People Life in 1916 Ireland: Stories from statistics

Male names 1911

1.4 Top 40 Male names in Ireland in Census 1911

Rank	Name	Number	% of total
1	John	220,331	13.9
2	Patrick	167,150	10.6
3	James	135,027	8.5
4	Michael	122,548	7.7
5	Thomas	115,154	7.3
6	William	75,056	4.7
7	Joseph	32,562	2.1
8	Edward	32,291	2.0
9	Daniel	27,599	1.7
10	Peter	27,239	1.7
11	Martin	24,870	1.6
12	Denis	20,737	1.3
13	Richard	17,850	1.1
14	Timothy	17,488	1.1
15	Francis	14,711	0.9
16	Robert	13,459	0.8
17	George	13,382	0.8
18	Charles	13,248	0.8
19	Jeremiah	12,972	0.8
20	Bernard	11,048	0.7
21	Hugh	9,654	0.6
22	Andrew	9,436	0.6
23	Pat	9,180	0.6
24	Henry	9,112	0.6
25	Christopher	9,107	0.6
26	David	8,694	0.5
27	Owen	7,351	0.5
28	Cornelius	7,311	0.5
29	Maurice	6,564	0.4
30	Philip	6,345	0.4
31	Edmond	6,080	0.4
32	Stephen	5,756	0.4
33	Matthew	5,717	0.4
34	Micheál	5,444	0.3
35	Laurence	5,305	0.3
36	Anthony	5,219	0.3
37	Nicholas	4,885	0.3
38	Mathew	4,179	0.3
39	John Joseph	4,085	0.3
40	Samuel	4,064	0.3
	Source: Census of Population

Open in Excel: Life in 1916 Ireland, Table 1.4 (XLS 13KB)

Wedding group 1901

Photo: Wedding group 1901

The most popular name for males in the 1911 Census was John, with 13.9% of all males having this name.
Over 10% of males had the name Patrick.
Thus close to a quarter of the male population had the name of John or Patrick in 1911.
The most popular ten names in 1911 were John, Patrick, James, Michael, Thomas, William, Joseph, Edward, Daniel and Peter. These ten names accounted for 60% of all male names in 1911.

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Female names 1911

1.5 Top 40 Female names in Ireland in Census 1911

Rank	Name	Number	% of total
1	Mary	247,233	16.0
2	Bridget	121,827	7.9
3	Margaret	87,840	5.7
4	Ellen	71,087	4.6
5	Catherine	57,939	3.7
6	Kate	51,057	3.3
7	Annie	50,992	3.3
8	Anne	41,201	2.7
9	Elizabeth	35,298	2.3
10	Maggie	28,182	1.8
11	Julia	26,584	1.7
12	Sarah	22,226	1.4
13	Mary Anne	20,753	1.3
14	Lizzie	18,227	1.2
15	Katie	17,818	1.2
16	Jane	17,129	1.1
17	Hannah	17,105	1.1
18	Johanna	15,416	1.0
19	Norah	15,267	1.0
20	Kathleen	14,920	1.0
21	Nora	14,349	0.9
22	Alice	13,396	0.9
23	Maria	11,252	0.7
24	Rose	11,251	0.7
25	Eliza	11,125	0.7
26	Margret	9,572	0.6
27	Ellie	8,894	0.6
28	Mary Ellen	8,524	0.6
29	Agnes	7,595	0.5
30	Susan	7,404	0.5
31	Teresa	6,705	0.4
32	Delia	6,684	0.4
33	Mary Kate	6,299	0.4
34	Mary Jane	6,095	0.4
35	Christina	5,926	0.4
36	Josephine	5,280	0.3
37	Nellie	4,665	0.3
38	Mary Ann	4,528	0.3
39	Winifred	4,282	0.3
40	Mary A	3,910	0.3
Source: Census of Population

Open in Excel: Life in 1916 Ireland, Table 1.5 (XLS 13KB)

The table above shows that 16% of females in 1911 had the name Mary while 7.9% were called Bridget. Thus close to a quarter of all females in 1911 were called either Mary or Bridget.
The most popular ten female names in 1911 were Mary, Bridget, Margaret, Ellen, Catherine, Kate, Annie, Anne, Elizabeth and Maggie. These ten names accounted for just over half (51.3%) of all female names in 1911.

