Northern Ireland may be located on the island of Ireland, but it’s been part of the United Kingdom (along with Scotland, England, and Wales — all of which are located on the next-door island of Great Britain) since 1921.
Last year, Northern Ireland welcomed 20,929 babies — 10,242 girls and 10,687 boys.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Grace and James.
Here are the Northern Ireland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:
Girl names
- Grace, 168 baby girls
- Emily, 152
- Fiadh, 148 – pronounced FEE-a
- Olivia, 141
- Isla, 118
- Aoife, 113 – pronounced EE-fa
- Lily, 110
- Annie, 97
- Evie, 94 (tie)
- Freya, 94 (tie)
- Amelia, 91
- Ella, 88
- Charlotte, 87
- Ava, 84 (tie)
- Sophia, 84 (tie)
- Anna, 80 (tie)
- Erin, 80 (tie)
- Eabha, 74 – pronounced EY-va
- Katie, 72 (tie)
- Ruby, 72 (tie)
- Maisie, 71 (tie)
- Sophie, 71 (tie)
- Lucy, 70
- Ellie, 69
- Aria, 65
- Niamh, 64 – pronounced neev or NEE-iv
- Molly, 59 (tie)
- Rosie, 59 (tie)
- Clodagh, 57 (tie) – pronounced KLOH-da
- Mia, 57 (tie)
- Hannah, 56
- Meabh, 55 (tie) – pronounced mayv
- Willow, 55 (tie)
- Elsie, 54
- Cora, 52 (tie)
- Phoebe, 52 (tie)
- Ada, 51
- Bonnie, 49 (tie)
- Isabella, 49 (tie)
- Eva, 48 (4-way tie)
- Georgia, 48 (4-way tie)
- Ivy, 48 (4-way tie)
- Sadie, 48 (4-way tie)
- Cara, 47 (tie)
- Harper, 47 (tie)
- Emma, 46 (tie)
- Zara, 46 (tie)
- Chloe, 45 (tie)
- Rose, 45 (tie)
- Poppy, 44 (tie)
- Saoirse, 44 (tie) – pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha
Boy names
- James, 175 baby boys
- Jack, 169
- Noah, 146
- Theo, 132
- Charlie, 131
- Oliver, 123
- Oisin, 119 – pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen
- Harry, 118
- Cillian, 111 – pronounced KIL-ee-an
- Thomas, 107
- Leo, 106
- Finn, 98
- Tommy, 97
- Daniel, 90
- Alfie, 87
- Luca, 83
- Freddie, 81
- Arthur, 80
- Jacob, 79
- Jude, 77
- Luke, 74 (tie)
- Ollie, 74 (tie)
- Caleb, 72 (tie)
- Ronan, 72 (tie)
- Ethan, 69
- Darragh, 67
- Shea, 65
- Rory, 64
- Archie, 63 (tie)
- Joshua, 63 (tie)
- Adam, 62 (3-way tie)
- Jonah, 62 (3-way tie)
- Matthew, 62 (3-way tie)
- Daithi, 61 – pronounced DAH-hee
- Ezra, 60 (3-way tie)
- Michael, 60 (3-way tie)
- Odhran, 60 (3-way tie) – pronounced OH-rawn
- George, 59
- Reuben, 58
- Henry, 57 (4-way tie)
- Isaac, 57 (4-way tie)
- Logan, 57 (4-way tie)
- Teddy, 57 (4-way tie)
- Jake, 55 (tie)
- Max, 55 (tie)
- Mason, 54
- Alexander, 53
- Conan, 52 (3-way tie)
- Conor, 52 (3-way tie)
- Joseph, 52 (3-way tie)
The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Pippa, Nevaeh, Lucia, Croia, and Maeve.
The fastest-rising names in the boy’s top 100 were Hugo, Luca, Hudson, Rian, and Nathan.
And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — names that were given to just 3 babies each in Northern Ireland last year:
| Rare girl names | Rare boy names |
| Aeza, Banba/Banbha, Brilliana, Cobhlaith, Della, Eilish, Faoiltiarna, Glencia, Hetty, Israella, Jersey, Kevia, Lilium, Marcy, Neansai, Orlaithi, Prim, Rhaenyra, Simona, Tiggy, Una, Yvonne, Zuzu | Alvie, Bonyo, Caolach, Dubhaltach, Evenezer, Fazza, Ghyth, Hamish, Igor, Jivko, Kylian, Lughaidh, Maui, Norrin, Olcan, Plunkett, Rupert, Selkie, Tuathal, Ugnius, Vivaan, Windsor, Yaurik, Zeki |
Some explanations/associations for a few of the above…
- Banba – a goddess in Irish mythology.
- Banbha – the modern spelling of Banba.
- Faoiltiarna – an Irish name made up of the elements faol, “wolf,” and tighearna, “lord.”
- Olcan – a 5th-century Irish saint associated with the village of Armoy in County Antrim.
- Rhaenyra – a character from the TV series House of the Dragon (a prequel to Game of Thrones).
- Selkie – a seal/human shapeshifter in Celtic (as well as Norse) mythology.
Finally, let’s take a look at middle names. About 86% of the girls and 89% of the boys born in Northern Ireland last year were given at least one middle name. The middles chosen most often were…
- Rose, Grace, Elizabeth, Mary, and Marie (for girls), and
- James, John, Patrick, Michael, and Thomas (for boys).
P.S. If you’re interested in seeing more Irish name pronunciations, just click that link.
Sources: Baby Names 2022 | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Northern Ireland – Wikipedia, Faoiltiarna – Oxford Reference
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
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