Baby names: Most popular names for Irish newborns in 2018 revealed

Jack and Emily were the most popular baby names registered last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Jack has retained the top spot as the most popular baby boy’s name, a position it has held since 2007, except for 2016 when James claimed the top spot.

Jack was followed by James, Noah, Conor and Daniel as the five most popular names for boys in 2018.

Emily retains the top spot for girls, with Grace, Emma, Sophie and Amelia also among the top five names for baby girls last year. Emily has been in the top spot for girls since 2011.

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The latest publication by the CSO is the first time it has recognised the síneadh fada.

Seán (13th), Oisín(15th), Rían (33rd), Tomás (89th) feature among the top 100 names for baby boys last year while Róisín (38th), Éabha (48th), Aoibhín (68th) and Áine (82nd) are among the top 100 names for girls.

New entrants into the top 100 names for boys included Frankie, Freddie and Theodore while Bella, Ada, Bonnie and Ivy entered the top 100 names for girls.

Theodore jumped from 156th place in 2017 to 93rd last year, with Luca (ranked 102nd in 2017) moving up to 77th in 2018. Muhammad moved from 87th place in 2017, to 63rd last year.

Ada rose from 137th in 2017, to 70th last year while Mila went from 104th to 67th over the same period.

The CSO's Baby Names of Ireland lets you track how many babies were registered under any given name in Ireland between the years 1964 and 2017. The CSO said the app will be updated in the coming weeks to include the names registered in 2018.

The CSO has also provided a breakdown of the most popular baby names by county for 2018. Noah was the most popular boy's name in Sligo and Cork city last year while Jack claimed the top spot in Dublin city, Dún Laoaghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and south Dublin.

Adam and John were the most popular names for boys in Leitrim while Daniel proved the favourite in Limerick city.

Amelia was the most popular girl's name in south Dublin, Limerick city, Cork city, Waterford county and Wexford. Leah was the most popular name in Sligo while Ava ranked first in counties Mayo, Clare, Longford, Carlow. Fiadh and Anna were the most popular girl's names in Galway county.

Jack was the most popular name for boys in 2017 with 685 babies registered, followed by James (619), Daniel (536), Conor (472) and Sean (453). Emily was the most popular girl’s name in 2017 (459), followed by Emma (393), Grace and Amelia (both 371).

Mary (3,471) was the most popular girl’s name in 1964 while John (3,696) was the favourite for boys.

Carol Anne Hennessy, CSO statistician said: "Back in 1968, John, Patrick, Michael, James and David were the names most favoured by parents of new born baby boys. While there were 2,863 baby boys named John 50 years ago, the five most popular boys' names in 2018 together accounted for 2,691 baby boys.

“Interestingly, not one of the top five names for girls appeared in the top 100 names a half century earlier. Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Ann and Anne were the most popular names for baby daughters in 1968, with 2,364 baby girls named Mary in that year.

“In 2018, there were 460 baby girls named Emily, 19.5 per cent of the number of girls given the name Mary in 1968.” The CSO said over the years girls have been given a wider variety of names than boys with 4,779 girls names registered compared to 3,712 boys.