The most popular baby names in Ireland for 2021 have been announced and a couple of traditional Irish names have surged into the top 10.
The Central Statistics Office released the data for the most popular names given to boys and girls born last year.
There was no change at the top of the boys’ list, with Jack at number one spot for the 14th time in 15 years.
Rían was a high mover, breaking into the top five from 15th place in 2020, while Harry fell from 9th place in 2020 to 20th in 2021.
The girls had a new number one with Fiadh hitting top spot after being in second place in 2020. Grace swapped places, dropping from first to second.
The highest mover in the girls’ top ten was Éabha, which was in fifth place after being number 16 in 2020.
Hannah fell furthest from the top ten for the girls, moving from 7th to 13th.
Statistician Gerard Doolan says that some of the most popular names in Ireland from half a century ago are starting to fall out of favour.
He said: “Looking back 50 years ago to 1971, John, Michael, Patrick, David and James were the names most favoured by parents of newborn baby boys. There were 198 male newborns named John in 2021, compared with 2,654 in 1971.
“Interestingly, not one of the top five names for girls in 2021 appeared in the top 100 names a half century earlier. Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Fiona and Sinead were the most popular names for baby daughters in 1971, with 1,907 baby girls named Mary in that year.
“In 2021, there were 424 baby girls named Fiadh, 22.2% of the number of girls given the name Mary (1,907) in 1971.”
Top 10 boys’ names of 2021
1 – Jack
2 – Noah
3 – James
4 – Conor
5 – Rían
6 – Liam
7 – Charlie
8 – Daniel
9 – Cillian
10 – Tadgh
Top 10 girls’ names of 2021
1 – Fiadh
2 – Grace
3 – Emily
4 – Sophie
5 – Éabha
6 – Lucy
7 – Mia
8 – Ava
9 – Lily
10 – Ella
For more information visit the CSO website.
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Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
