Irish baby names for
your wee ones!

Click Here for favourite baby names in Ireland in 2004.

Irish baby names, with their Gaelic spelling, are becoming very popular.

Like others who immigrated to North America, the Irish gave their babies Americanized names. That way, their children blended into their new society and didn't stand out among their peers.

But the third and fourth generation started to take interest in their Irish roots and chose Irish words to name their children. Even though some of those Irish baby names (like Colleen, meaning "girl" in Irish) are not used as names in Ireland, folks of Irish descent honoured their heritage by using Irish words.

And today? Well, not only are Irish baby names becoming more common, but the Gaelic spelling of the name is too. Spellings like Moira (Mary) and Aoife (Eva, pronounced "EE+fa) for girls and Eoin (OH+n) for boys are more and more popular.

Why? A lot of people just like the sounds of Irish baby names or they want their child to have a name that isn't too common, but just a bit different.

You have to remember though -- if you name your child "Eva" and spell it "Aoife", they'll forever spell their name for other  people, every day of their life! So, you'll have to decide just how unique your child's name should be.

Click Here for books related to Baby Names.

Powered by

Below are the 10 most popular baby names in Ireland for girls and boys in 2004.

 

Rank	Girls	Boys
1	Katie	Jack
2	Emma	Matthew
3	Ella	James
4	Sophie	Adam
5	Amy	Daniel
6	Sarah	Ben
7	Chloe	Ryan
8	Niamh (Neev)	Dylan
9	Aimee	Conor
10	Rachel	Jamie

 

Almost 90% of boys and 85% of girls registered last year (2004) were given an additional forename. The table below shows the most popular second names given to girls and boys.