FOI reference: FOI-2026-3361
You asked
I wish to make a freedom of information request pertaining to live birth registrations. For the years 2014 and 2024, please can you tell me the twenty most common surnames for live births registered in England and Wales.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Birth statistics are derived from information recorded when live births and stillbirths are registered as part of civil registration, a legal requirement; these data represent the most complete data source available.
Most of the information, for both live births and stillbirths, is typically supplied to registrars by:
the mother of the child
the father or second parent if the child was born within marriage or civil partnership
the occupier of the house in which the child was, to the knowledge of that occupier, born
any person present at the birth
any person having charge of the child
The duty of giving information is placed primarily upon the parents of the child but, in the case of death or inability of the parents, the duty falls on one of the other qualified informants.
The accuracy of information contained in the draft birth entry is the responsibility of the informant(s), usually the mother, or both parents where the registration is a joint one outside marriage. Wilfully supplying false information may render the informant(s) liable to prosecution for perjury. There are also validation checks carried out by the registrar. Therefore, it is believed that in general the information supplied by the informant(s) is correct. Further information can be found in our User Guide to Births Statistics.
The accompanying dataset provides figures for the top twenty surnames given to live born children for births occurring in 2014 and 2024.
For further information please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.