The most popular name in 2024 for newborn boys in Ireland was Jack and for girls it was Sophie. Jack has held the top spot since 2007, with the exception of 2016, when James was the most popular name. Sophie rose to the No 1 spot for 2024, climbing from fourth place in 2023. Prior to 2024, Grace was the most popular girls name in 2023 and the second most popular girls' name in 2022 and 2021. Emily had been the most popular girls' name for 2022 and from 2011 to 2019. Éabha holds 2nd place for 2024 having been ranked in 8th position in 2023.
Jack has been in the top 5 boys' names since 1998 and has maintained its first-place position from 2023. Similarly, Noah retains its place in the top 3 in 2024, maintaining its position as the 2nd most popular name for boys for the fourth year in a row. Rían, who was a new entrant to the top 5 in 2021, moves up in the rankings from 4th place in 2023 to 3rd place in 2024. Cillian enters the top 5 for the first time in 2024, in fourth position, having previously being in the top 10 in 2021, 2022, and 2023. James remains a firm favourite but moves from 3rd position in 2023 to 5th position in 2024 (See Table 2.1).
This year Sophie has been the most popular name chosen for girls, rising from 4th place in 2023 to 1st in 2024. Éabha goes from joint 8th position in 2023 to second place in 2024. Grace drops two places from the top spot in 2023 to 3rd in 2024. Emily is the 4th most popular name in 2024, dropping one place from last year. Emily has been in the top 5 girls' names chosen from 2010 to 2024 (See Table 2.2).
There were three new entrants to the top 100 for boys: Rowan, Caleb, and Iarlaith. Caleb was the name that rose most in popularity, jumping from 142nd place to 91st between 2023 and 2024 (See Tables 2.1 and 2.3).
There were four new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Hallie, Rhea, Caragh, and Aurora. Rhea has grown most in popularity, rising from 130th place in 2023 to 93rd in 2024, a jump of 37 places in rank (See Table 2.2).
There is a wider variety in the names registered for girls, with 5,161 girls' names in 2024 compared with 4,421 for boys.
In most areas of the country one of the top 5 boys’ names took the No 1 spot
Jack was the most popular name in the State in 2024, with Rían proving to be the most popular name for baby boys in two of the four provinces. Noah was the second most favoured name for boys in 2024 and held the top spot or joint top spot in 10 locations including Roscommon and Donegal. Some counties picked names outside the top 5. Conor was ranked 19th nationally yet was most favoured in Leitrim, having last been ranked in first position in 1999. Charlie was the most popular boys’ names in Waterford County yet ranked 10th on a national basis (See Table 2.5).
Sophie was the most chosen girls' name or joint-first in seven areas including Wexford and South Dublin. Éabha was the second most popular name nationally but was the top girls' name in Munster and Ulster (Part Of). Fiadh also held the top or joint top name in seven counties and was the top name in Connacht. Names outside the top 5 were chosen for girls in several counties. Lily was the top or joint top girls' name in three counties, namely, Clare, Cork City, and Carlow while ranking 6th nationally. Bonnie was the first choice in Waterford City, while ranking 34th on a national basis (See Table 2.6).
Some of the less frequently used girls' names registered in 2024 and not included in the top 100 names were Róise, Nancy, Lavinia, Lucía, Anya, Dáire, and Sineád
Some of the less popular boys' names registered in 2024 were Séamus, Luka, Ibrahim, Gearóid, Cristian, Abdullah, Maurice, and Thomás
Jack was the most popular boys name where both parents were Irish nationals. Where both parents were from the EU14 (excluding Ireland) Noah was the most favoured boys' name. David was the name chosen most often by parents from the EU15 to EU27. Muhammad was the highest ranked name of baby boys born where both parents were from outside the EU and UK. There was no singular popular name of 3+ occurrence for boys chosen by parents of UK nationality (See Table 2.7).
Éabha was the most popular girls' name where both parents were Irish nationals. Chloe ranked first with parents from the EU14 (excluding Ireland), and Sofia took the top spot with parents from the EU15 to EU27. Hazel was the main choice where both parents were from outside the EU and UK. There was no singular popular name of 3+ occurrence for girls chosen by parents of UK nationality (See Table 2.7).
Since Irish Babies' Names 2023, the CSO has expanded its surname analysis to provide a further breakdown of the most common surnames associated with babies born, in 2024. Murphy, Kelly, Byrne, O'Brien, and Walsh, were the most common surnames for 2024 births. Of the 54,060 live births in 2024, 20,812 had unique surnames. The top 10 surnames accounted for 6.5% (or 3,524) of the 54,060 live births in 2024. The top three surnames for babies were Murphy at 582 (1.1%), Kelly at 443 (0.8%), and Byrne at 383 (0.7%) (See Table 2.9).
In 1974, the most popular name for boys was John. Fifty years later, John ranked 29th in popularity in 2024 for baby boys (See Tables 2.1 and 2.10).
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 (See Tables 2.1 and 2.10).
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
Mary was the most popular girls' name in 1974. In 2024, Mary was 105th in popularity for girls’ names, dropping from the top 100 for the 3rd time since 1964. Olivia was the only girls' name in the top 10 most popular names for girls in 2024 that also appeared in the top 100 girls' names in 1974, ranking 7th in 2024 and 73rd in 1974. The first name to appear in both top 100s was Elizabeth who ranked 9th in 1974 and 81st in 2024 (See Tables 2.2 and 2.11).
Muhammad was the name chosen most often for baby boys in England and Wales in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, while Olivia was the top name for girls. Parents in Northern Ireland in 2023 chose Noah as their most popular boys' name with Isla as the most popular girls' name. Scotland in 2023 chose Luca and Isla as the most popular names (See Table 2.8).
The CSO’s Irish Babies' Names 2024 publication includes the síneadh fada and other diacritics since it was first introduced for names registered in 2018. This change has resulted in a break in the series, with new entries created for names with the síneadh fada and other diacritics.
This has an impact in the order of the popularity of some forenames. For example, Sean (without the síneadh fada) has always been in the top 100 most popular names for boys. Seán with the síneadh fada is now included in the data and both spellings are treated as two separate names since 2018, thus Seán has a rank of 15 while Sean has fallen to 123rd in 2024.
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