Algernon appeared on the list. So too did Zenon, Cotheo and Niadh. But tradition won out when it came to the most popular names chosen by parents who announced their babies' arrivals in this newspaper last year.
Jack and Anna were the most popular names listed in the birth announcement columns of The Irish Timesin 2007.
This was a comeback for Jack, which had slipped in popularity in recent years.
James has held the top spot in the last three years. However, it slipped to third place last year, narrowly beaten by Harry and Tom in joint second place.
Patrick was a common choice last year, while Alexander saw a surge in popularity, pushing it up to fourth place. Michael, Sam and Ben fell from the top 10 last year.
Anna was by far the most popular girls' name in the birth announcement columns last year, and was followed by Lucy, Sophie, Ava, Emily, Grace and Rachel.
Lucy was the most popular name in the birth announcement columns in 2006, while Anna only reached ninth place.
There was no traditional Irish name in the top 10 girls' names, unlike 2006 when Aoife proved to be popular.
As always, some uncommon names featured in the birth announcement columns. Unusual girls' names included Adamair, Addisyn, Bo, Fia, Liesel, Kiki, Pia and Romilly.
Parents also showed originality in selecting their daughters' middle names, with names such as Sunshine, Gold, Floraidh, Zohra, Aislí and Inna appearing.
While a greater range of names was selected for girls, parents of boys did not disappoint with their creative choices.
Unusual boys' names included Beau, Dario, Altan and Naoto. Many Irish names appeared in the boys' list, including Énán, Fionnán, Rían and Ruadhán.
Unusual middle names for boys included Rollo, Luan, Nayden, Duke, Knill and Edson. Elvis was always on the mind of one couple who used the singer's name for their their son's middle name.
The birth or adoption of more than 1,000 babies was announced in the Saturday columns last year. Several announcements involved adoptions from countries such as Russia, China and Vietnam.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will not be releasing data on the most common names in the State in 2007 until late summer, but in 2006 Seán and Sarah were the most popular names for new babies. They replaced Jack and Emma which were the top babies' names registered in the State in 2005.
CSO data shows little variation in the most popular boys' names in the past 10 years, with Jack, Seán, Conor, Adam and James all featuring in the top five since 1998.
Girls' names show more variety with only Emma, Sarah and Aoife remaining in the top five since 1998.
Most popular babies' names
Boys
1. Jack
2. Harry, Tom
4. James
5. Patrick,Alexander
7. Daniel, David
9. Andrew, Charlie
Girls
1. Anna
2. Lucy
3. Sophie
4. Ava, Emily
6. Grace, Rachel
8. Hannah, Isabelle, Jessica, Kate
Source: The Irish Timesbirth announcement columns 2007
