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Life

02nd Jan 2017

These are the most popular boy and girl names of 2016 in Ireland

JOE

No sign of Supreme Leader Donald just yet…

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, over 17,000 passports were issued to children born in 2016, with 158 going to boys named James and 116 going to girls named Emily.

In addition to this, a new record was set as an estimated 740,000 passports were issued throughout the year. No surprise really, considering the impact of Brexit and the fact that the Irish passport is one of the most popular in the world.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said, “the list of most popular names reflects the continued overall popularity of Irish-language names, such as Aoife and Finn. It is interesting, however, to look back to 1911, just five years before the Easter rising, when such names hardly registered at all, with John and Mary being the most popular baby names.”

He went on to add that “the 2016 figures also highlight that Ireland is nowadays very much a multicultural society, with Freya and Muhammad the highest new entries.”

You can also find out the world’s 12 most popular baby names by clicking here.