The top baby names given to children in Northern Ireland in 2024 have been revealed.
The official list was released on April 16 by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) with the annual data looking at the naming trends in the past year.
In 2024, the top baby name for a girl was Grace and the top baby name for a boy was James - taking the top spot from Isla and Noah the previous year.
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Grace has returned to the top spot as the most popular girl's name after five years at number one from 2018 to 2022 and has appeared in the top three most popular names for 19 consecutive years.
James has returned to number one after a six-year stretch at the top spot between 2015 and 2020, then regaining it in 2022.
Jude entered the boys’ top ten in 2024 for the first time in the series which dates back to 1997.
The top ten boys' names in Northern Ireland for 2024 are:
1. James – 143 Babies
2. Cillian – 142 Babies
3. Noah – 139 Babies
4. Jack – 130 Babies
5. Theo – 125 Babies
6. Jude – 124 Babies
7. Luca – 109 Babies
8. Charlie – 106 Babies
9. Oisin – 105 Babies
10. Oliver – 104 Babies
The top ten girls' names in Northern Ireland for 2024 are:
1. Grace – 125 Babies
2. Olivia – 109 Babies
3. Fiadh – 104 Babies
4. Aoife – 97 Babies
5. Emily – 96 Babies
6. Lily/Charlotte – 95 Babies
8. Isla/Sophia – 91 Babies
10. Freya – 90 Babies
Within the top 100, the highest climbers in popularity between 2023 and 2024 for boys were Austin, Rossa, Callum, and Joseph and for girls were Maya, Maria, Eliza, and Ayla.
Some of the less common names given to baby boys in 2024 were Royce, Bentley, and Phoenix and Dolly, Primrose, and Melody for girls.
Birth registrations in 2024 included 948 baby names that had not been used before.
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