Jack 'top of the tots' baby name ranking, while Fiadh moves to number one for girls
'Operation Transformation' presenter Kathryn Thomas's daughter, Grace, was born last October. Grace was the second most popular girl's name last year. Picture: kathrynthomasofficial
Jack has maintained its ‘top of the tots’ ranking as the most popular name for boys in 2021, while for girls, Fiadh has moved into the number one spot for the first time.
CSO statistics published on Friday reveal that Jack, Noah, James, Conor and RÃan are the five most popular names for boys in 2021.
What were the most popular Boys' names in your county in 2021?
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) February 25, 2022
To find out more check out Irish Babies' Names 2021:https://t.co/gmEVZCQ2id pic.twitter.com/k12AQTWG2Q
Jack has held the top spot for boys' names for almost 15 years straight, bumped only once by James in 2016.
For girls, Fiadh was followed by Grace, Emily, Sophie and Éabha in the top five for 2021.
Fiadh has risen steadily from 488th in 2009, and has moved up from third, second, and now first place in the past three years.
Éabha has jumped from 16th place in 2020 to fifth place this year, replacing Ava, which has dropped from fifth to eighth place.
Grace, Emily and Sophie have all been permanent fixtures in the girls’ top five since 2016.
In 1971, Mary was number one, followed by Catherine, Margaret, Fiona and Sinéad.
In 2021, Mary slipped off the top 100 for the first time, now ranked 127th. None of the top 10 most popular names for girls in 2021 appeared in the top 100 girls' names in 1971.
The most popular name in 1971 for boys was John, followed by Michael, Patrick, David and James. Fifty years later, John ranks 28th, while James is the only name that remains in the top five.
The boy's name with the most growth in popularity between 2020 and 2021 was Ted, jumping 49 places from 139th place to 90th place. For girls, CroÃa has grown most in popularity, rising 43 places from 95th place in 2020 to 52nd in 2021.
There were three new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Indie, Ayla and Lottie.
There were 10 new entrants to the top 100 for boys: Teddy, DaithÃ, PáidÃ, Jaxon, Brody, Ted, Hunter, Tadgh, Tiernan and Arlo.
Some less common names for boys last year included Rome, Kobie, Thady, Saul and Eanna. Less popular girls’ names included Sky, Princess, Valerie, Ophelia and Noelle.
There is a wider variety in the names registered for girls, with 4,741 girls' names in 2021 compared with 3,863 for boys.
Of the 58,442 live births in 2021, a third (19,701) had unique surnames, such as double barrels.
The top three surnames for babies were Murphy, Kelly, and Ryan.
In Munster, Grace was the number one name for girls, while true to the national trend, Jack was most popular for boys.
Adam was ranked 22nd nationally yet was most favoured in Cork City, while Olivia, 18th nationally, joined Grace in the top spot in Cork City.
Where both parents were Irish nationals, Fiadh and Jack were most popular.
Emma and Liam ranked first with parents from the EU14 (excluding Ireland), while Mia and Leon took the top spot with parents from the EU15 to EU27.
Sarah was the main choice for girls where both parents were from outside the EU, with Muhammad most popular for boys.
William was the most popular choice with parents of British nationality, while there was no singular popular name for girls.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
