Jack and Emily most popular baby names last year, CSO data reveals
According to data from the CSO, Jack and Emily were the most popular names registered last year.
Jack has been the most popular boy’s name in Ireland since 2007, except for 2016, when James broke the long run of dominance.
James, Daniel, Conor, and Seán make up the rest of the top five.
Emily once again retains the top spot for girls, a position it has held since 2011.
It was followed by Emma, Amelia, Grace, and Sophie in the top five names of choice by parents for baby girls.
It’s all a far cry from what Irish parents were choosing to call their children half a century ago in 1967.
Back then, John and Mary were top of the pile, neither of which appear in the current top 10. Of the five most popular girls names last year, not one appeared in the top 100 names for girls a half-century earlier.
In 1967, Mary, Margaret, Catherine, Ann, and Anne were the most popular names for baby daughters.
The CSO pointed out that girls are given a wider variety of names than boys, with 4,493 girls’ names registered compared to 3,472 boys.
Theo and Jackson were new entrants into the top 100 for boys in 2017. Theo jumped 33 places in the rankings since 2016 up from 106 to 73 in 2017. Jackson was ranked 128 in 2016 and but jumped to 99th place in 2017.
There were four new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Aoibhin, Nina, Pippa, and Esme.
Aoibhin and Nina showed the most growth in popularity in girls’ names between 2016 and 2017. Aoibhin was ranked 68th in 2017 rising a massive 82 places from the previous year. Nina also jumped 41 places in 2016 to a rank of 99 in 2017.
In 2017, Jack was the top name for boys in Kildare, Louth, Meath, Wexford, Wicklow, Clare, Cork City, Kerry, North Tipperary, Waterford, and Mayo. It also shared top spot in South Dublin with Adam and James. In Limerick City, Jack shared the honours with Adam, while Jack along with Conor was the most popular in Laois.
Emily proved to be the most popular name for newborn girls in Carlow, South Dublin, Fingal, Kildare, Longford, Westmeath, Limerick, Galway City, and Mayo. Emily shared the top spot with Chloe in Galway and with Amelia and Aoife in Clare.
Where both parents were Irish, Jack was the most popular name for boys and Emily was the most popular for girls.
Charlie and Hannah took the top spot for boys and girls respectively where both parents were from Britain. Some of the less popular names for boys included Saul, Seaghan, and Marley, while some of the lesser chosen girls names included Everly, Teegan, and Romi.
