How popular is the baby name Philomena in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Philomena.
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Last year, the Republic of Ireland — which covers five-sixths of the island of Ireland — welcomed roughly 55,000 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Grace and Jack.
Here are Ireland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:
Girl Names
Grace, 339 baby girls
Fiadh (pronounced FEE-a), 300
Emily, 297
Sophie, 283
Lily, 270
Ellie, 252
Mia, 242
Amelia, 241 (tie)
Éabha (pronounced EY-va), 241 (tie)
Ella, 231
Isla, 227
Hannah, 226
Sophia, 218
Lucy, 214
Ava, 207
Sadie, 200
Olivia, 199
Freya, 188
Emma, 183
Chloe, 181
Robyn, 180
Molly, 176
Anna, 166 (tie)
Croía (pronounced KREE-a), 166 (tie)
Evie, 165
Caoimhe (pronounced KEE-va or KWEE-va), 158
Saoirse (pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha), 157 (tie)
Cara, 157 (tie)
Sofia, 156
Millie, 150
Aoife (pronounced EE-fa), 148
Isabelle, 132
Bonnie, 130
Maya, 128 (tie)
Ada, 128 (tie)
Róisín (pronounced ROH-sheen), 127
Ruby, 126
Kate, 123 (tie)
Alice, 123 (tie)
Holly, 120 (3-way tie)
Erin, 120 (3-way tie)
Sadhbh (pronounced siev; rhymes with “5”), 120 (3-way tie)
Leah, 119
Isabella, 118 (3-way tie)
Ailbhe (pronounced AL-va), 118 (3-way tie)
Méabh (pronounced mayv), 118 (3-way tie)
Zoe, 115
Annie, 112
Ivy, 111
Willow, 110
Boy Names
Jack, 561 baby boys
Noah, 473
James, 369
Rían (pronounced REE-an), 339
Oisín (pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen), 330
Fionn (pronounced fyun or fyoon), 306
Tadhg (pronounced tieg, like the first part of “tiger”), 301
Liam, 289
Cillian (pronounced KIL-ee-an), 275
Daniel, 256
Finn, 251
Conor, 244 (tie)
Charlie, 244 (tie)
Seán (pronounced shawn), 240
Michael, 239
Leo, 237
Theo, 233
Thomas, 227
Patrick, 221
Luke, 215
Tommy, 214
Oliver, 211
Adam, 201
Harry, 198
Luca, 197
Darragh, 195
Alex, 175
Bobby, 157
Cian (pronounced KEE-an or keen), 156
Oscar, 154
John, 152 (tie)
Max, 152 (tie)
Ryan, 151
Páidí (pronounced PAW-dee), 150
Jamie, 149
Ben, 147
Kai, 141 (tie)
Ollie, 141 (tie)
Tom, 135
Matthew, 134
Dylan, 132
Callum, 131
Sonny, 130
Sam, 129
Ethan, 127 (tie)
Alfie, 127 (tie)
David, 122
Alexander, 118
Mason, 116
Caelan, 114
New to the girls’ top 100 were Lucia, Cadhla (pronounced KIE-la) and Síofra (pronounced SHEE-fra).
New to the boys’ top 100 were Caelan, Jude, Paddy, Éanna (pronounced EY-na) and Dáithí (pronounced DAH-hee).
The fastest-rising names in the top 100 in terms of numbers of babies were:
Éala (increased by 41 baby girls), Ailbhe (+40), Méabh (+36), Zara (+33), Croía (+26)
Caelan (increased by 58 baby boys), Páidí (+41), Arlo (+35), Tommy (+30), Mark (+28)
And the fastest-rising names in terms of rank were:
Síofra (rose 57 spots on the girls’ list), Lucia (+43), Éala (+38), Lottie (+36), Zara (+31)
Caelan (rose 58 spots on the boys’ list), Mark (+46), Ruairí (+41), Eoin (+37), Arlo (+31)
Ireland’s four provinces
Home to more than five million people, the Republic of Ireland is divided into four provinces. (One of these provinces, Ulster, lies largely within Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.) The top baby names within each of the four provinces last year were…
Top Girl Name
Top Boy Name
Leinster (56% of the population)
Grace
Jack
Munster (27% of pop.)
