Bede
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- BEED
- Origin
- Old English
- UK rank, 2025
- #5,065 for boys
Bede is a boys' name of Old English origin, meaning “possibly prayer”. In 2025 it ranked 5,065th for boys in the UK (3 babies).
What does Bede mean?
Old English: from Old English Baeda
“possibly prayer”
The Venerable Bede, an 8th-century monk of Jarrow, wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Is Bede a girl's or a boy's name?
Bede is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 boys in the UK. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Bede in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- #5,065among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 3about 1 in 100,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 3 boys in the UK were named Bede, making it the 5,065th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,803rd. Its busiest year was 2005, with 11 boys.
2025 had more boys named Bede than any year since 2020.
Half of all the boys named Bede in the UK since 1996 were born between 2000 and 2010, the years shaded on the chart below.
Among boys in 2025, it was 4,974th in England and Wales.
Bede in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | #5,065 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 0 | – |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 3 | #4,803 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 5 | #3,572 |
| 2011 | 3 | #4,837 |
| 2010 | 8 | #2,534 |
| 2009 | 3 | #4,691 |
| 2008 | 5 | #3,305 |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 5 | #3,013 |
| 2005 | 11 | #1,701 |
| 2004 | 3 | #3,792 |
| 2003 | 4 | #2,990 |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 3 | #3,255 |
| 2000 | 7 | #1,775 |
| 1999 | 6 | #1,941 |
| 1998 | 3 | #3,021 |
| 1997 | 3 | #2,979 |
Names like Bede
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Luke Boluwatife Kwame Billy Jake Ayomide Jack Oluwademilade James Benjamin Oluwatamilore Owen
More Old English names
Alfie Edward Teddy Waylon Alfred Audrey Edith Wilfred Ozzy Edie Eddie Edwin Ted Teddie Eduardo Edgar
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland) and Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Bede: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/bede, updated 20 October 2026.