Top baby names in Ireland for 2011 revealed - Jack and Emily win out over the more traditional
Almost 75,000 registered births in Ireland last year with celebrity influence evident in name choices
Published Thursday, July 12, 2012, 7:05 AM
Updated Thursday, July 12, 2012, 10:19 AM
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Kiss me I'm Irish: Top baby names in Ireland for 2011 revealed
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The most popular baby names in Ireland have been released, with Jack once again holding the top position for the most trendy boys name. For baby girls, Emily secured the number one spot for the first time.
In 2011 there were 840 boys named Jack, while 596 girls were named Emily, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
An old-fashioned favorite which has made a strong come back, Jack has held the top position every year since 2007.
Sophie, Emma, Grace, and Lilly were among the top five names for girls. While James, Sean, Daniel, and Conor were among the top choices for boys.
Celebrities seem to be influencing parents' choices as Mason, the son of celebrity TV star Kourtney Kardashian, saw one of the biggest jumps in popularity.
Also, Lexi, a character from the ABC hospital drama Grey's Anatomy and teenage drama The Vampire Diaries, made its first entry onto the list.
Some key findings include:
-The top five boys’ names (Jack, James, Sean, Daniel, and Conor) have made up the
top five since 2007.
-For boys where both parents were stated as being Irish nationals, Conor,
Jack, and James ranked joint first.
- There were four first time entries to the top 100 for boys: Mason, Donnacha,
Tommy, and Zach.
- Jack, Sean, and John account between them for 1,907 boys.
-For girls where both parents were Irish nationals, Emma was the most popular
name.
-The name climbing most places in the year was Michaela, up 86 places in the year after exiting the top 100 in 2005
- In general, the tables show that girls are given a wider variety of names than boys.
According to the CSO figures, there were 74,650 births registered in 2011. In total there were 38,223 boys born and 36,427 girls.
This year's figures represent a 23.3 increase from 2002 when 60,521 babies were registered.
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ciaradexy | Jul 13, 2012, 12:08 PM EDT
Ancavker, I have 2 jobs and I dont get any handouts. Maybe your sister needs to look at herself, maybe shes the type of person we dont need here. Shes getting handouts while working. Thats not right.
Just because someone is a 'single' parent doesnt mean they are parenting alone. Many are just unmarried. I know plenty of people with kids who are not married and who do not receive handouts. They work hard like the rest of us to pay their mortgages and bills.
The Irish culture was nearly decimated after 800 of foreign rule. I watched a programme recently on TG4 called Sceal Na Gaeilge and it explained beautifully that the language nearly died after the famine. Irish people were forced into learning Irish. Henry VIII made it his lifes mission to kill off the language which very nearly happened. Irish people were killed for attending church, speaking their language or using any part of their culture. So whats your suggestion? How do you suppose this changes? The Scottish dont speak their native tongue and yet Im sure Yanks with Scottish grannys dont constantly whine about that.
Delighted you'll be in Meath. I'll be in Spiddal.
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ancavker | Jul 13, 2012, 11:36 AM EDT
Ciara: El Salvador and Nicaragua, and the Middle East are all other countries or other places in the world, and yet the Irish felt no need to be silent about U.S. involvement there. And yet the silence on the north for years. As far as teaching, when people with or without Irish connections have questions about Ireland and it's culture, I simply answer the questions, and point out resources to further advance their knowledge. It is nice to tell people who do not know, that Ireland has another language beside English, and that U2 is not all there is to Irish music.
As far as the love for native American culture, which would that be, Apache, Comanche, Seminole, Sioux? Sadly most of native American culture has been wiped out. A trip to an Indian reservation will sadly display that fact.
I did not turn my back on my country, I was a child when my parents came to the U.S. due to my Father being transfered. Ironically one of my U.S. born sibling's went back to Ireland to live, and so did one of my sisters. I too was going to go back, my wife did not want to, and she grew up in Ireland.
