Rían and Éabha make their mark, Patrick holds on to respectable placing but Mary and Brigid stay out of top 100
IRELAND’S Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released its list of top names for babies born in 2024.
The top five names for girls last year were Sophie, Éabha, Grace, Emily and Fiadh.
Sophie replaced 2023's top choice of Grace, which dropped to third.
The top ten are:
- Sophie
- Éabha
- Grace
- Emily
- Fiadh
- Lily
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Sadie
- Mia
Other names on the list include Croía (16 occurrences) Sadhbh (117), Éala (40), Willow (47). Hallie, Rhea, Caragh, Aurora are all new entries to the girl’s top hundred list
THE TOP five boys' names in 2024 were Jack, Noah, Rían, Cillian and James — with only Rían, and Cillian being specifically Irish names.
The top ten are:
- Jack
- Noah
- Rían
- Cillian
- James
- Liam
- Tadhg
- Oisín
- Finn
- Conor
Jack has remained popular, taking the top spot for the eighth year in a row.
The name Caleb rose fastest up the rankings, from 142nd place in 2023 to 91st place last year. It is originally a Hebrew name, its origin imbued with qualities of loyalty and devotion. Alng with Caleb, Rowan and Iarlaith appeared in the top 100 for the first time.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that Rowan, Caleb and Iarlaith appeared in the top 100 names for the first time last year.
CSO Statistician Seán O'Connor said Jack has held the top spot for every year since 2007, except for 2016 when James was the most popular boys' name. Both names have been in the top five since 1998.
Last year was only the third time in 50 years that Mary did not feature in the top 100, with just 46 babies named Mary in 2024.
On the boys’ list, Patrick came in at no. 16, and Páidí was at no, 22. If their two scores were added together (421 male born babies) our patron saint’s name would have stood at no 4.
Sadly our other two patron saints Colmcille and Brigid (or their other iterations), did not make an appearance.
CSO reports that in 1974, the most popular name for boys was John and the most popular name for girls was Mary. Fifty years later, John ranked 29th in popularity in 2024 for baby boys and Mary had dropped out of the top 100.
The top 5 boys’ names in 1974 were John, Michael, Patrick, David, and Paul. The only name in the top 10 which was still in the top 10 by 2024 was James.
Olivia was the only name in the top 10 most popular names for girls in 2024 that ranked in the top 100 girls' names in 1974.
According to CSO figures, there were 9,582 distinct new-born names registered in 2024. Murphy was the most common surname of the new-born, followed by Kelly, Byrne, O'Brien and Walsh.
See More: Baby Names, CSO
