Jack and Emily still country’s top baby names

From a nation of Marys and Johns in the 1960s, modern Ireland is now full of little Jacks and Emilys.

According to the survey from the Central Statistics Office, Jack and Emily remain the most popular baby names in the country.

Jack has occupied the boys’ top spot for the past six years, while Emily has been No 1 for girls since 2011. When compared with half a century ago, it appears we are quite a different nation when it comes to naming our children.

In 1963 John and Mary topped the list of most popular baby names. Since then John has fallen to 27th in the name rankings, while Mary has plunged to 81st.

Few names preferred among mothers and fathers 50 years ago have retained their popularity a generation later.

In 1963, boys were likely to be named John, Patrick, Michael, Paul, or James, while Jack was an unusual name for a baby, not featuring at all in the survey of newly-registered births that year.

Only James survived in the top five last year, when it was in second place, followed by Daniel, Conor and Seán.

Newborn girls were likely to be named Mary, Margaret, Catherine, Ann or Anne half a century ago.

None of these names made it into the top five for girls last year, which instead featured Emily, Emma, Sophie, Ella and Amelia.

Margaret, Catherine, Ann and Anne didn’t even feature in the top 100 girls’ names for 2013.

The CSO report also shows two first-time entries into the top 100 for boys last year: Kai and Kayden.

There were four first-time entries for girls: Sadie, Sienna, Fiadh and Poppy.

A few areas of the country bucked the national trend, with Michael the most popular name for boys in Kilkenny, Alex in Cork and Aaron in Waterford City.

Ryan was the favourite among parents of newborn boys in Cavan, while Charlie topped the poll in Monaghan, as did Mark in Leitrim.

Top-ranking girls’ names in pockets of the country included Ava, Caoimhe, Kate, Grace, Hannah, Mia, Rachel and Sarah.