Top baby boys names 1911, 2014

1.6 Baby names for boys, 1911 and 2014

Rank	1911			2014
	Name	Number	% of total	Name	Number	% of total
1	John	3,152	10.3	Jack	786	2.3
2	Patrick	2,862	9.4	James	695	2.0
3	James	2,165	7.1	Daniel	638	1.8
4	Michael	1,968	6.4	Conor	581	1.7
5	Thomas	1,799	5.9	Seán	526	1.5
6	William	1,240	4.1	Adam	493	1.4
7	Joseph	738	2.4	Luke	437	1.3
8	Edward	582	1.9	Noah	434	1.2
9	Peter	493	1.6	Harry	398	1.1
10	Daniel	487	1.6	Charlie	389	1.1
11	Martin	463	1.5	Dylan	384	1.1
12	Denis	336	1.1	Alex	383	1.1
13	Francis	336	1.1	Oisin	381	1.1
14	Timothy	319	1.0	Michael	379	1.1
15	Richard	291	1.0	Liam	378	1.1
16	Christopher	274	0.9	Ryan	373	1.1
17	Patrick Joseph	273	0.9	Thomas	362	1.0
18	John Joseph	271	0.9	Cian	361	1.0
19	George	259	0.8	Patrick	358	1.0
20	Jeremiah	246	0.8	Cillian	350	1.0
21	Charles	236	0.8	Darragh	347	1.0
22	Bernard	210	0.7	Jamie	328	0.9
23	Robert	186	0.6	David	306	0.9
24	David	162	0.5	Aaron	303	0.9
25	Andrew	149	0.5	John	293	0.8
26	Henry	147	0.5	Fionn	270	0.8
27	Anthony	143	0.5	Jake	263	0.8
28	Cornelius	140	0.5	Matthew	260	0.7
29	Hugh	139	0.5	Nathan	255	0.7
30	Stephen	132	0.4	Ben	252	0.7
31	Maurice	124	0.4	Ethan	234	0.7
32	Edmond	109	0.4	Evan	224	0.6
33	John Patrick	104	0.3	Finn	224	0.6
34	Patrick J	101	0.3	Kyle	222	0.6
35	Micheál	99	0.3	Rian	215	0.6
36	Michael Joseph	98	0.3	Callum	214	0.6
37	Owen	97	0.3	Alexander	211	0.6
38	Pat	96	0.3	Joshua	203	0.6
39	Philip	92	0.3	Max	201	0.6
40	Laurence	88	0.3	Oliver	199	0.6
Source: Census of Population 1911, Irish Babies' Names CSO

Open in Excel: Life in 1916 Ireland, Table 1.6 (XLS 15KB)

Lady Waterford and baby, circa 1900-1910

Photo: Lady Waterford and baby, circa 1900-1910

There is much more variety in names in 2014 compared with 1911. In 1911 the top 40 names for baby boys were used to name 69% of all baby boys compared to just 41% in 2014. The data on names for baby boys from 1911 was obtained by looking at the Census 1911 dataset and extracting all those males with an age of zero. (Caution should be exercised when looking at the 1911 data as the Census dataset from 1911 is not fully edited and may contain errors).
One in ten baby boys in 1911 were named John with just under one in ten called Patrick. By 2014 the most popular names (Jack and James) were each used for about 2% of baby boys.
Of the top ten names used for baby boys in 1911, six names make it into the top 40 names for boys in 2014 – John, Patrick, James, Michael, Thomas and Daniel. One other name in the top 40 names in 1911 – David – appears in the top 40 names for baby boys in 2014.
By 2014 Irish names for baby boys have become very popular. Ten of the names in the top 40 in 2014 are Irish in origin – Conor, Seán, Oisín, Liam, Cian, Cillian, Darragh, Fionn, Finn and Rian. None of these “Irish” names are in the list of the most popular 40 names for baby boys in 1911.
So we can see that over the last 100 years parents have enthusiastically embraced using names with an Irish origin for naming baby boys.

