The most popular baby names in Northern Ireland were announced a little while ago.
According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the #1 names were Jack for boys and Sophie for girls.
Here are Northern Ireland’s provisional top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:
| Baby Girl Names | Baby Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Sophie 2. Emily 3. Grace 4. Amelia 5. Jessica 6. Lucy 7. Sophia 8. Katie 9. Eva 10. Aoife 11. Chloe 12. Lily 13. Ella 14. Mia 15. Ellie 16. Anna [tie] 16. Emma [tie] 16. Olivia [tie] 19. Erin 20. Sarah | 1. Jack 2. James 3. Daniel 4. Harry 5. Charlie 6. Ethan 7. Matthew 8. Ryan 9. Riley 10. Noah 11. Adam 12. Joshua 13. Jacob 14. Thomas 15. Conor 16. Jake [tie] 16. Oliver [tie] 18. Dylan 19. Alfie 20. Mason |
The highest climbers within the top 20 lists were Aoife (15th to 10th) and Riley (18th to 9th).
Other high climbers were Bobby (124th to 59th), Blake (111th to 71st) and Olly (131st to 93rd) for boy names, and Miley (135th to 79th) and Layla (135th to 83rd) for girl names.
[Very curious about Bobby! Can anybody explain that one?]
Names that decreased in popularity include Calum (down 93 spots), Padraig (-49) and Conan (-28) on the boys’ list, and Ciara (-53), Victoria (-49) and Julia (-48) on the girls’ list.
Finally, here are some of the more unusual names registered in 2012:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| Aibhailia, Anna-bell, Blathnait, Cait-erin, Caollaidhe, Clodagh-rose, Clover-leoni, Connemara, Haianabragadiska, Iretenevesho, Napsugar, Poppyanna, Scarlett-imogen, Shammahwisdom, Tuleighza | Boen-rua, Caelum, Conghaile, Connlaodh, Everley-eric, Gavin-og, Iarfhlaith, Iggi, Kekeli, Kyzler, McCoist, Naoise, Rolex, Sean-og, Setanta, Shea-pearse, Somhairle, Steven-og, Uate, Ugnius |
Those “og” endings on some of the boy names are the Irish word Óg, which means “young” or “junior.” It can be used after girl names, too.
Here are Northern Ireland’s top baby names of 2007, if you’d like to compare.
Source: NISRA
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
