Baby Name: Hunter

According to data from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), the most popular baby names in the country last year were Fiadh and Jack.

Here are Ireland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

1. Fiadh, 424 baby girls
2. Grace, 412
3. Emily, 388
4. Sophie, 336
5. Éabha, 288
6. Lucy, 287
7. Mia, 279
8. Ava, 272
9. Lily, 271
10. Ella, 268
11. Amelia, 265
12. Chloe, 243
13. Hannah, 238
14. Sophia, 234
15. Emma, 233
16. Ellie, 228
17. Isla, 226
18. Molly, 219 (3-way tie)
19. Olivia, 219 (3-way tie)
20. Sadie, 219 (3-way tie)
21. Anna, 209
22. Freya, 208
23. Evie, 190 (tie)
24. Saoirse, 190 (tie)
25. Caoimhe, 183
26. Ruby, 180
27. Robyn, 175
28. Kate, 172
29. Willow, 166
30. Sofia, 162
31. Holly, 160
32. Aoife, 159
33. Cara, 155
34. Róisín, 152
35. Katie, 150 (tie)
36. Sadhbh, 150 (tie)
37. Leah, 148 (tie)
38. Millie, 148 (tie)
39. Isabelle, 147
40. Alice, 138 (tie)
41. Clodagh, 138 (tie)
42. Zoe, 136
43. Sarah, 134
44. Erin, 132
45. Ada, 131
46. Annie, 129
47. Bonnie, 128
48. Charlotte, 122 (tie)
49. Layla, 122 (tie)
50. Rosie, 118

Boy Names

1. Jack, 667 baby boys
2. Noah, 475
3. James, 442
4. Conor, 360
5. Rían, 357
6. Liam, 353
7. Charlie, 345
8. Daniel, 325
9. Cillian, 322
10. Tadhg, 318
11. Michael, 310
12. Oisín, 302
13. Finn, 299
14. Fionn, 289
15. Thomas, 288
16. Seán, 274
17. Darragh, 273
18. Luke, 268
19. Patrick, 266
20. Harry, 264
21. Alex, 253
22. Adam, 237
23. Cian, 217
24. Theo, 210
25. Oliver, 208
26. Dylan, 205
27. Jamie, 203
28. John, 198
29. Leo, 192
30. Oscar, 189
31. Ollie, 187
32. Ben, 185
33. Tom, 181
34. Bobby, 179
35. Ryan, 172
36. Tommy, 171
37. Matthew, 170 (tie)
38. Max, 170 (tie)
39. Callum, 162
40. Sam, 161
41. Danny, 158
42. Aaron, 151
43. Alexander, 150
44. Alfie, 147 (tie)
45. Jake, 147 (tie)
46. Mason, 143
47. David, 141
48. Joseph, 139
49. Jacob, 137
50. Ethan, 135

In the girls’ top 10, Éabha and Lily replaced Amelia and Hannah. (In both 2019 and 2020, Éabha was the fastest-rising girl name in Ireland.)

In the boys’ top 10, Rían, Cillian, and Tadhg replaced Finn, Fionn, and Harry.

Newbies to the girls’ top 100 were Indie, Ayla and Lottie; newbies to the boys’ top 100 were Teddy, Daithí, Páidí, Jaxon, Brody, Ted, Hunter, Tadgh, Tiernan, and Arlo.

The fastest-rising names in the top 100 in terms of numbers of babies were:

• Croía (+60 baby girls), Emily (+59), Fiadh (+58), Éabha (+54), Isla (+52)
• Rían (+72 baby boys), Jack (+70), Danny (+57), Theo (+53), Ollie (+51)

The fastest-rising names in terms of rank were:

• Croía (+43 spots), Indie (+28), Ayla (+28), Fíadh (+24), Daisy (+21)
• Ted (+49 spots), Hunter (+38), Hugo (+35), Brody (+35), Teddy (+31)

Rían (which was already on the rise) and Croía have both given a boost recently by Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who welcomed a daughter named Croía Mairéad at the start of 2019 and a son named Rían in May of 2021.

Here’s what writer and Irish language activist Darach Ó Séaghdha’s had to say about the rise of Rían (and Éabha):

Given that the first name Ryan started to decline in popularity in the 2010s around the time Rian and Rían began to ascend it is reasonable to see Rían as an update or replacement to Ryan, much as Éabha has climbed in popularity as Eve, Ava and Aoibhe have wavered.

He also noted that “Rían and Rian would be the [most popular] Gaeilge-origin boy name if counted together, edging ahead of Conor.”

P.S. To follow up on Friday’s post about the free lighthouse tour…the name Patrick is currently ranked 19th in Ireland, but none of the other three names (Paddy, Pat, or Patricia) rank anywhere near the top 100. That said, one of the names new to the boys’ top 100 last year was Páidí (pronounced paw-dee) — a pet form of Pádraig, which is an Irish form of Patrick.

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names, Irish Babies’ Names 2021, The Irish For: The rise of Rían – the latest baby names in Ireland

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)