Holly is no longer the most popular girls’ name for babies born in December after a decade at the top of the table, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
On Tuesday, the CSO released findings on Christmas baby names. It found Holly was either the top or joint most popular girls’ name in December for a 10-year period up to 2023 but fell down the rankings in December 2024.
The most popular girls’ names last year were Robyn and Fiadh, both in joint first place with 27 babies receiving each name, followed by Sophie (23), and Éabha and Emily, both at 22. Nineteen girls were called Holly.
Of the 148 baby girls named Robyn in 2024, 27 were given that name in December 2024.
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In terms of boys’ names for babies born last December, Rían was the most popular with 44 babies born that month being given the name, which means “little king”.
He was followed by Noah (38) and Jack (34). Although there was a drop in the number of Noahs since December 2023 (46 to 38), the name held its popularity and second-place ranking for another year, the CSO found.
In December 2024, there were 82 babies born on Christmas Day, of which 39 were girls and 43 were boys.
For the year in its entirety, Jack was the most popular boys’ name for the eighth year in a row. But it was replaced by Rían for those born near the festive season. The most popular girls’ name for all of 2024 was Sophie.
Seán O’Connor, statistician in the vital statistics section of the CSO, said that compared to 50 years ago, John was the most popular boys’ name in 1974 but was 29th most popular in 2024.
“For girls, Mary was the most popular name 50 years ago, whereas in 2024 it ranked joint 105th, alongside Laura and Zoey,“ he said.
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“This was only the third time in 50 years that the name Mary did not feature in the top 100 most popular names in Ireland with 46 babies given the name of Mary in 2024.”
James was the only name that appeared in both the top 10 boys’ names lists in 1974 (sixth) and 2024 (fifth).
