The most popular boy and girl names in Ireland 1978

07 Nov 2024, 10:32 · IrishCentral

The same year that "Star Wars" won six Oscars and Katherine Heigl was born, according to the CSO, the boy’s name John ranked number one just as it had since 1964 when records began.

In a similar pattern, the most popular girl’s name was Mary which held the top spot from 1964 to 1982. 1978 saw 2,280 baby boys named John being welcomed into the world compared to 152 in 2023 where the name took the 31st spot on the list.

Over four decades later, the popularity of the name Mary has also taken a similar route, dropping from number one in 1978 with 1,005 babies born that year placing 130th on the list in 2023 with 36 babies being given the name.

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The year that ABBA’s "Take a Chance on Me" and The Bee Gees’ "Night Fever" were topping the Irish singles charts, Michelle and Sinead took second and third place respectively among the most popular girls' names of 1978.

For the boys, the much-loved names David and Paul ranked in the top three with 1,637 baby Davids and 1,343 Pauls welcomed into the world in 1978.

The top baby names for boys in Ireland in 1978:

John – 2,280
David – 1,637
Paul – 1,343
Michael – 1,327
Patrick – 1,166
James – 949
Mark – 919
Brian – 857
Thomas – 811
Stephen – 710

The top baby names for boys in Ireland in 2023:

Jack – 561
Noah – 473
James – 369
Rían – 339
Oisín – 330
Fionn – 306
Tadhg – 301
Liam – 289
Cillian – 275
Daniel – 256

The top baby names for girls in Ireland in 1978:

Mary – 1,005
Michelle – 650
Sinead – 629
Catherine – 628
Caroline – 578
Jennifer – 535
Fiona – 507
Deirdre – 499
Karen – 482
Lisa – 466

The top baby names for girls in Ireland in 2023:

Grace – 339
Fiadh – 300
Emily – 297
Sophie – 283
Lily – 270
Ellie – 252
Mia – 242
Amelia – 241
Éabha – 241
Ella – 231