Search
23 Oct 2025
Search
23 Oct 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
James and Grace were the most popular first names given to babies in Northern Ireland, for births registered in 2022.
This is one of the findings of the Baby Names 2022 statistics published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
The statistics show Grace has held the top spot as the most popular girls’ name since 2018 and has appeared in the top three most popular names for 17 consecutive years. James has returned to number one after a six-year stretch at the top spot between 2015 and 2020, and placing third in 2021.
In terms of boys’ names, Jack was a close second to James, after reaching the top spot last year. Noah returned to third place, where it was in 2019 and 2020, after reaching second place last year.
Oisin entered the boys’ top 10 in 2022 for the first time since the recording of first names began in 1997. Thomas re-entered the top 10 after narrowly missing in 2021. Within the boys’ top 100, the highest climbers in popularity between 2021 and 2022 were Hugo, Luca, and Hudson. Some of the less common names given to baby boys in 2022 were King, Great, and Art.
For baby girls, Grace has taken the top spot for the fourth year running, and this is the seventeenth consecutive year it has appeared in the top three. Emily remained the second most popular girls’ name in 2022, holding this spot for the last five consecutive years, and Fiadh was in third place after entering the top 10 for the first time in 2020.
Within the girls’ top 100, the highest climbers in popularity between 2021 and 2022 were Pippa, Nevaeh, and Lucia.
As with previous years, there were a greater variety of girls’ names (2,278) than boys’ names (1,809) registered in 2022. Some of the less common names given to baby girls in 2022 were North, Angel and Pearl.
Birth registrations in 2022 included 950 baby names that had not been used before. Blockbuster movies, popular television series, current celebrities and memorable places continue to appear to be influencing factors for some parents.
Top 10 baby names in Northern Ireland, 2022
Boys:
James – 175 Babies
Jack – 169 Babies
Noah – 146 Babies
Theo – 132 Babies
Charlie – 131 Babies
Oliver – 123 Babies
Oisin – 119 Babies
Harry – 118 Babies
Cillian – 111 Babies
Thomas – 107 Babies
Girls:
Grace – 168 Babies
Emily – 152 Babies
Fiadh – 148 Babies
Olivia – 141 Babies
Isla – 118 Babies
Aoife – 113 Babies
Lily – 110 Babies
Annie – 97 Babies
Evie/Freya – 94 Babies
You can find out more about these names and others on NISRA’s interactive dashboard which facilitates name searches by rank, number of babies registered with that name, meaning and origin. The dashboard is available via a link on the main baby names web page.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
