Sunday, December 31, 2006

Irish Names for everyone

I've long been interested in Irish names, but it seems like the Irish aren't as into them as I am.
Here's the top baby names in Ireland for 2005, as reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
I put the Irish names in green (of course!).

In the boys' list, there are 8 Irish names in the top 25, and I suspect that Ryan is in there more because it's a "modern" name, rather than having a long, Irish heritage (it was used primarily as a last name only in previous centuries).

The Girls have 6 Irish names in their top 25, though I'm thinking that Molly may be used more for it's old-fashioned charm than it's Irishness (along the lines of Sophie, Lucy, Katie, Emily etc.)

Why people use names has always fascinated me, but that's a whole other ballgame!

BOYS:

  1. Jack
  2. Sean
  3. Adam
  4. Conor
  5. James
  6. Daniel
  7. Cian
  8. Luke
  9. Aaron
  10. Michael
  11. Dylan
  12. Ryan
  13. Jamie
  14. Ben
  15. David
  16. Thomas
  17. John
  18. Patrick
  19. Matthew
  20. Darragh
  21. Eoin
  22. Oisin
  23. Shane
  24. Alex
  25. Evan


GIRLS:

  1. Katie
  2. Amy





  3. Aoife





  4. Ciara





  5. Sophie





  6. Chloe





  7. Leah





  8. Ella





  9. Emily





  10. Rachel





  11. Niamh





  12. Grace





  13. Rebecca





  14. Hannah





  15. Caoimhe





  16. Ava





  17. Lauren





  18. Jessica





  19. Anna





  20. Kate





  21. Roisin





  22. Lucy





  23. Molly







If you want some historical Irish names for your baby (or your D&D character), check out Fantasy Ireland's Top Baby Names. I always find it fascinating what names people gravitate towards and why-- this site gives information as to why each name is cool in their eyes.