As far as the migration issue I understand that. I am simply pointing out it is not sustainable, and neither are all the hand outs given to people who do not even need them. Stipends for unwed mothers, free council housing. My own sister who owns a successful business gets all sorts of goodies. She knows she does not need them but as long as the government continues with this, then her and so many others will take them.
And I will clarify that I speak for most Irish, to I speak for a lot of Irish when I say they have no use for Irish culture, that is a fact.
Anyhow I will be home next week and will be spending some time in Royal Meath for a family function.
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ancavker | Jul 13, 2012, 09:40 AM EDT
dingles; We know who created Riverdance, that is not the issue. The issue is so many Irish who roll their eyes, when it is mentioned, and do not understand that that production did more for recognition of Irish culture than anything else.
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IrelandNorth | Jul 13, 2012, 05:52 AM EDT
In an era of global communication and enforced racial mongrelisation, (ooops, multicultiralism!) it's inevitable that native traditional culture gets subsumed by default. Yet, the up side is that members of the host nation will get up off their punani's and fight back. With some young Irish parents calling their baby girls Keighley (céilí) due to inane English soap opeeras, it's onlyl a matter of time before Mohammed Murphy or Ali Mac Namara replace ethnically correct names such as Seán Ó Murcú or Ciara Nic Mháthúna, given the apparent rise of Islam in Ireland.
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dingle999 | Jul 13, 2012, 04:02 AM EDT
"All true there is more love an appreciation for Irish culture in the U.S. , and U.K. than there is in Ireland."
So the British and the Yanks appreciate Irish culture while the Irish themselves do not ... Let me see = utter garbage
Riverdance was created by Moya Doherty and John McColgan who are Irish. The original music was created by Irish musicians . But wait a minute some people might argue Riverdance gave Irish dancing a Hollywood makeover i.e sexy women dancing wearing sheer pantyhose. Indeed they would be correct. Of course we all know the background story of Ceili music and the role of the Catholic Church played.. it was a safe way for people of the opposite sex to meet without getting too close to each other
Of course WoundedKnee probably practices traditional 'wakes' in the area he lives in America.. Wow they must be popular because during Pre Famine Ireland Irish people in rural area were very sexually liberated and would adopt minor sexual orgies during 'wakes' I kid you not :)) Of course the Church banned the sexual element.
So people go forth if you want true Irish culture GO TO America and visit 'WoundedKnee' in Georgia. He will speak fluent Irish all day, he will tell stories oh what it is like to be an Irishman, he will do Irish dancing (without wearing pantyhose), he then will proceed to drink 10 pints of Guinness with 10 glasses of poteen and then he will invite you into his own 'Irish' sexual orgy. (Remember to condoms - The Irish Catholic Traditional way could kill you)
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dingle999 | Jul 12, 2012, 10:03 PM EDT
The above list of names given to babies born in the Irish state doesn't indicate the most prominent names for children born to Arab, Asian or African couples.
I have never met any Arab couples.. you are indeed so lucky
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Seanmor | Jul 12, 2012, 06:04 PM EDT
A year of two ago Liam ranked number 15 as the name given to boys born in the U.S. Liam and Nora are the names of the grandchildren of the minister of the Methodish in which I often addend services with my wife who is of that denomination. About 15 years ago the early morning financial report from the Far East heard on one of the radion stations was presented by LIAM LEAVY. The above list of names given to babies born in the Irish state doesn't indicate the most prominent names for children born to Arab, Asian or African couples.
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ciaradexy | Jul 12, 2012, 04:34 PM EDT
Ankavker, Im not arguing but most people on here just will not debate, like Georgie there who will not answer questions.''All true there is more love an appreciation for Irish culture in the U.S. , and U.K. than there is in Ireland.'' Where is the love for native American culture from people like you and others who migrated to the US?''most Irish who use the term use it in a derogatory manner,''. You come home once a year and now youre speaking for most Irish? well Im here 11 months of the year and 'most' Irish that I know which is probably more than you as I meet new people everytime I am out at these sessions, do not use it in a derogatory fashion.
