, 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.

Memphis · #1124, 25y
Ebenezer · #1125, 29y
Taye · #1125, 24y
Amreen · #1126, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

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

Memphis · #1124, 25y
Ebenezer · #1125, 29y
Amreen · #1126, 29y
Hamida · #1126, 26y

Willoughby 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 Willoughby without appearing here.

Willoughby moved ahead of

Shannon Compare
In 2007 they stood at #3589 and #3589 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #1124 and #4432.
Jade Compare
In 2008 they stood at #3651 and #3651 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #1302 and #4527.
Ole Compare
In 2021 they stood at #3451 and #3017 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #1879 and #4789.
Glenn Compare
In 2022 they stood at #3451 and #2730 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2325 and #4991.

Moved ahead of Willoughby

Leif Compare
In 2019 they stood at #1369 and #2104 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #2960 and #1548.
Arlo Compare
In 2001 they stood at #2425 and #2943 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #2005 and #848.
Gunnar Compare
In 2019 they stood at #1369 and #2728 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #2960 and #1935.
Matheo Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1879 and #2018 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2325 and #1363.

Moved the opposite way to Willoughby

Shannon Compare
Between 1997 and 2019 in England and Wales · Boys, Willoughby went from #2337 to #1369 while Shannon went from #1761 to #4702.

Moved the same way as Willoughby

Espen Compare
Between 2002 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Willoughby went from #2005 to #2921 and Espen from #3225 to #5119.

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.

Recorded in official data for England and Wales from 1997 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #1124 in England and Wales in 2008. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Willoughby

Willoughby at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Willoughby across 2 official records

Willoughby by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Willoughby 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

Willoughby and the names beside it

Willoughby moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Willoughby

Moved the opposite way to Willoughby

Moved the same way as Willoughby

Willoughby at a glance

Willoughby across 2 official records

Willoughby by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Willoughby appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Willoughby and the names beside it

Willoughby moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Willoughby

Moved the opposite way to Willoughby

Moved the same way as Willoughby