Grace
Jack
Connacht (11% of pop.)
Fiadh
Jack
Ulster [ROI portion] (6% of pop.)
Lily
Jack
And what about the baby names at the other end of the spectrum?
Here’s a selection of the names that were given to just 3 babies each in Ireland last year:
Looking for baby names that feature the appealing letter-pair PH?
I’ve collected hundreds of options for you in this post!
Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…
Why does PH sound like “F”?
In English, PH is a digraph, which means that it’s a pair of letters that make a single sound. (It’s interesting that the word “digraph” contains a digraph, isn’t it?)
Most of the English words that have PH were derived from Greek — specifically, from Greek words that included the Greek letter phi:
Phi (uppercase)
In ancient times, the Greek letter phi made an aspirated p-sound. (The unaspirated p-sound, on the other hand, was made by the Greek letter pi.)
When Greek was transliterated into Latin, the letter phi was written as “ph” to denote this aspiration — that is, to signal that the letter “p” was accompanied by a brief puff of air.
So, what happened?
In the first several centuries A.D., the pronunciation of the Greek letter phi changed. It slowly evolved from an aspirated p-sound into an f-sound.
As a result, the letter-pair “ph” underwent a corresponding (though somewhat illogical) pronunciation change. It, too, came to represent an f-sound — and still does to this day.
Now, on to the names!
Names with PH
Below you’ll find a long list of names that contain the letter-pair PH. Many of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data. Others are ancient names that aren’t used much (if at all) in modern times.
Aleph
Alpha
Alphaeus
Alpharetta
Alphie
Alphonsa
Alphonse
Alphonsine
Alphonso
Alphonsus
Amphion
Amphirho
Amphithea
Aphaea
Aphra
Seventeenth-century writer Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn her living by writing.
If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 3, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 3-names.
Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “threes” in numerology?
Turning names into numbers
Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.
First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.
For instance, the letters in the name Tyson correspond to the numbers 20, 25, 19, 15, and 14. The sum of these numbers is 93. The digits of 93 added together equal 12, and the digits of 12 added together equal 3 — the numerological value of Tyson.
Baby names with a value of 3
Below you’ll find the most popular 3-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.
3 via 12
The letters in the following baby names add up to 12, which reduces to three (1+2=3).
Girl names (3 via 12)
Boy names (3 via 12)
Aja, Fae, Bia, Abi, Bee
Gad, Jb, Abed
3 via 21
The letters in the following baby names add up to 21, which reduces to three (2+1=3).
Girl names (3 via 21)
Boy names (3 via 21)
Kai, Asa, Gala, Jaia, Clea
Kai, Kade, Asa, Alec, Ben, Beck, Cale
3 via 30
The letters in the following baby names add up to 30, which reduces to three (3+0=3).
There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number three. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 3 being described as “creative,” “optimistic,” “friendly,” “outgoing,” and “self-expressive.”
We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 3:
Triple crown (victory in three events)
Hat trick (3 goals scored in one game by a single player)
Circus (3 rings)
Yard (3 feet)
Three-act structure (in narrative)
Rule of thirds (in photography)
Traffic lights
Manx flag (3 legs)
What does the number 3 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?
P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.
Tuesday’s post about the Victorian-style Tylney Hall Hotel reminded me of a list of Victorian-era names that I’ve had bookmarked forever.
The list was created by amateur genealogist G. M. Atwater as a resource for writers. It contains names and name combinations that were commonly seen in the U.S. from the 1840s to the 1890s. Below is the full list (with a few minor changes).
Victorian Era Female Names
Victorian Era Male Names
Abigale / Abby
Ada
Adella
Agnes
Allie
Almira / Almyra
Alva
America
Amelia
Ann / Annie
Arrah
Beatrice
Bernice
Charity
Charlotte
Chastity
Claire
Constance
Cynthia
Dorothy / Dot
Edith
Edna
Edwina
Ella
Eleanor
Ellie
Elizabeth / Eliza / Liza / Lizzy / Bess / Bessie / Beth / Betsy
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