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Top baby girls names 1911, 2014

1.7 Baby names for girls, 1911 and 2014

Rank	1911			2014
	Name	Number	% of total	Name	Number	% of total
1	Mary	3,584	12.1	Emily	619	1.9
2	Bridget	1,990	6.7	Sophie	468	1.4
3	Margaret	1,423	4.8	Emma	441	1.3
4	Ellen	1,051	3.5	Grace	408	1.2
5	Catherine	986	3.3	Ava	404	1.2
6	Annie	926	3.1	Ella	398	1.2
7	Elizabeth	699	2.4	Amelia	388	1.2
8	Kathleen	580	2.0	Mia	370	1.1
9	Kate	490	1.7	Lucy	369	1.1
10	Anne	457	1.5	Aoife	364	1.1
11	Julia	441	1.5	Lily	350	1.1
12	Maggie	440	1.5	Sarah	343	1.0
13	Norah	377	1.3	Hannah	337	1.0
14	Mary Anne	328	1.1	Chloe	328	1.0
15	Mary Ellen	307	1.0	Sophia	316	1.0
16	Sarah	306	1.0	Anna	314	1.0
17	Johanna	301	1.0	Katie	301	0.9
18	Lizzie	277	0.9	Kate	290	0.9
19	Hannah	265	0.9	Ellie	288	0.9
20	Nora	264	0.9	Olivia	287	0.9
21	Mary Kate	247	0.8	Holly	266	0.8
22	Alice	240	0.8	Ruby	265	0.8
23	Katie	228	0.8	Saoirse	263	0.8
24	Christina	222	0.7	Lauren	261	0.8
25	Jane	217	0.7	Caoimhe	242	0.7
26	Agnes	192	0.6	Isabelle	223	0.7
27	Mary Bridget	192	0.6	Leah	207	0.6
28	Margret	191	0.6	Ciara	198	0.6
29	Eileen	182	0.6	Molly	196	0.6
30	Josephine	166	0.6	Amy	191	0.6
31	Rose	148	0.5	Robyn	187	0.6
32	Margaret Mary	140	0.5	Jessica	173	0.5
33	Ellie	131	0.4	Zoe	173	0.5
34	Mary Josephine	118	0.4	Niamh	169	0.5
35	Teresa	117	0.4	Cara	165	0.5
36	Eliza	107	0.4	Freya	163	0.5
37	Delia	106	0.4	Róisín	162	0.5
38	Mary Jane	99	0.3	Erin	158	0.5
39	Susan	92	0.3	Sadie	157	0.5
40	Winifred	88	0.3	Julia	156	0.5
Source: Census of Population 1911, Irish Babies' Names CSO

Open in Excel: Life in 1916 Ireland, Table 1.7 (XLS 15KB)

There is much variety in names in 2014 for baby girls compared with 1911, similar to what is described above for names of baby boys. In 1911 the top 40 names for baby girls were used to name 63% of all baby girls compared to just 35% in 2014. The data on names for baby girls in 1911 was obtained by looking at the Census 1911 dataset and extracting all those females with an age of zero. (Caution should be exercised when looking at the 1911 data as the Census dataset from 1911 is not fully edited and may contain errors).
Mary was used to name 12.1% of baby girls in 1911 with 6.7% called Bridget. By 2014 the most popular name for baby girls, Emily, was used for just 1.9% of girls while Sophie was used for 1.4% of girls. Neither Emily nor Sophie appears in the top 40 list from 1911.
Most of the names for baby girls which were popular in 1911 are not in popular use today. Of the top ten names used for baby girls in 1911, just one name – Kate – makes it into the top 40 names for girls in 2014. Just six names from the 40 most popular names in 1911 appear in the top 40 names in 2014 – Sarah, Hannah, Katie, Kate, Ellie and Julia.
By 2014 Irish names for baby girls have become very popular. Eight of the names in the most popular 40 names in 2014 are Irish in origin, - Aoife, Saoirse, Caoimhe, Ciara, Niamh, Cara, Róisín and Erin. None of these “Irish” names appear in the 1911 list of popular names for baby girls.
So we can see that over the last 100 years parents have enthusiastically embraced using names with an Irish origin for naming baby girls, as they have also done for baby boys.

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Life in 1916 Ireland: Stories from statistics

Names

Male names 1911

Female names 1911

Top baby boys names 1911, 2014

Top baby girls names 1911, 2014

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