What were the most popular names for baby boys in Ireland in 1911?

The most popular names for boys born in Ireland in 1911 were John, Patrick, James, Michael, Thomas, William, Joseph, Edward, Daniel, and Peter (check out the full list below). These ten names accounted for 60% of all male names in Ireland in 1911.

The most popular boy's name in Ireland in 1911 was John, with 13.9 percent of all males called by this name, according to Ireland's 1911 Census.

Amazingly, over 10 percent of boys were named Patrick. This means that close to one-quarter of Ireland's population was named John or Patrick.

As you can imagine, names in Ireland have gotten much more diverse in the last 100 years! If you look at the list of the top 40 Irish boys' names in 1911, you won't see any Conors, Seans, Oisins, Liams, Cians, Cillians, Darraghs, Fionns, Finns, or Rians.

The 1911 Census of Ireland 

The Census of Ireland, 1911 was the last census that covered the whole island of Ireland. Censuses were taken at ten-year intervals from 1821 onwards, but the 1921 census was canceled due to the Irish War of Independence.

The original records of the 1821 to 1851 censuses were destroyed by fire at the Four Courts in Dublin during the Irish Civil War, while those between 1861 and 1891 were possibly pulped during the First World War. All that remained were the 1901 and 1911 census, with the latter put online in 2009 by the National Archives of Ireland.

The top 40 Male names in Ireland, according to the 1911 Census:

1. John
2. Patrick
3. James
4. Michael
5. Thomas
6. William
7. Joseph
8. Edward
9. Daniel
10. Peter
11. Martin
12. Denis
13. Richard
14. Timothy
15. Francis
16. Robert
17. George
18. Charles
19. Jeremiah
20. Bernard
21. Hugh
22. Andrew
23. Pat
24. Henry
25. Christopher
26. David
27. Owen
28. Cornelius
29. Maurice
30. Philip
31. Edmond
32. Stephen
33. Matthew
34. Micheál
35. Laurence
36. Anthony
37. Nicholas
38. Mathew
39. John Joseph
40. Samuel

For more information, visit Ireland's Central Statistics Office's site.