Five most popular babies’ names
| Name | Count | Name | Count |
| Sean | 897 | Emma | 791 |
| Jack | 800 | Sarah | 606 |
| Adam | 787 | Aoife | 571 |
| Conor | 705 | Ciara | 535 |
| James | 626 | Katie | 468 |
Sean and Emma
Sean and Emma were the most popular babies’ names registered last year. There were 897 boys named Sean (3.1% of baby boys) and 791 girls named Emma (2.8% of baby girls). See Tables 1 and 2.
The top five names for boys remained the same as last year, although the order changed slightly. For girls, Katie replaced Chloe in the top five. See Table 1.
There were eight new entries to the top 100 for boys: Cameron, Colin, Daire, Emmanuel, Karl, Max, Reece and Ruairi.
The highest new entry was Colin and the highest climber was Kian which rose from 268th place in 1998 to 65th place in 2003. First time entries to the top 100 are Ruairi, Emmanuel and Max. See Table 1.
There were nine new names in the top 100 for girls: Alana, Amber, Aoibhe, Cara, Clara, Faye, Naomi, Sophia and Sorcha. The highest new entry was Clara and the highest climber was Abby which rose from 327th place in 1998 to 60th place in 2003. Newcomers to the top 100 are Faye, Naomi, Aoibhe and Sophia.
In general, the tables show that girls are given a wider variety of names than boys. The top 100 accounted for 61.5% of girls’ names compared with 71.8% of boys’ names.
Sean and Emma were the most popular names in five and six out of the eight regions. Conor was the most popular boys’ name in the Border and Mid-West regions, and Jack in the South East. Sarah was the most popular girls’ name in the Midlands and Aoife in the South East. See Table 5.
These results are based on an analysis of the first names recorded on birth returns for registration and vital statistics, begun by the CSO in 1998. Over 93% of birth notifications in 2003 included baby’s first name when the statistical return was sent to the CSO.
|
Year 2003 |
Regional Authority | Boys Name | % | Count | % |
| Border | Conor | 2.60 | Emma | 3.08 | |
| Midland | Sean | 3.50 | Sarah | 3.27 | |
| West | Sean | 3.00 | Emma | 2.80 | |
| Dublin | Sean | 3.11 | Emma | 2.44 | |
| Mid-East | Sean | 4.08 | Emma | 3.31 | |
| Mid-West | Conor | 3.72 | Emma | 3.55 | |
| South-East | Jack | 3.94 | Aoife | 2.89 | |
| South-West | Sean | 3.02 | Emma | 2.74 | |
| Ireland | Sean | 3.07 | Emma | 2.82 |
More detailed tables, including the top 100 names for boys and girls, are available on the CSO website http:www.cso.ie
For more information contact Mary Heanue (LoCall 1890 313 414 Ext 5423) or Mary Condon (Ext 5471).
19 May 2004