Northern Ireland’s top baby names of 2013 were announced today.
According to provisional data from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the most popular baby names are Grace (and Emily, see below!) and Jack.
Here are Northern Ireland’s projected top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2013:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Grace 2. Emily 3. Sophie 4. Ella 5. Lucy 6. Sophia 7. Aoife 8. Jessica 9. Amelia 10. Anna | 1. Jack 2. James 3. Charlie 4. Daniel 5. Harry 6. Noah 7. Ethan 8. Matthew 9. Jacob 10. Thomas |
Within the top 20, the fastest risers were Ella and Luke. New to the top 20 were Ava and Ruby.
Within the top 100, the fastest risers were Elsie and Robyn for girls, Jackson and Theo for boys. The biggest drops were Shannon and Elizabeth for girls, Corey and Reece for boys.
Some of the unusual names given to Northern Ireland babies in 2013 include Boleyn, Cadhla-lilly, Chulainn, Colmcille, Finvola, Geiste, Gillespie, Jimia, Kidd, Lucymollymay, Macushla, Martin-luther, Nittelani, Ollie-j, Oraoibhe, Phoebegail, Poppy-chelle, Saorfhlaith, Svajone (Lithuanian for “dream”), Testimony and Zefrito.
Northern Ireland’s finalized 2013 list will be out next summer, so I’ll come back and update this post at that point (if it needs updating). In the meanwhile, check out the 2012 and 2007 lists.
Source: Jack and Grace First Place
UPDATE, 8/2014: Here are the finalized rankings. Check out that tie for #1!
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Emily, 203 baby girls (tie) 2. Grace, 203 (tie) 3. Sophie, 194 4. Ella, 189 5. Sophia, 174 6. Lucy, 171 7. Aoife, 163 8. Amelia, 159 9. Anna, 158 (tie) 10. Jessica, 158 (tie) | 1. Jack, 293 baby boys 2. James, 285 3. Charlie, 119 4. Harry, 207 5. Daniel, 201 6. Noah, 188 7. Matthew, 164 8. Ethan, 160 (tie) 9. Jacob, 160 (tie) 10. Oliver, 150 |
A quote from the bulletin: “None of the top 10 most popular girls’ names in 2013 were in the top 10 in 2003.” That alone is fascinating.
Here are the top names of 2013 broken down by the age of the baby’s mother:
| Mother’s Age | Top Girl Name | Top Boy Name |
|---|---|---|
| <20 | Amelia | Riley |
| 20-29 | Sophie | Jack |
| 30-39 | Anne | James & Jack |
| 40+ | Grace | James |
For more of the top names, check out Northern Ireland’s 100 most popular baby names over at British Baby Names.
Source: Most Popular Baby Names 2013
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