So you 'educate' people on Irish culture? Well then youll know the saying 'Those who can, do and those who cant, teach'.
Again ''the Irish in the south turned their backs on the nationalists in the North'', they live in a different country! People like you turned your back on your country and you have the cheek to comment on us!! Seriously!?
As for the migration issue, as I said, you can travel through 50 states legally with your US passport or Greencard, well I can travel through Europe with my passport as can all other Europeans. We are part of Europe, we signed up for this. We had a vote and the majority voted YES to open borders and yes to free movement, the right to work in any country in the EU. This is the law. I have said before, there are no anti-immigration parties and so far, no one has set one up so until they do, then this is how it is.
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ancavker | Jul 12, 2012, 04:19 PM EDT
Woundedknee: All true there is more love an appreciation for Irish culture in the U.S. , and U.K. than there is in Ireland. Not to mention again, that it is very popular in many other parts of the world. Only in Ireland is it derided by so many people.
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ancavker | Jul 12, 2012, 04:16 PM EDT
ciara: Diddly aye or diddly dee can be a term of affection for those of us who love the music, but most Irish who use the term use it in a derogatory manner, and I see and heard that every year when I am home.
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ancavker | Jul 12, 2012, 04:14 PM EDT
Ciara: There you go again, lecturing and being argumentative, just to be argumentative, and closed minded as usual. And ironically you are agreeing with me (whether you realize it or not), you acknowledge that the U.S. and The English bought kr@p to Ireland. And yet the Irish have lapped every bit of it up. And I am a great cultural influence, as I educate those people on Irish culture who would like to learn (no to mention my wife teaches Irish classes). And I am not complaining about migrants to Ireland, simply stating a simple economic fact, a country that is bankrupt, broke, cannot afford to take in people, wherever they might be from, and then provide all sorts of aid and assistance, nor can they continue to provide it for the Irish born. It is just a simple economic fact. But alas you choose to hear what you want to hear. And finally you go on with what was done to the indigenous people in the U.S. First;y most Americans recognize it was a tragedy and wrong, and second the overwhelmingly majority of Americans had nothing to do with it, simply because most of it happened before their ancestors came to the U.S. And that dear ciara is another fact you choose to ignore. Of course the Irish in the south turned their backs on the Catholic/Nationalist people in the 6 counties, but that as always is conveniently ignored.
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ciaradexy | Jul 12, 2012, 04:08 PM EDT
Ancavker, I dont pretend to be all-knowing when it comes to the US which is why i dont comment on American issues unless they involve some Irish link but for you generalise with your 'many of the Irish' comments is disgusting. You visit once a year? Big deal. I visit the US twice a year and the UK 5 or 6 times a year. If doesnt mean a thing. If you feel Ireland is 'so special', why arent you living here? Dont tell me a migrant took your job too?
Your comments on the irish are as offensive as me saying all Americans are thick as 2 short planks.
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ciaradexy | Jul 12, 2012, 04:02 PM EDT
Kathleenusa, take your meds. Youre going off on a mad one again.
Ankavker,so the English brought nonsense to the US, well then the English and the Americans brought 10 times the cr@p to Ireland! You're a great cultural influence on Ireland all the way over there in the states by the way.
Its funny to hear Irish migrants complaining about other migrants to Ireland and their influence considering what migrants did to the indigenous Americans.
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ciaradexy | Jul 12, 2012, 03:59 PM EDT
George, I did Irish dancing as a kid as did ALL of my school friends and family. Some kept it up, others didnt. thats the beauty of free will.And trad is called 'diddley aye', which is a slang term for it. its not a derogatory name but as youre not in Ireland or Irish, you'd not understand that or irish people in general.
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