Northern Ireland — which was partitioned from the rest of Ireland more than a century ago — is a constituent country of the United Kingdom (along with England, Scotland, and Wales).
What were the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland last year? Isla and Noah.
Here are the Northern Ireland’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:
Girl names
- Isla, 147 baby girls – pronounced IE-la
- Fiadh, 138 – pronounced FEE-a
- Grace, 137
- Emily, 136
- Olivia, 126
- Lily, 108
- Ella, 97
- Aoife, 94 – pronounced EE-fa
- Amelia, 92
- Freya, 90
- Charlotte, 87
- Annie, 84 (tie)
- Sophie, 84 (tie)
- Anna, 83
- Eabha, 79 – pronounced EY-va
- Ellie, 77
- Sophia, 76
- Evie, 74
- Ava, 73
- Maisie, 70
- Clodagh, 66 – pronounced KLOH-da
- Mia, 63 (tie)
- Sadie, 63 (tie)
- Rosie, 62 (tie)
- Ruby, 62 (tie)
- Ivy, 60
- Molly, 59
- Cara, 57 (4-way tie)
- Elsie, 57 (4-way tie)
- Lottie, 57 (4-way tie)
- Meabh, 57 (4-way tie) – pronounced mayv
- Zara, 56
- Aria, 54
- Erin, 53
- Ada, 52
- Hannah, 51
- Saoirse, 50 – pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha
- Bonnie, 48
- Cora, 47 (4-way tie)
- Isabella, 47 (4-way tie)
- Lucy, 47 (4-way tie)
- Phoebe, 47 (4-way tie)
- Katie, 46 (tie)
- Niamh, 46 (tie) – pronounced neev or NEE-iv
- Rhea, 45 (tie)
- Willow, 45 (tie)
- Rose, 44
- Sofia, 42
- Daisy, 41 (tie)
- Sienna, 41 (tie)
Boy names
- Noah, 152 baby boys
- Jack, 146
- James, 131
- Cillian, 128 – pronounced KIL-ee-an
- Charlie, 123
- Leo, 119
- Oisin, 116 – pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen
- Oliver, 114
- Luca, 108 (tie)
- Theo, 108 (tie)
- Tommy, 105
- Thomas, 103
- Jude, 93
- Arthur, 91
- Alfie, 85
- Daniel, 84
- Daithi, 82 – pronounced DAH-hee
- Harry, 77
- Ethan, 74
- Caleb, 73
- Finn, 71
- Henry, 70
- Ezra, 67 (tie)
- Jacob, 67 (tie)
- George, 66 (tie)
- Oscar, 66 (tie)
- Archie, 64 (3-way tie)
- Isaac, 64 (3-way tie)
- Ollie, 64 (3-way tie)
- Ronan, 63
- Lorcan, 62
- Reuben, 61 (tie)
- Shea, 61 (tie)
- Fionn, 60 (tie)
- Rory, 60 (tie)
- Darragh, 59
- Rian, 57
- Conor, 55 (tie)
- Freddie, 55 (tie)
- Arlo, 53 (tie)
- Patrick, 53 (tie)
- Luke, 52 (tie)
- Tom, 52 (tie)
- Jonah, 51 (tie)
- Odhran, 51 (tie) – pronounced OH-rawn
- Joshua, 50
- Max, 49 (tie)
- Theodore, 49 (tie)
- Michael, 47
- Mason, 46 (tie)
- Teddy, 46 (tie)
The names that qualified as the “top climbers” of 2023 were…
- Rebecca, Rhea, Aurora, and Raya (for girls), and
- Leon, Donnacha, Albie, and Seth (for boys).
And here’s a selection of uncommon names that were given to just three babies each:
| Rare girl names | Rare boy names |
| Aizal, Blathnaid, Colleen, Dianaimh, Everly, Georgina, Helen, Ivie, Juniper, Keeley, Laney, Meabha, Neala, Orlagh, Paisley, Searlaith, Tillie, Vera, Yasmine | Angus, Barney, Connlan, Darren, Ewan, Finbarr, Gearoid, Hamish, Jameson, Kieran, Lughan, Milan, Ned, Orhan, Paraic, Ruaidhri, Scott, Tate, Zayn |
What about middle names? The top picks for the middle spot were…
- Rose, Grace, Mary, Elizabeth, and Marie (for girls), and
- James, John, Patrick, William, and Thomas (for boys).
Finally, here are Northern Ireland’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Source: Baby Names 2023 | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
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