Christmas baby names: the most popular festive baby names in Britain according to official data

From Ebenezer to Rudolph, Winter to Angel, tens of thousands of babies across England, Wales and Scotland have been given Christmassy names in recent years.

And if you are having a baby around Christmas time, we have all the inspiration you will need to find the perfect name. NationalWorld has been trawling through official baby name databases from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and National Records of Scotland (NRS) for the last five years on the hunt for festive entries.

Whether the names were truly Yuletide-inspired or whether the babies were born in December is anyone’s guess, and with some names there may be totally non-Christmas related reasons for the popularity. We have included the girls’ name Ivy for instance – of ‘the holly and the ivy’ relevance – which has shot up the rankings in recent years, possibly thanks to Beyonce and Jay-Z naming their first daughter Blue Ivy, or perhaps because of Poison Ivy’s appearance in the US television series Harley Quinn.

What are the most common Christmas-themed baby names?

Ivy was by far and away the most popular name that we looked at, with over 11,000 baby girls given the name between 2017 and 2021 across Great Britain. Sticking to the horticultural theme, Holly came in as the second most popular girls’ names and fourth most popular name overall in our Christmas list, with 4,490 baby girls given the name.

For boys, 9,023 parents gave their baby boys the traditional Biblical name Joseph – perhaps after Jesus’s dad – over the five-year period, while 4,816 newborn boys shared their name with the angel Gabriel who, as the story goes, visited the Virgin Mary to tell her she would give birth to the son of God. There were also four baby girls called Gabriel.

What are the most unusual Christmas baby names?

There is no doubt Ebenezer Scrooge of A Christmas Carol fame had one hell of a redemption arc, but we’re still not sure that justifies 69 British parents naming their baby boys Ebenezer in the last five years – although it is also a Biblical name.

There have also been 18 girls named Bethlehem, four boys called Rudolph, 32 boys named Balthazar (one of the three wise kings who visited baby Jesus) and one Gaspar (another king).

What other festive baby names are there?

The full list of Christmas-related names we could find in the data is below.

• Ivy – 10,492 baby girls in England and Wales, and 544 in Scotland
• Joseph – 8,564 baby boys in England and Wales and 459 in Scotland
• Gabriel – 4,549 baby boys in England and Wales and 267 in Scotland; three baby girls in England and Wales and one in Scotland
• Holly – 3,946 baby girls in England and Wales, and 544 in Scotland
• Robyn – 3,678 girls in England and Wales, and 430 in Scotland; 14 boys in England and Wales and one in Scotland
• Robin – 1,778 baby boys in England and Wales and 120 in Scotland; 560 girls in England and Wales and 126 in Scotland
• Mary – 817 girls in England and Wales and 205 in Scotland
• Winter – 756 girls in England and Wales and 53 in Scotland; 57 boys in England and Wales and two in Scotland
• Angel – 632 girls in England and Wales and 25 in Scotland
• Noel – 460 boys in England and Wales and 44 in Scotland
• Noelle – 158 girls in England and Wales and 18 in Scotland
• Star – 152 baby girls in England and Wales and 12 in Scotland
• Bow – 98 baby girls in England and Wales and six in Scotland; 13 boys in England and Wales
• Ebenezer – 66 baby boys in England and Wales and three in Scotland
• Snow – 56 girls in England and Wales and two in Scotland
• Balthazar – 31 girls in England and Wales
• Gift – 22 girls in England and Wales
• Carol – 17 girls in England and Wales and two in Scotland
• Bethlehem – 18 girls in England and Wales
• Jesus – 16 boys in England and Wales
• Rudolph – four baby boys in England and Wales
• Gold – three girls in England and Wales
• Gaspar – one boy in Scotland