Five most popular babies' names

Sean and Sarah most popular names

Sean and Sarah were the most popular babies' name registered last year. Sean returns to the top position it last held in 2004 and 2003 and Sarah returns to the top position it last held in 2002 and 2001. There were 994 boys named Sean in 2006, 7 more than the number of boys named Jack. There were 698 girls named Sarah, 105 more than the number of girls named Emma, the second most popular girls' name. See Tables 1 and 2.

Exactly the same boys' names (Jack, Sean, Conor, Adam, James) have been in the top five since 1998, with only their order changing from year to year. There has been more change in girls' names.While Emma, Sarah and Aoife have been in the top five since 1998, Katie has only been in the top five since 2003, and Sophie is in the top 5 for the first time. See Table 1.

There were 2 first time entries to the top 100 for boys: Senan and Tristan. The highest new entry was Senan, which rose from 223rd place in 2001 and 109th last year to reach 95th place. The names rising the most places were Cameron (up 28 places to 90), Calum (up 26 places to 44) and Rory (up 23 places to 45). See Table 6.

There were 3 first time entries to the top 100 for girls: Aoibheann, Aoibhinn and Jasmine. The highest new entry was Aoibheann, which climbed from 182nd place in 2002 and 121st last year to reach 76th place. The names rising the most places were Jasmine (up 63 places to 87) and Alana (up 38 places to 94). See Table 6.

In general, the tables show that girls are given a wider variety of names than boys. Over one in three girls (38.9%) were given a name not in the top 100, compared with 29.9% of boys.

Sean was the most popular name in the Midland, Dublin and Mid-East regions. Jack was the most popular in the Border, the West, the Mid-West, the South-East and the South-West regions. Emma was the most popular girls' name in the Midland and Mid-West region. Sarah was the most popular in the West, Mid-East, South-East and South-West region. Katie was the most popular name in the Border region and Sophie in the Dublin region.

These results are based on an analysis of the first names recorded on birth returns for registration and vital statistics, begun by CSO in 1998. All birth notifications in 2006 included baby's first name when the statistical return was sent to the CSO.

Most popular babies' names registered in each regional authority

More detailed tables, including the top 100 names for boys and girls, are available on the CSO website (www.cso.ie).

For more information contact Joseph Keating (LoCall 1890 313 414 Ext 5121) or Mary Condon (Ext 5471).

2 August 2007

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