Irish Babies' Names 2019

Jack and Emily the most popular names in 2019

The most popular name in 2019 for newborn boys in Ireland was Jack and for girls it was Emily.  Jack has held the top spot since 2007 with the exception of 2016 when James was the most popular name.  Emily has been the most popular name for baby girls' since 2011. 

Jack, James, Conor and Daniel have been in the top five boys' names since 2007.  Three of these names - Jack, Conor and James have been in the top five since 1998.  Noah was new to the top five in 2018 and remained there in 2019.  This is the ninth consecutive year that Emily has been the most popular name chosen for girls.  Emily, Grace, Fiadh, Sophie and Hannah, were the top five names for girls in 2019.  Fiadh and Hannah were new entrants to the top five in 2019.  Amelia dropped out of the top five this year having been there since 2015.  See table 2.1.

Eli, Joey, Odhrán (with a síneadh fada) and Ruairí were new entrants to the top 100 for boys in 2019.  Odhrán was also the boys' name that increased most in popularity between 2018 to 2019, he moved up the ranks from 138^th place in 2018 to 97^th in 2019.  See tables 2.1 and 2.5.

There were two new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Doireann and Méabh (with a síneadh fada).  Alexandra, Heidi and Hollie were the girls' names growing most in popularity.  Alexandra gained 25 places, moving from 113th to 88th place between 2018 and 2019.  Heidi and Hollie both rose 20 places from 94^th and 109^th to 74^th and 89^th place respectively.  See tables 2.1 and 2.5.

There was a wider variety in the names registered for girls, with 4,814 girls' names in 2019 compared with 3,725 for boys.

In most areas of the country one of the top five boys’ names took the number one spot. 

Jack was the most popular name for baby boys in all provinces in 2019.  Jack held the top spot in 16 areas of residence, and shared top place in a further 3 counties.  James was the second most favoured name for boys in 2019 and held the top spot in 6 counties and also in Dublin City.  Some counties chose names outside the top five.  Tadhg was ranked 8th nationally but held the top spot in County Waterford.  Luke was ranked 9^th nationally yet was the most favoured boys name in Roscommon.  Cavan’s most popular boys name was Rían while it was ranked in 20^th place nationally.  Jamie was the name most often chosen in Donegal.  See table 2.8(a).

Emily was the most chosen girls' name in 6 counties and shared first place in 5 other counties.  Grace was the top name in 7 counties and shared first place in 3 other counties.  It shared first place with Emily, Ruby and Isabelle in Carlow.  Names outside the top five were chosen for girls in several counties.  Ellie was favourite in South Dublin.  Ella ranked 9th nationally but was the most popular in Monaghan while it shared first place with Emily in Donegal.  Caoimhe, ranked 17th nationally was the most popular name in Sligo.  Éabha, Mia and Aoife were tops in Leitrim.  In Clare, Ava was the most favoured girls' name.  Anna, ranked 19th nationally, was the most popular name in Offaly.  In Roscommon it was a tie for first place with Katie, Lucy and Chloe all sharing top spot.  Emma was the girls' name most often selected in Kilkenny.  See table 2.8(b).

Some of the less frequently used girls' names registered in 2019 and not included in the top 100 names were Féile, Jorja, Kyrah and Constance.

Some of the less popular boys' names registered in 2019 were Teidí, Saul, Dexter and Ruán.

Jack was the most popular name for boys where both parents were Irish nationals, while Oliver was the most popular choice with parents of UK nationality.  Where both parents were from the EU15 (excluding Ireland and the UK) Leonardo was the most favoured boys name. David was the name chosen most often by parents from the EU28 excluding EU15.  Muhammad was the highest ranked name of baby boys born where both parents were from outside the EU.  See table 2.9.

Grace was the most popular girls' name where both parents were Irish nationals.  Georgia, Isla and Sarah were the names most often chosen by parents of UK nationality.  Alice and Olivia ranked first with parents of the EU15 (excluding Ireland and the UK) and Amelia took the top spot with parents of the EU28 excluding EU15 countries.  Emily was the main choice where both parents were from outside the EU.  See table 2.9.

‌

The top ten surnames of babies registered in 2019 is also included in this publication.  Of the 59,795 live births registered in 2019, 20,356 had unrepeated surnames.  These unique surnames included some double-barrelled surnames, e.g., Driscoll-O’Shea.  The top ten surnames accounted for 7.3% (or 4,353) of the 59,795 live births in 2019.  The top three surnames for births registered were Murphy at 683 (1.1%), Kelly at 567 (0.9%) and Ryan at 450 (0.8%).  See table 2.10.

In 1969, the most popular name for boys was John with 2,811 parents choosing this name.  Fifty years later, John ranked 30th in popularity in 2019 with the name chosen for 209 babies.  See tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.11 and 2.12.

The top five boys’ names in 1969 were John, Patrick, Michael, James and Thomas.  The only name in this top five which was still in the top five in 2019 was James.  See table 2.1 and 2.11.

Mary was the most popular girls name in 1969, when it was chosen by 2,182 parents.  In 2019, Mary was given to 62 baby girls and was ranked in 92nd place.  None of the top 10 most popular names for girls' in 2019 appeared anywhere in the top 100 girls' names in 1969.  The first name to appear in both the top 100 in 2019 and 1969 was Anna. Anna was 19th most popular in 2019 and 48^th most popular in 1969.  See tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.11, 2.12, 2.5 and 2.6.

None of the top 10 most popular names for girls' in 2019 appeared anywhere in the top 100 girls' names in 1969.

Oliver was the name chosen most often for baby boys in England and Wales in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, while the feminine version, Olivia was the top name for girls.  Parents in Northern Ireland in 2018 chose James and Noah as both their most popular boys name with Grace as the most popular girls name.  Provisional data for 2019 for Scotland shows that Jack and Olivia remain as the most popular names.  See table 2.15.