These Were the Most Popular Baby Names in Ireland for 2020

Emily Manning

Emily Manning

February 26, 2021

most popular baby names in Ireland 2020

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It’s always interesting to see what baby names parents are choosing for their newborns – and it’s great inspiration for expectant parents trying to make that big decision. Today, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the most popular baby names in Ireland of 2020, ranking the names that had been chosen by the most parents throughout the year.

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Jack has retained the top spot as the most popular baby boys’ name in 2020, a position it has held since 2007 except for 2016, when James was the most popular choice.

Grace claims the top spot for girls for the first time, followed by Fiadh, Emily, Sophie and Ava. Emily, which had previously held the top position for the girls for nine consecutive years (since 2011), dropped to third place in 2020.

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Most Popular Baby Names – Then and Now

Taking a look back to the most popular names from 50 years ago, we can see some names still remain in the favourites – while others don’t even make the top 100.

In 1970, the most popular names for baby boys were John, Michael, Patrick, David and James. In number terms, there were 2,629 newborn boys named John in 1970, compared to just 193 in 2020.

Interestingly, none of the top 10 most popular names for girls’ in 2020 appeared anywhere in the top 100 girls’ names in 1970.

In 1970, the top names were Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Ann and Sharon, with 1,896 baby girls named Mary that year. In comparison, the top name in 2020, Grace,

In 2020, there was significantly more variety of names overall, meaning that the top name (Grace) was given to 410 baby girls.

As is evident from the tables, over the years, girls are given a wider variety of names than boys with 4,624 girls’ names registered compared to 3,715 boys’ names.

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What’s New?

Most popular Irish Baby Names 2020

Sonny was the only new entrant into the top 100 for boys in 2020. The boys’ names with most growth in popularity in terms of rank between 2019 and 2020 were Rian, rising most in popularity, which jumped 33 places from 119th place to 86th place. Similarly, Eoghan moved 29 places from 108th place in 2019 to 79th in 2020.

There were seven new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Penny, Luna, Cora, Fíadh (with a síneadh fada), Croía, Elsie and Paige.

Croía has grown most in popularity, rising from 162nd place in 2019 to 95th in 2020, a jump of 67 places. Cora jumped in popularity from 127th place in 2019 to 90th place in 2020, a rise in 37 places.

Some less popular names for boys included Orion, Creed, Romeo, Klay and Séadna. Less popular girls’ names included Zaria, Vienna, Fódhla, Marlee and Roxie.

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Most Popular Around the Country

Some counties picked names outside the top five, or even outside the top 20.

For the boys, Charlie was ranked 10th nationally, yet was most favoured in Donegal. While Michael held 17th place nationally, it was the most popular choice for boys in Galway City. Alex was ranked 21st nationally and was the name most favoured in Limerick City.

For girls, Fiadh was the second most popular name nationally but was the top girls name in Munster. Sophia was the top name in Dublin City yet nationally it was ranked 18th. Freya ranked 24th nationally but was first choice in Waterford City. Ellie, the 13th most popular name overall, was the most chosen name in Monaghan. Hannah and Isla were top of the list in Donegal, and although Maisie ranked 57th nationally it held top spot jointly with Sophie in Longford.

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Most Popular Baby Names in Ireland 2020

Most Popular Names for Boys

  1. Jack
  2. James
  3. Noah
  4. Daniel
  5. Conor
  6. Finn
  7. Liam
  8. Fionn
  9. Harry
  10. Charlie
  11. Cillian
  12. Adam
  13. Darragh
  14. Luke
  15. Rían
  16. Oisín
  17. Michael
  18. Tadhg
  19. Thomas
  20. Seán
  21. Alex
  22. Patrick
  23. Jamie
  24. Cian
  25. Oliver
  26. John
  27. Bobby
  28. Dylan
  29. Leo
  30. Ryan
  31. Oscar
  32. Ben
  33. David
  34. Mason
  35. Theo
  36. Tommy
  37. Jacob
  38. Callum
  39. Matthew
  40. Alexander
  41. Alfie
  42. Max
  43. Tom
  44. Ollie
  45. Aaron
  46. Jake
  47. Donnacha
  48. Ethan
  49. Evan
  50. Benjamin

Most Popular Names for Girls

  1. Grace
  2. Fiadh
  3. Emily
  4. Sophie
  5. Ava
  6. Amelia
  7. Ella
  8. Hannah
  9. Lucy
  10. Mia
  11. Olivia
  12. Lily
  13. Ellie
  14. Anna
  15. Emma
  16. Éabha
  17. Chloe
  18. Sophia
  19. Molly
  20. Saoirse
  21. Sadie
  22. Evie
  23. Kate
  24. Aoife
  25. Freya
  26. Isla
  27. Caoimhe
  28. Holly
  29. Robyn
  30. Katie
  31. Sarah
  32. Róisín
  33. Alice
  34. Ruby
  35. Sofia
  36. Cara
  37. Ada
  38. Eva
  39. Isabelle
  40. Sadhbh
  41. Bonnie
  42. Erin
  43. Willow
  44. Zoe
  45. Millie
  46. Clodagh
  47. Leah
  48. Ciara
  49. Charlotte
  50. Emilia

You can find the full top 100 names on www.cso.ie

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Have your say! Did any of the most popular baby names in Ireland make your favourite list? Was your child’s name on the list? Leave a comment below and let us know – we’d love to hear from you!

Most popular baby names in Ireland 2020 - Mykidstime

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Published On: February 26th, 2021 / Categories: For Parents / Last Updated: March 25th, 2021 / Tags: /

About the Author: Emily Manning

Emily Manning
Emily is the coffee-loving Editor of MyKidsTime. Mum of one daughter and two naughty Tibetan Terriers, she is particularly partial to Curly Wurlys and unable to resist pretty stationery and new cookbooks. As an avid foodie and domestic goddess-wannabe, she is most likely to be found in the kitchen.

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