Jack retains the top position it has held every year since 2007, and Emily moved up one place to obtain the number one spot for the first time.
Of the 38,223 boys born in 2011, 840 (2.2%) were named Jack, 44 more than the number of boys named James, the second most popular name. Of the 36,427 girls born, there were 596 (1.6%) named Emily, 14 more than the number of girls named Sophie, the second most popular girls’ name.
The top five boys’ names (Jack, James, Sean, Daniel and Conor) have made up the top five since 2007. Four of the top five boys’ names (Jack, Sean, Conor and James) have been in the top five since 1998, with only their order changing from year to year.
There has been more variation in the girls’ top five. While Emma has been in the top five since 2000, this is the first time Lily has appeared in the top five. Sarah, who had been in the top five since 1998, dropped just below this to sixth place this year. Emily entered the top 5 in 2008 and returned to the top 5 again in 2010 as the second most popular girls’ name.
There were four first time entries to the top 100 for boys: Mason, Donnacha, Tommy and Zach. The highest new entry at number 70 was Mason, which rose from 128th place in 2010. The names rising in popularity most in the year were Tommy and Mason, up 72 and 58 places respectively.
There was one first time entry to the top 100 for girls: Lexi, climbing from 102nd place in 2010 to 96th this year. The name climbing most places in the year was Michaela, up 86 places in the year after exiting the top 100 in 2005.
While the top five names for boys and girls topped the rankings within a number of different areas, names outside the top 5 were also county and city favourites. For boys, Ryan took the number one spot in South Dublin, and counties Laois, Louth, Wicklow, Sligo, Cavan and Donegal. Alex was the most popular name in Cork City and Jamie topped the rankings in County Monaghan.
For girls, there was a wider range of names, outside the top five, that were county and city favourites. These included Aoife, Ava, Caoimhe, Chloe, Ella, Katie, Lucy, Mia, Roisin and Sarah.
Border: Ryan Emily/Sophie
Midland: Jack /Sarah
West: Sean Chloe/Grace
Dublin: Daniel /Sophie
Mid-East: James /Emily
Mid-West: Jack/Sean /Emma
South-East: Jack /Sophie
South-West: Jack /Emily
