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LAST YEAR MARKED only the second time since 2007 that Jack was not the most popular boy’s name in Ireland.
Jack was pipped to second in terms of popularity last year by Rían, which reached the top spot for the first time since the Irish babies’ names series began back in 1964.
The last time Jack didn’t reach the top spot since 2007 was back in 2016.
The figures were released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
For girls, Lily was the most popular name for newborns last year, replacing Sophie as top choice.
Meanwhile, there’s a steep drop in the popularity of Sophie, which now ranks joint sixth with Emily.
In 1975, Mary was the most popular girl’s name, but for just the fourth time in the decades since, Mary fell out of the top 100 list last year.
Olivia, meanwhile, was the only girls’ name that appeared in the top 10 list last year, at 8th, and also appeared in the top 10 back in 1975, at 4th.
And while John was the most popular boy’s name back in 1975, it ranked in 29th place last year.
Seán O’Connor, statistician in the vital statistics section of the CSO, noted that Rían has been increasing in popularity since 2018 and entered the top five in 2021.
It was also the first time since 2018, when the CSO started including names with the síneadh fadas, that a name with a fada reached the top spot.
The top five boys’ names in 2025 were Rían, Jack, Noah, James and Oisín, and O’Connor remarked upon the enduring popularity of Jack and James, which have been in the top five boys’ names since 1998.
Meanwhile, O’Connor said Lily first started to gain popularity in 1997 when 15 girls were given the name, and has been steadily climbing up the ranks since.
The top five names for girls in 2025 were Lily, Éabha, Fiadh, Grace, and Sadie.
Sadie entered the top five girls’ names in 2025 for the very first time.
There were also new entrants to the top 100.
Levi, Dáire, Naoise, Conall, Elijah, and Teidí were the six new entrants into the top 100 most popular boys’ names and Naoise rose fastest up the rankings, going from 162nd place in 2024 to 88th in 2025.
There were also six new entrants for girls, which saw Ríadh, Gracie, Mabel, Arabella, Nancy, and Raya all enter the top 100 last year.
Raya was the fastest rising girl’s name in 2025, moving from 213th position to 99th in the table.
Breaking down the data further, Rían was the top or joint top boys’ name in 12 locations around the country including Wicklow, Kerry and Clare.
Meanwhile, Leo was ranked 10th nationally in 2025 with a total of 261 births registered and was the most favoured name for boys born in Fingal.
Lily was the top or joint top girl’s name in six areas such as Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Dublin City, South Dublin and Cork City.
And while Ayla ranked 39th nationally, it was most popular name for girls in Limerick City.
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