Ten newborns at Rotunda Hospital on a Christmas Day to remember

Ten babies were delivered at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin on Christmas Day.

One of the 10, baby Margot, was born at 5.16am to parents Johanna and Darren Fourie, from Howth, Co Dublin. Margot weighed 2.9kg (6.4lbs).

Elsewhere, Clare and Eoghan Anderson’s baby girl was born at 50 seconds after midnight at Letterkenny University Hospital, weighing 3.2kg (7.1lbs). The couple, from Laghy in Donegal town, are yet to name their child.

Also in Letterkenny, a baby boy was born to parents Ciara McCullagh and Marty Hynes at 1.09pm, weighing 2.97kg (6.56lbs). The couple, from Lifford, have named their child Tommy.

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At the National Maternity Hospital on Dublin’s Holles Street, Emma Quinn, from Drumcondra, gave birth to a baby boy at 1.14am, her second child. She and her partner Anthony O’Flaherty are yet to name their child, who weighed 3.8kg (8.3lbs) on arrival.

In Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Katrina and Martin Joyce’s baby girl was born at 9.41am on Christmas morning, weighing 3.2kg (7.1lbs). The couple, from Drogheda, are yet to name their child.

At least three babies were delivered on Christmas Day at Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.

Meanwhile, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has reported that Holly and Noah were the most popular names for babies born in December 2022.

There were 65 babies born on Christmas Day last year, of which 34 were boys and 31 were girls, compared 89 babies born on Christmas Day 2021.

The CSO said that while it was not possible to reveal the names chosen on Christmas Day, there seemed to be a Biblical reference for four of the five names in the list of top five boys’ names in December 2022.

The most popular names chosen for baby boys born throughout December 2022 were: Noah (48); Jack (43); Rían (32); Oisín (30); and James (28).

The most popular names chosen for baby girls were: Holly (45); Robyn (33); Grace (27); Fiadh (27); Sadie (22); while 21 babies were each called Mia, Lily, Hannah and Sophia.

“Comparing last year with 10 years ago, we can see some differences, most notably in the number of babies born on Christmas Day,” said the CSO. “In 2012 there were 113 babies born on Christmas Day of which 54 were boys and 59 were girls.”

For boys born throughout the whole of December 2012, the most popular names were: James (68); Daniel (64); Jack (54); Seán (48); and Ryan (45).

The most popular names chosen for baby girls in December 2012 were: Holly (83); Emily (55); Ella (51); Ava (46); and Aoife (45).

CSO statistician Seán O’Connor said: “Looking at the most popular names for babies born in December 2022, we can see a clear Christmas influence when it comes to naming girls.

“Throughout the whole of 2022, there were 124 girls who were named Holly, which ranked 43rd in terms of popularity. But it was the top name for girls born in December with 83 baby girls given the name Holly.

“Overall, in 2022, the most popular name for baby girls was Emily, and while Jack topped the chart for boys’ names over the whole year, Noah was the most popular name for boys born in December.”

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