Baby Name: Matthew

Last year, Northern Ireland — one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom — welcomed more than 19,400 babies.

What were the most popular baby names among these babies? Grace and James.

Here are Northern Ireland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

1. Grace, 125 baby girls
2. Olivia, 109
3. Fiadh, 104
4. Aoife, 97
5. Emily, 96
6. Charlotte, 95 (tie)
7. Lily, 95 (tie)
8. Isla, 91 (tie)
9. Sophia, 91 (tie)
10. Freya, 90
11. Annie, 89
12. Ella, 85
13. Eabha, 80
14. Amelia, 74 (tie)
15. Sophie, 74 (tie)
16. Evie, 73
17. Meabh, 71
18. Ellie, 69
19. Anna, 65
20. Clodagh, 61 (tie)
21. Mia, 61 (tie)
22. Aria, 59 (3-way tie)
23. Maisie, 59 (3-way tie)
24. Rosie, 59 (3-way tie)
25. Erin, 58
26. Croia, 55
27. Elsie, 54
28. Bonnie, 53 (tie)
29. Molly, 53 (tie)
30. Phoebe, 52 (tie)
31. Sienna, 52 (tie)
32. Ava, 51
33. Cara, 50 (tie)
34. Daisy, 50 (tie)
35. Ivy, 49
36. Clara, 47
37. Saoirse, 46
38. Lucy, 45 (tie)
39. Ruby, 45 (tie)
40. Cora, 44
41. Rose, 43
42. Eva, 42 (tie)
43. Sadie, 42 (tie)
44. Isabella, 39 (3-way tie)
45. Nora, 39 (3-way tie)
46. Willow, 39 (3-way tie)
47. Ada, 37 (5-way tie)
48. Katie, 37 (5-way tie)
49. Maya, 37 (5-way tie)
50. Niamh, 37 (5-way tie)
51. Poppy, 37 (5-way tie)

Boy names

1. James, 143 baby boys
2. Cillian, 142
3. Noah, 139
4. Jack, 130
5. Theo, 125
6. Jude, 124
7. Luca, 109
8. Charlie, 106
9. Oisin, 105
10. Oliver, 104
11. Thomas, 96
12. Leo, 94
13. Harry, 89 (tie)
14. Jacob, 89 (tie)
15. Finn, 84
16. Arthur, 83
17. Alfie, 82 (3-way tie)
18. Daithi, 82 (3-way tie)
19. Freddie, 82 (3-way tie)
20. Archie, 77 (tie)
21. Tommy, 77 (tie)
22. Rian, 67
23. Ollie, 65
24. Conan, 62
25. Ronan, 61
26. Caleb, 60 (4-way tie)
27. Fionn, 60 (4-way tie)
28. Isaac, 60 (4-way tie)
29. Patrick, 60 (4-way tie)
30. Lucas, 57 (tie)
31. Max, 57 (tie)
32. Theodore, 55
33. Rory, 54
34. Joseph, 53 (3-way tie)
35. Oscar, 53 (3-way tie)
36. Reuben, 53 (3-way tie)
37. Daniel, 52
38. Adam, 51 (tie)
39. Alexander, 51 (tie)
40. George, 50 (tie)
41. Odhran, 50 (tie)
42. Ezra, 49 (3-way tie)
43. Liam, 49 (3-way tie)
44. Matthew, 49 (3-way tie)
45. Arlo, 48 (3-way tie)
46. Cian, 48 (3-way tie)
47. Henry, 48 (3-way tie)
48. Daire, 47 (3-way tie)
49. Jonah, 47 (3-way tie)
50. Sean, 47 (3-way tie)

Grace and James were also the #1 names in 2022, but both dipped to third place in 2023.

The highest climbers within the girls’ top 100 in 2024 were Maya, Maria, Eliza, and Ayla.

And the highest climbers within the boys’ top 100 were Austin, Rossa, Callum, and Joseph.

Finally, here’s a small selection of the names that were given to just three babies each last year:

• Rare girl names: Aodhla, Cuisle, Doireann, Etain, Neala, Orlagh, Tierna
• Rare boy names: Ainle, Con, Dualtagh, Eamon, Feilim, Lir, Oilibhear

Cuisle, the Irish word for “pulse,” is thematically similar to the trendy girl name Croia, which is based on croí, the Irish word for “heart.” Croia currently ranks 26th and 16th in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, respectively.

Sources:

• Baby Names 2024 – NISRA
• Monthly Births – NISRA
• Popular First Names in Northern Ireland for Babies Registered in 2024 (PDF) – NISRA

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)