REVEALED: Most popular names for Kilkenny’s newborn babies
JAMES and Grace were the most popular baby names registered in Kilkenny city and county last year, new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal.
It is the first time the CSO has released a county-by-county breakdown of the most popular names for new-borns.
As well as being Kilkenny’s favourites, James and Grace were both the second most popular names registered nationally in 2018.
Jack and Emily were the most popular names for boys and girls overall.
Jack retained the top spot as the most popular baby boy’s name, a position it has held since 2007, except for 2016 when James claimed the top spot.
Jack and James were followed by James, Noah, Conor and Daniel as the five most popular names for boys in 2018.
Emily retains the top spot for girls, followed by Grace, Emma, Sophie and Amelia also among the top five names for baby girls last year. Emily has been in the top spot for girls since 2011.
New entrants into the top 100 names for boys included Frankie, Freddie and Theodore while Bella, Ada, Bonnie and Ivy entered the top 100 names for girls.
Theodore jumped from 156th place in 2017 to 93rd last year, with Luca (ranked 102nd in 2017) moving up to 77th in 2018. Muhammad moved from 87th place in 2017, to 63rd last year.
Ada rose from 137th in 2017, to 70th last year while Mila went from 104th to 67th over the same period.
Noah was the most popular boy’s name in Sligo and Cork city last year while Jack claimed the top spot in Dublin city, Dún Laoaghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and south Dublin.
Adam and John were the most popular names for boys in Leitrim while Daniel proved the favourite in Limerick city.
Amelia was the most popular girl’s name in south Dublin, Limerick city, Cork city, Waterford county and Wexford.
Leah was the most popular name in Sligo while Ava ranked first in counties Mayo, Clare, Longford, Carlow. Fiadh and Anna were the most popular girl’s names in Galway county.
The CSO’s Baby Names of Ireland allows you to track how many babies were registered under any given name in Ireland between the years 1964 and 2017.
The CSO said the app will be updated in the coming weeks to include the names registered in 2018.
