You asked

​​Please could I request data for the number of baby girls per year who have been named Philippa (and alternative spellings Phillipa and Phillippa) and Pippa, and the rankings of those names, from birth registration data in England since 1930.

We said

​Thank you for your enquiry.

We have been responsible for publishing baby names since 1996. Therefore, we only hold the requested analysis from 1996 onwards. Using the following publication, Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996 - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk), there have been the following counts:

Please note:

  1. These rankings have been produced using the exact spelling of the name given at birth registration. Similar names with different spellings have been counted separately.
  2. Names with a count of 2 or less in total within England and Wales have been withheld, as this is considered identifiable information. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it an offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board for statistical purposes that would identify an individual. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, we find that Section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies. Section 44 is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied. This is also consistent with the disclosure control methodology used for our birth statistics.

We also hold a special publication using data from General Registry Office (GRO), which provides historical data on the Top 100 baby names in England and Wales from 1904 to 1994, available via the following link, which may of interest: Top 100 baby names in England and Wales: historical data - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). The GRO therefore may be better placed to assist with further information prior to 1996. They can be contacted via the following web address: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/