Most Popular Irish Baby Names 2019

Most Popular Irish Baby Names 2019 - The Irish Place

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office has released the most popular baby names in Ireland for 2019 and Jack and Emily are yet again the most popular boys’ and girls’ names for Irish children.

From an analysis of the 59,795 live births registered in 2019 by Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), Jack has achieved the number one spot for the 16th time. Jack has held this position since 2007 with the exception of 2016, when James held the number one spot, while Emily has been Ireland’s most popular girls’ name since 2011 making it the 9th year in a row.

The most popular Irish babies' names for 2019 Infographic
The most popular Irish babies’ names for 2019 Infographic (CSO Ireland)

James, Noah, Conor and Daniel make up the rest of the boys’ top 5, with Grace, Fiadh, Sophie and Hannah completing the girls’ list.

While the most popular boys’ names doesn’t include an Irish-language name in the top 5, the name Odhrán, meaning ‘little pale green one’ was the biggest climber in 2019, jumping a massive 41 places since 2018.

James was a top 5 name fifty years ago, too, but not a single one of today’s 10 most popular girls’ names were even in the top 100 in 1969.

The difference between the top 5 names in 1969 and 50 years later is staggering, particularly for girls, Mary dropped from 1st place to 97th place, and John dropped from 1st to 30th.

Top 25 babies’ names registered in 2019, in order of popularity, with corresponding rank between 2018 and 2019

Comparison of Names for 2018/2019

CSO figures show girls are given a wider variety of names than boys with 4,814 girls’ names registered compared to 3,725 boys’ names.

The Effect of the SĂ­neadh Fada on the Baby Names Stats

Since the introduction of the síneadh fada and other diacritics in 2018, names like Sean (without the síneadh fada) which has always been in the top 100 most popular Irish baby names for boys has fallen out of the top 100 in 2019. Seán with the síneadh fada is now included in the data and both spellings are treated as 2 separate names since 2018.

If you would like more information on baby names in Ireland for 2019, including a county-by-county breakdown, then visit the CSO website.