James and Emily most popular names for new-baby passports

James and Emily were the most popular names for babies issued with new Irish passports last year, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said that of the 17,752 passports issued to children born in 2016, 116 went to girls named Emily and 158 to boys named James.

“The list of most popular names reflects the continued overall popularity of Irish-language names, such as Aoife and Finn,” he said.

“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.”

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Mr Flanagan said the figures for 2016 also highlighted that Ireland was now "very much a multicultural society", with Freya and Muhammad the highest new entries for infants issued with new passports.

“It is however, disappointing to see that that the name Charlie has dropped down to number 24 from last year’s rank of 11. We will have to see what can be done about that. I take some comfort in the fact that my middle name – James – topped the poll of the boys’ names,” Mr Flanagan said.

“No doubt many of these new passport holders will be going on holiday with their proud parents and families in 2017.”

The Minister reminded citizens to check the validity of their passports and those of their families and to consider renewing them now, ahead of the summer rush.

He noted special requirements applied to children’s passports. The consent of all guardians is required for the issuing of passports to children under 18 years of age, unless the teenager is married.

The Department says it expects the number of passports issued by the end of 2016 to have reached 740,000 – a new record.

Details on how to apply for or renew a passport can be found on the department’s website at dfa.ie. It also has information on how to apply for a passport at short notice.

Most recent figures from the Central Statistics Office show Emily was the most popular name for girls in 2015, followed by Emma, Ava, Sophie and Amelia.

For boys, the most popular name was Jack, followed by James, Daniel, Conor and Sean.

Less common names for new babies included Paris, Nelly, Dakota, Pixie, Sabina and Kim for girls, and Barra, Pauric, Zayne, Gus, Romeo and Otis for boys.