Daniel and Emily most popular infant names in 2015

Daniel, James, Emily, Jack and Conor were the most popular names for babies born in Ireland in 2015 based on passport applications for infants over the past 12 months.

Of the 133,323 passports issued to children under the age of three, 134 went to girls named Emily and 162 to boys named Daniel.

Following Daniel, which was the most popular male name in 2015 according to the passport office, 155 passports went to boys called James, 129 went to Jacks and 121 passports were given to babies called Conor.

After Emily, Amelia was the second most popular girls name with 112 passports; 96 were sent to girls called Emma, another 96 to girls called Mia, 92 to babies named Anna and 92 to babies named Olivia.

Adam, Liam, Noah, Cillian, Oliver and Harry were also in the top 10 names for boys while Hannah, Sophie, Aoife, Grace, Ava and Lily made it into the top 10 female names.

“The list of most popular names reflects the continued overall popularity of traditional Irish names, such as Aoife and Oisín, while also highlighting the vibrant multiculturalism of today’s Ireland, with Zuzanna and Kacper the highest new entries,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan.

The name Aoife was number 18 in the top 200 names for Irish-born babies last year with 87 passports issued to baby girls with the name. Oisín was number 27 in the list with 58 passports under that name.

Other names in the top 20 list included Chloe, Sarah, Ella, Sophia and Lucy for girls and Charlie, Finn, Thomas, Fionn and Patrick for boys.

According to The Irish Times birth announcements column last year, Chloe was the most popular girls’ name while Jack joined Andrew as the most popular boys’ name.

The second most popular girls’ names were Lauren and Lucy, while the third most popular boys’ names were Daniel and Hugo.

Irish actor Saoirse Ronan’s rapid rise to stardom in recent years was reflected in the 2015 list of baby names with 60 passports issued to baby girls called Saoirse.

The arrival of almost 350 babies were announced in the Saturday column last year, including the births of 14 sets of twins and one set of triplets.

Some of the more unusual names included Baily Cloud Isaac Blue, Portia Gabriel, Francesca India Siobhán, Lola Skye, Odile Delme Rose, Silas Finbar, and Tarka Valentine Mary.

While the shift towards more unusual names in recent years has led to there being no Marys, Margarets or Johns in 2015, there was still a strong Irish feel to many of them, including Doireann, Élodie Bríd, Fiadh, Odhran, Róise, Róisín Cát Tuong, and Sósanna.

Top 10 most popular baby names in Ireland from passport office

Girls

Emily

Amelia

Emma

Mia

Anna

Olivia

Hannah

Sophie

Aoife

Grace

Boys

Daniel

James

Jack

Conor

Adam

Liam

Noah

Cillian

Oliver

Harry