Grace and Jack most popular babies names in 2020
Jack and Grace were the two most popular names with Irish parents last year.
The most popular boys name with Irish parents for most of this century, Jack, which was also the most popular boys name with Westmeath mammies and daddies, has claimed the top spot every year since 2007, bar 2016. Last year James was the second most popular boys name, followed by Noah, Daniel and Conor.
For girls, Grace claimed the top spot for the first time, followed by Fiadh, Emily Sophie and Ava. Lucy was the most popular girls name with local parents last year. Up until 2020, Emily had been the most popular girls name for nine consecutive years.
Changing tastes
Speaking after the publication of this year's report on baby names, statistician Carol Anne Hennessy said that the names popular with parents have changed significantly over the years.
“Back in 1970, John, Michael, Patrick, David and James were the names most favoured by parents of new-born baby boys. There were 193 male new-borns named John in 2020, just over 7.3% of the number of boys given the name John (2,629) in 1970.
“Interestingly, not one of the top five names for girls in 2020 appeared in the top 100 names a half century earlier. Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Ann and Sharon were the most popular names for baby daughters in 1970, with 1,896 baby girls named Mary in that year. In 2020, there were 410 baby girls named Grace, 21.6% of the number of girls given the name Mary (1,896) in 1970.
“Ava reclaims her position in the top five names for girls in 2020, (coming in at number five) for the first time since 2016 when it was the third most popular name chosen for 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.
“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, jumping 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.”