SINGER BEYONCÉ and rapper Jay-Z fulfilled a celebrity stereotype when they gave their baby girl the exotic name Blue Ivy at the weekend, but Irish parents are choosing more conventional names, if the birth announcements column of The Irish Timesis anything to go by.
Daniel and Chloe were the most popular names announced in the Saturday column last year. They were followed by James, Robert, Thomas and Tom for the boys and Anna, Isabelle and Katie for the girls.
The popularity of Harper is expected to increase after the summer birth of Victoria and David Beckham’s daughter, but it didn’t feature in the 523 announcements last year. Nevertheless, the birth announcements column still carried many imaginative choices. Unusual names for girls included Cosette, Ebony, India and Blair while the boys’ names included Xander, Keefe, Maccon, Tiago and Phoenix.
Parents also opted for some adventurous middle names. Boys’ middle names included Rain, Zenon, Somerset and Orry while Ona was one of the more unusual middle names selected for a girl.
The column has seen a shift in the popularity of certain names in the past year. In 2010 James was the clear winner for boys while the most popular girl’s name was evenly split between Anna, Grace, Lucy and Lily/Lilly.
The Central Statistics Office has not yet released the most popular baby names in the State for 2011 but in 2010 and 2009 Jack and Sophie were top.
In Britain, The Times'sbirth announcement columns had a distinct royal theme last year, with William and Harry topping the list of boys' names.
However, the royal influence was not as strong in the choices for girls. Isabel and all its variants, including Isabella, topped the girls’ list.
NAME GAME: MOST POPULAR FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
BOYS
1 Daniel
2 James
3 Robert
4 Thomas, Tom
5 Cillian, Hugo, Luke, Samuel, Nicholas, Harry
GIRLS
1 Chloe
2 Anna
3 Isabelle
4 Katie
5 Alice, Sophie, Charlotte
6 Amber, Elizabeth, Zoe, Emily
