UK name, mostly girls
Ailbhe
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Ailbhe is mostly registered for girls in the UK records. People looking for Ailbhe popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1819, with 16 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2021, with 17 births.
This profile covers 127 England and Wales registrations across 17 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 94% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 228 living people in the UK are called Ailbhe. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Ailbhe ranked #1819 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 16 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2021, when 17 girls were registered as Ailbhe.
- • Ailbhe ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #97 in 2024.
- • About 228 living people in the UK are estimated to have Ailbhe as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
- • Across the England and Wales records shown here, 95.5% of Ailbhe registrations are for girls.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1819
2024
Births in 2024
16
Latest year
Peak year
2021
17 births
Estimated living
228
2026
Gender
Boy and girl registrations for Ailbhe
In England and Wales birth records, Ailbhe has been registered for both boys and girls. Across the years shown here, 4.5% of registrations are for boys and 95.5% are for girls.
These figures use the sex categories in the published baby-name files. They are useful for spotting how the name is used at registration, but they are not a live measure of gender identity or everyone living with the name today.
Ailbhe registered for boys
- Ranked #4,812 in 2017
- 3 boys registered in 2017
- Peak: 2010 (3 births)
Ailbhe registered for girls
- Ranked #1,819 in 2024
- 16 girls registered in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (17 births)
Popularity
Ailbhe over time
The chart below compares boys and girls registered as Ailbhe in England and Wales, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Ailbhe, the clearest high point is 2021. The latest England and Wales figure is 16 births in 2024, compared with 17 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ailbhe by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Ailbhe was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #2216 | 65 | 5 |
| 2010s | #4120 | 51 | 9 |
| 2000s | #3099 | 5 | 1 |
| 1990s | #3810 | 6 | 2 |
Geography
Where Ailbhe is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Ailbhe. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Ailbhe ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #97 in 2024.
Across the UK
Ailbhe in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#790 in 2024
2 years of NRS records, 6 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#97 in 2024
11 years of NISRA records, 96 total registered
Related
Names similar to Ailbhe
- Amelia 94,830
- Ava 54,556
- Amy 52,495
- Alice 46,815
- Abigail 45,658
- Amber 31,922
- Anna 27,802
- Alexandra 19,455
- Amelie 18,051
- Abbie 15,971
- Aimee 15,158
- Annabelle 15,120
FAQ
Ailbhe: questions and answers
How popular is the name Ailbhe in the UK right now?
In 2024, Ailbhe was ranked #1819 for girls in England and Wales, with 16 births registered.
When was Ailbhe most popular?
The peak year on record was 2021, with 17 babies registered as Ailbhe in England and Wales.
How many people are called Ailbhe in the UK?
A total of 127 babies have been registered as Ailbhe across the 17 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 6 more in Scotland and 96 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Ailbhe most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Ailbhe ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #97 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.