Baby Name: Matthew

Northern Ireland, which is located on the island of Ireland, is actually part of the United Kingdom (along with Scotland, England, and Wales — all of which are located on the next-door island of Great Britain).

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 country’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

1. Grace, 168 baby girls
2. Emily, 152
3. Fiadh, 148 – pronounced FEE-a
4. Olivia, 141
5. Isla, 118
6. Aoife, 113 – pronounced EE-fa
7. Lily, 110
8. Annie, 97
9. Evie, 94 (tie)
10. Freya, 94 (tie)
11. Amelia, 91
12. Ella, 88
13. Charlotte, 87
14. Ava, 84 (tie)
15. Sophia, 84 (tie)
16. Anna, 80 (tie)
17. Erin, 80 (tie)
18. Eabha, 74 – pronounced EY-va
19. Katie, 72 (tie)
20. Ruby, 72 (tie)
21. Maisie, 71 (tie)
22. Sophie, 71 (tie)
23. Lucy, 70
24. Ellie, 69
25. Aria, 65
26. Niamh, 64 – pronounced neev or NEE-iv
27. Molly, 59 (tie)
28. Rosie, 59 (tie)
29. Clodagh, 57 (tie) – pronounced KLOH-da
30. Mia, 57 (tie)
31. Hannah, 56
32. Meabh, 55 (tie) – pronounced mayv
33. Willow, 55 (tie)
34. Elsie, 54
35. Cora, 52 (tie)
36. Phoebe, 52 (tie)
37. Ada, 51
38. Bonnie, 49 (tie)
39. Isabella, 49 (tie)
40. Eva, 48 (4-way tie)
41. Georgia, 48 (4-way tie)
42. Ivy, 48 (4-way tie)
43. Sadie, 48 (4-way tie)
44. Cara, 47 (tie)
45. Harper, 47 (tie)
46. Emma, 46 (tie)
47. Zara, 46 (tie)
48. Chloe, 45 (tie)
49. Rose, 45 (tie)
50. Poppy, 44 (tie)
51. Saoirse, 44 (tie) – pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha

Boy names

1. James, 175 baby boys
2. Jack, 169
3. Noah, 146
4. Theo, 132
5. Charlie, 131
6. Oliver, 123
7. Oisin, 119 – pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen
8. Harry, 118
9. Cillian, 111 – pronounced KIL-ee-an
10. Thomas, 107
11. Leo, 106
12. Finn, 98
13. Tommy, 97
14. Daniel, 90
15. Alfie, 87
16. Luca, 83
17. Freddie, 81
18. Arthur, 80
19. Jacob, 79
20. Jude, 77
21. Luke, 74 (tie)
22. Ollie, 74 (tie)
23. Caleb, 72 (tie)
24. Ronan, 72 (tie)
25. Ethan, 69
26. Darragh, 67
27. Shea, 65
28. Rory, 64
29. Archie, 63 (tie)
30. Joshua, 63 (tie)
31. Adam, 62 (3-way tie)
32. Jonah, 62 (3-way tie)
33. Matthew, 62 (3-way tie)
34. Daithi, 61 – pronounced DAH-hee
35. Ezra, 60 (3-way tie)
36. Michael, 60 (3-way tie)
37. Odhran, 60 (3-way tie) – pronounced OH-rawn
38. George, 59
39. Reuben, 58
40. Henry, 57 (4-way tie)
41. Isaac, 57 (4-way tie)
42. Logan, 57 (4-way tie)
43. Teddy, 57 (4-way tie)
44. Jake, 55 (tie)
45. Max, 55 (tie)
46. Mason, 54
47. Alexander, 53
48. Conan, 52 (3-way tie)
49. Conor, 52 (3-way tie)
50. 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:

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)