Zelda

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Zelda: Recorded since 1972, with a gap of 17 years, it reached #420 in 1979, and it stood at #638 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
31times a registrar ranked it
53years from first to last
#420highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

What stands out in Zelda's record

Absent from every published list for 17 years inside its own recorded period, then ranked again. Names by longest absence

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1997–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1997	#3824
1998	#3142
1999	#1970
2001	#2466
2004	#2802
2005	#3970
2006	#5061
2007	#3218
2010	#4012
2011	#4049
2012	#2969
2013	#3536
2014	#2314
2015	#1240
2016	#1327
2017	#1296
2018	#1436
2019	#1063
2020	#735
2021	#812
2022	#1081
2023	#851
2024	#1160

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 girls in Republic of Ireland in 7 of the 51 years from 1972 to 2022.

In 2024: #638 among girls in Scotland, #1160 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1972–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1972
First recorded at #471 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1972 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1972–2022
Highest recorded position: #420 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1979 (recorded 1972–2022).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1160 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Zelda appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 23 ranked years and 403 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1972.

Zelda 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.

Zelda'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 · Girls	#471 (1972)	#420 (1979)	#905 (2022)	7 of 51	25 (1972–2022)	5 (1979)
England and Wales · Girls	#3824 (1997)	#735 (2020)	#1160 (2024)	23 of 28	403 (1997–2024)	50 (2020)

Zelda by decade in England and Wales · Girls

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 Zelda in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	15	3 of 10	5
2000s	25	5 of 10	5
2010s	167	10 of 10	17
2020sbusiest	196	5 of 10	39

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 39 births a year.

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

Zelda 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 1972 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #420 in Republic of Ireland in 1979.

Zelda'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	#1160	29	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#851	42	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#1081	31	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#812	44	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#735	50	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#1063	32	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#1436	22	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#1296	26	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#1327	25	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#1240	27	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#2314	11	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#3536	6	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#2969	8	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#4049	5	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4012	5	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#3218	6	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#5061	3	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#3970	4	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#2802	6	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2466	6	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1970	8	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#3142	4	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#3824	3	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#905	3	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#700	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#868	3	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	female	#420	5	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	female	#468	4	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	female	#508	3	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	female	#471	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#638	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
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 3 registrars between 1972 and 2024, ranked in 27 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #420, first reached in 1979.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 50 births, registered in England and Wales in 2020.

Its record falls into 7 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 17 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1997, and 52 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.

Zeke · #416, 27y
Zeki · #1595, 26y
Zelie · #3156, 14y
Zemirah · #2253, 13y

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.

Alissa · #419, 29y
Bjorn · #421, 29y
Dolcie · #419, 26y
Kaidan · #421, 24y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

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

Charleen · #420, 13y
Shirin · #414, 40y
Kiva · #428, 12y
Selene · #428, 28y

Zelda was ranked #420 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 1979. 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.

Zelda 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 Zelda without appearing here.

Zelda moved ahead of

Jayden Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3536 and #3536 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #1436 and #5666.
Ellinor Compare
In 2011 they stood at #4049 and #3185 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #2969 and #5876.
Jeanette Compare
In 2011 they stood at #4049 and #4049 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #2969 and #5876.
Lynette Compare
In 2011 they stood at #5061 and #2509 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #2969 and #5876.

Moved ahead of Zelda

Harper Compare
In 2004 they stood at #2802 and #3725 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #3970 and #2682.
Frida Compare
In 2003 they stood at #1970 and #3900 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2004 that had become #2802 and #1836.
Meabh Compare
In 2023 they stood at #851 and #1288 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2024 that had become #1160 and #952.
Fiadh Compare
In 2017 they stood at #1296 and #2502 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #1436 and #1436.

Moved the opposite way to Zelda

Abigail Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 while Abigail went from #24 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 while Aimee went from #61 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 while Aisling went from #496 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 while Alex went from #179 to #2253.

Moved the same way as Zelda

Ada Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 and Ada from #1543 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 and Alma from #2411 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 and Alyssa from #506 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1997 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Zelda went from #3824 to #1160 and Amalie from #3824 to #1128.

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 1972 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #420 in Republic of Ireland in 1979. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Zelda

Zelda at a glance

What stands out in Zelda's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Zelda across 2 official records

Zelda by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Zelda 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 Zelda

Zelda and the names beside it

Zelda moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Zelda

Moved the opposite way to Zelda

Moved the same way as Zelda

Zelda at a glance

What stands out in Zelda's record

Zelda across 2 official records

Zelda by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Zelda 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 Zelda

Zelda and the names beside it

Zelda moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Zelda

Moved the opposite way to Zelda

Moved the same way as Zelda