Jack and Grace were the most popular baby names chosen by parents in Laois in 2021.
The latest figures are revealed in a CSO publication today and show that nationally the most popular names were Jack and Fiadh.
It’s the second year in a row that Grace is the most popular girl’s name in Laois while Jack, which has been the most popular name every year since 2007 except 2016, resumes top spot in Laois from James and Tadhg which were the top boy’s names in 2020.
Jack was also the most popular name in neighbouring Offaly, Kildare and Carlow while James was the most popular in Kilkenny and Tipperary.
Grace was the most popular name in Offaly and Tipperary with Fiadh was the top name in Kilkenny and Emily and Grace were tied in Carlow with Emily, Sadie and Amelia tied in Kildare.
In all there were 424 girls named Fiadh in Ireland in 2021 compared to 366 last year with 667 boys named Jack compared to 597 in 2020.
Fiadh has improved her ranking every year since 2009 when it was the 488th most popular girls name.
In recent years, Fiadh has continued to increase in popularity, ranking 3rd in 2019, to 2nd in 2020 before now taking the top ranking in 2021.
As is evident from the tables, over the years, girls are given a wider variety of names than boys with 4,741 girls’ names registered in 2021 compared to 3,863 boys’ names.
After only one new entrant into the top 100 names for boys in 2020, there were 10 new entrants for 2021.
The names Teddy, Daithí, Páidí, Jaxon, Brody, Ted, Hunter, Tadgh, Tiernan and Arlo all featured in the top 100 boys’ names for 2021.
The boys’ name with the most growth in popularity in terms of rank between 2020 and 2021 was Ted, jumping 49 places from 139th place to 90th place.
There were three new entrants to the top 100 for girls: Indie, Ayla and Lottie. Croía is the girls’ name that has grown the most in popularity in 2021, jumping 43 places, rising from 95th place in 2020 to 52nd in 2021.
Looking back 50 years ago to 1971, John, Michael, Patrick, David and James were the names most favoured by parents of newborn baby boys. There were 198 male newborns named John in 2021, compared with 2,654 in 1971.
Interestingly, not one of the top five names for girls in 2021 appeared in the top 100 names a half century earlier.
Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Fiona and Sinead were the most popular names for baby daughters in 1971, with 1,907 baby girls named Mary in that year.
In 2021, there were 424 baby girls named Fiadh, 22.2% of the number of girls given the name Mary (1,907) in 1971.
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