Ireland’s rankings came out early this year! Typically we don’t see them until the start of June, but this year they were released at the end of February.
Anyway…according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), the most popular baby names in the country in 2017 were Emily and Jack.
Here are Ireland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2017:
Girl Names
1. Emily
2. Emma
3. Amelia
4. Grace
5. Sophie
6. Lucy
7. Hannah
8. Mia
9. Ava
10. Chloe
Boy Names
1. Jack
2. James
3. Daniel
4. Conor
5. Sean
6. Noah
7. Luke
8. Harry
9. Adam
10. Michael
In the girls’ top 10, Chloe replaced Lily.
In the boys’ top 10, Harry replaced Oisin.
Interesting factoid: “While there were 2,981 baby boys named John [the #1 boy name] 50 years ago, taken together the five most popular boys’ names in 2017 accounted for 2,765 baby boys.”
The names that saw the most growth in popularity — just within the top 100, I believe — were:
- Girl names by…
- Rank: Aoibhin (+81 spots), Nina (+41 spots), Hazel & Pippa (tie; +21 spots each)
- Number of babies: Aoibhin (+57), Evie (+54), Sadie (+34)
- Boy names by…
- Rank: Theo (+33 spots), Jackson (+29 spots), Ruairi (+27 spots)
- Number of babies: Luke (+45), Logan (+44), Harry (+36)
In 2016, the top two names were Emily and James.
Sources: Irish Babies’ Names 2017, Babies’ Names 2017 Tables, Jack and Emily most popular baby names in 2017
Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)
