George: meaning and UK use

What does George mean?

George comes from Greek Georgios, connected with working the earth. Georgie is a recorded diminutive.

Language or name family covered

Greek

Meaning or derivation

Farmer or earthworker

Our browsing group

boy; classic

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

• Behind the Name — George

Pronunciation and related forms

JORJ (British English)

English respellings are approximate; IPA is labelled where used. Follow the pronunciation a person or family chooses, and check it with a speaker of the intended language if that connection matters to you.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Georgie. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is George?

In 2025, 3,082 baby boys in England and Wales were registered as George, making it the 7th most popular boys’ name. That is down 1 place on 2024, when it ranked 6th. It has slipped from 4th in 2015, 3 places in ten years. Its best year in the ONS series was 2020, at 2nd. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (boys)

7th

2025 registrations

3,082

Best rank in this series

2nd (2020)

Every year from 1996 to 2025

George: rank and number of baby boys by year (ONS)

Year	Rank	Babies
2025	7	3,082
2024	6	3,257
2023	4	3,494
2022	3	3,699
2021	3	4,141
2020	2	4,100
2019	2	4,575
2018	2	4,960
2017	3	4,929
2016	3	5,263
2015	4	4,869
2014	7	4,320
2013	10	4,202
2012	12	4,408
2011	12	4,347
2010	9	4,542
2009	11	4,347
2008	12	4,214
2007	12	3,939
2006	14	3,787
2005	17	3,540
2004	17	3,578
2003	16	3,479
2002	15	3,677
2001	17	3,858
2000	17	4,034
1999	18	4,286
1998	17	4,540
1997	18	4,586
1996	19	4,287

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 boys series is 124,340. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

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Names to compare with George

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

• Theodoreclassic · Gift of God
• Arjunclassic · A modern form of Arjuna
• Arthurclassic · Meaning unknown
• Calebclassic · Meaning uncertain
• Eliasclassic · A form of Elijah
• Felixclassic · Lucky or successful

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on George, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.