Galway city’s most popular baby names are Muhammad, Lily and Saoirse
By Valerie McHugh
The most popular baby names in Galway city have been released today, with the names Muhammad, Lily and Saoirse taking top spots.
It comes as the Central Statistics Office (CSO) release nationwide statistics on Irish Babies’ Names in 2022.
Although the name Muhammad was most favoured as a baby boys’ name in Galway city, it placed 86th overall nationally.
This is a 23 place jump since 2021, where the name placed 109th nationally.
Naming new-born baby girls ‘Lily’ was also very popular outside of Galway city, with the name placing 4th on the top list of girls’ names in Ireland last year.
This is a four place jump since 2021, where the name was ranked 9th nationally.
The name Saoirse was the 18th most popular girls’ name in 2022.
Nationwide breakdown
Boys
The most popular baby boy’s name in 2022 was Jack.
Jack has held onto the number one slot since 2007, with the exception of 2016, when James was the most popular name.
Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the Vital Statistics Section of the CSO, said: “Jack and James have been in the top five boys’ names since 1998. Noah and James are the other two boys’ names which make up the top three in 2022.
“Blake and Cody are the two new entrants into the top 100 boys’ names for 2022.“
These two names zipped up the baby names ranks compared to last year.
Where does yours fit in? The Baby Names visualization tool: https://t.co/A75G4LjyRs#CSOIreland #Ireland #VitalStatistics #Births #IrishBabiesNames #BoysNames #girlsnames pic.twitter.com/ubjJiP5Ken
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) February 24, 2023
Girls
The most popular baby girl’s name in 2022 was Emily.
It regains the number one spot for 2022, climbing from third place in 2021 and 2020.
Before 2020, Emily had been the most popular girls’ name from 2011 to 2019.
Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the Vital Statistics Section of the CSO, said: “Grace, Fiadh, Sophie, and Lily were the other four girls’ names which made up the five in 2022.
“In 2021, Fiadh claimed the top spot for baby girls for the first time, followed by Grace, Emily, Sophie, and Éabha. Grace, Emily, and Sophie have been permanent fixtures in the top five names for baby girls for every year since 2016.”
Looking back 50 years: 1972
The most popular name for a new-born baby boy was John in 1972.
It ranked 36th in popularity in 2022.
The top five boys’ names in 1972 were John, Michael, Patrick, David and James.
The only name in this top five, which was still in the top five in 2022, was James.
Mary was the most popular girls’ name in 1972.
In 2022, Mary was 87th in popularity for girls’ names, returning to the top 100 this year.
None of the top 10 most popular names for new-born baby girls in 2022 appeared in the top girls’ names list in 1972.
For a full list of the results, click here to be redirected to the Central Statistics Office website.
To check out the popularity of your own name, visit CSO Visual.
