The most popular search on the Central Statistics Office (CSO) website is for babies’ names. Irish parents have chosen more than 1,000 different first names each for boys and girls since 1964.
Among other intriguing facts, the CSO documents the decline of my own name, John, from top dog in 1974 to 29th by 2024, and the disappearance of my wife Eithne’s name from the charts since 2013.
While I was one of four Johns in my class in school in the 1950s, today my name marks me out as a bit of a dinosaur. The once dominant Marys of my generation are now relegated to 106th place.
The CSO information on children’s names begins in 1964. Other publicly available databases provide a picture of how the choice of first names has evolved over the past 150 years.
What stands out from such a look back is the stability in the choices made by parents for their children’s names over the century from 1874 to 1974. Since then parents have chosen a growing variety of names, reflecting much more diverse cultural influences on our way of life.
In 1874, four-fifths of boys shared just 18 first names between them, while an equivalent 23 names for girls gave just slightly more variety.
By 1924, the selection of boys’ names remained narrow, with 80 per cent of births sharing just 21 names, compared to 62 names for girls born that year. The growing gender gap is striking.
In the first half century after independence, there was a steady increase in the variety of first names given to boys and to girls, but we’ve seen a dramatic change of pace since 1974.
[ Baby names: Michael and Mary most popular names shared with parents in Ireland ]
Four-fifths of boys born in 2024 shared 250 first names while, with 332, parents made a more adventurous range of choices for 80 per cent of girls.
Few children were registered with the Irish version of their names up to at least 1924. Even Peig Sayers used the English version of her name, Margaret, on her 1911 Census form.
However, Irish names are much more common today, though the popularity of individual names has varied greatly from one year to the next.
Only four Aoifes were born between 1874 and 1924, while 13 were born in 1974. Its popularity peaked with 727 newborn Aoifes in 1997, before slipping down to just more than 100 last year.
The first Éabha was born in 2018, but by 2024 it was the second most popular girl’s name with 293 children.
Over the century from 1874 to 1974 the most popular first names changed little over time. John, Patrick, Michael and James persisted as the most common boys’ names over that century. In 1874, Mary, Margaret, Bridget and Catherine were the most popular girls’ names. While Bridget dropped out of the running after 1924, the other three were still at the top in 1974.
In more recent years, temporary spikes in popularity of particular names have followed from sporting success or media fame.
After Evonne Goolagong won Wimbledon in 1971, we saw four Evonnes born the following year, and a further 36 Evonnes over the rest of that decade.
War and Peace on television in the 1970s led to a subsequent surge of Natashas. The visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland in 1979 saw an outbreak of John Pauls, but these are difficult to track because Paul was registered as a second name.
Only four Troys were named in 2024, but the recent exploits of Irish footballer Troy Parrott may lead to some parents to choose to name their son after him in the hope of World Cup success.
Cultural and regional differences in how children were named have persisted over the past 150 years. Cornelius and Jeremiah were popular in Cork, for example, and Jarlath in Tuam.
Catholic and Protestant parents of the 19th century typically made different choices, with Patrick and Bridget largely Catholic names while William and George, more associated with the British royal family, were popular Protestant names, especially in the six counties that now comprise Northern Ireland.
While Sean and Liam have become well known names internationally, other Irish names can cause difficulty for people living abroad – being called Oisín or Saidhbh can pose a problem in placing your Starbucks order. A UK patient who sees Caoimhe on their doctor’s name badge may feel they are hallucinating.
However, the greatly increased variety of first names has significant advantages for today’s generation. If you are looking for an internet address as john.fitzgerald today you are on to a loser (I lost), but as zebedee.fitzgerald you may well be unique.