Traditional baby names falling out of favour

TRADITIONAL Irish baby names continue to slip out of favour as Jack and Sophie remained the most popular baby names in Ireland last year.

Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that Jack retains the number one spot for boys’ names for the fourth year in a row while Sophie retains the top position it held in 2009, coming from sixth place position in 2008 and fifth place position in 2007.

However, it was a close call for the most popular girls’ name with just one less Emily born last year than Sophies.

The top five boys’ names last year — Jack, Sean, Daniel, James and Conor — also made up the top five in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Four of the top five boys’ names (Jack, Sean, Conor and James) have been in the top five since 1998, with only their order changing from year to year.

The CSO data, however, shows there was more variation amongst girls’ names.

While Emma and Sarah have been in the top five since 1998, this is the first time Lucy has appeared in the top five. Emily was in the top five previously in 2008 and Sophie has been in the top five three times previously since 1998 — in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

There were four first- time entries to the top 100 names for boys: Tyler, Sebastian, Daithí and Alfie.

Tyler was the highest new entry at 83rd, up from 130th place in 2009, while Sebastian was also one of the highest climbers.

There were three first- time entries to the top 100 for girls: Lilly, Sofia and Lena. The highest new entry at number 76 was Lilly climbing from 110th place in 2009. The names climbing most places in the year were Alicia (up 51 places to 92nd) and Sofia (up 48 places to 80th).

While the top five names for boys and girls were most popular within a number of different areas, additional names were also county and city favourites.

For boys, Alex was the most popular name in south Dublin and Limerick city. Ryan was the most popular name in Louth and Jack and Ryan were the most popular names in Kerry. In Galway city, Conor and Michael shared the number one place, while Adam topped the rankings in Sligo.

For girls, Holly, shared the number one place with Emily in Carlow. In Limerick City, Ellie ranked first, while in Galway city, Zuzanna, first seen in the top 100 in 2008, was top of the list. In Leitrim and Monaghan, Katie was the most popular girl’s name. Grace was the top-ranking name in Mayo while Saoirse shared the top position with Emma in Sligo.