Key Findings Jack and Sophie remained the most popular first names given to babies registered in Northern Ireland in 2012.

Transcription

1 STATISTICAL BULLETIN Coverage: Northern Ireland Date: 29 August 2013 Geographical Area: Local Government District Theme: Population Baby Names in Northern Ireland 2012 Summary This bulletin presents the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland in It examines the top 100 first names for boys and girls and compares the ranks of these names with the ranks in previous years. It also discusses additional forenames, variation in forenames by mother s age and country of birth, and makes regional comparisons across Northern Ireland. Key users of baby name statistics are parents, soon-to-be parents and those who are interested in the popularity of their own name. Additional users include researchers who examine how names are changing over the years, and journalists who produce articles on the popularity of names. Key Findings Jack and Sophie remained the most popular first names given to babies registered in Northern Ireland in In 2012, Riley and Noah were new entries to the top 10 most popular names for baby boys, replacing Conor and Adam. Amelia, Katie and Aoife replaced Chloe, Lily and Olivia in the top 10 most popular girls names. There were 10 new entries in the top 100 boys names and nine new entries in the top 100 girls names in In comparison to 2002, five of the 10 most popular boys names remained in the top 10 in Only one of the top 10 most popular girls names in 2002 remained in the top 10 in

2 In 2012, there were 25,621 live births registered in Northern Ireland (13,182 males and 12,439 females), with more than 1,600 different boys names and 2,200 different girls names registered. This is in contrast to the 1,000 boys names and 1,600 girls names registered in These figures demonstrate the wider variety of girls names that are used, and that parents have become more diverse in the first names they give to their babies. Popularity of baby names can be influenced by current celebrities and what they call their children. Additional factors such as religion, cultural and/or ethnic origins, and names of relatives and friends may also influence popularity of baby names. Top 10 baby names in Northern Ireland in 2012 Jack was the most popular first name given to boys whose births were registered in Northern Ireland in There were 310 baby boys named Jack in 2012, a name which has been the most popular name for boys for a decade now. James remained the second most popular boy s name in 2012 for the second year, while Daniel climbed from fifth most popular in 2011 to third most popular in Riley and Noah were new entries into the boy s top 10 in 2012, replacing Conor and Adam. For the third year running, Sophie was the most popular girl s name, with 250 girls given this name in Emily and Grace swapped ranks to occupy second and third positions respectively. Amelia, Katie and Aoife increased in popularity to enter the girl s top 10, replacing Chloe, Lily and Olivia. Table 1 shows the top 10 names and changes in rank since 2011 for boys and girls in Northern Ireland. Table 1: Top 10 baby names in Northern Ireland, 2012 Boys Girls Change in rank Change in rank Rank Name Count since 2011 Name Count since Jack Sophie James Emily Daniel Grace Harry Amelia Charlie Jessica Ethan Sophia Matthew Lucy Ryan Katie Riley Eva Noah Aoife

3 Top 100 baby names in Northern Ireland in 2012 Word clouds for the 100 most popular names for boys and girls in Northern Ireland in 2012 are given below. The size of the name represents the number of times that name was given. Figure 1: Word clouds for top 100 baby names, 2012 ( (Click on images to download PNG format Boys, 1MB; Girls, 959KB) Within the 100 most popular boys names given to children whose births were registered in Northern Ireland in 2012, there were 10 new entries: Bobby at number 62 (up 62 places from 124) Blake at number 69 (up 42 places from 111) Cameron joint at number 74 (up 37 places from 111) Ruairi joint at number 74 (up 57 places from 131) Danny at number 81 (up 20 places from 101) Evan at number 82 (up 26 places from 108) Kayden joint at number 91 (up 33 places from 124) Olly joint at number 91 (up 40 places from 131) Henry at number 94 (up 7 places from 101) Kaiden at number 99 (up 25 places from 124) 3

4 These replaced Owen, Dara and Cody, joint at (101), Shane (109), Daithi (112), Cian and Seth joint at (115), Conan (125), Padraig (142) and Calum (174) which fell out of the top 100. Among the boys names that appeared in the top 100 in both 2011 and 2012, Mason increased most in popularity, rising 24 places to rank 20. Tyler, Logan and Shea each rose 22 places to ranks 24, 29 and 33 respectively. The greatest drops within the boys top 100 were Jay, down 38 places to number 85 and Andrew, down 29 places to position 99. The top 100 names for girls saw the following nine new entries in 2012: Lola at number 73 (up 45 places from 118) Orlaith at number 77 (up 41 places from 118) Lydia joint at number 79 (up 44 places from 123) Miley joint at number 79 (up 56 places from 135) Gracie at number 81 (up 25 places from 106) Catherine joint at number 89 (up 29 places from 118) Layla joint at number 89 (up 46 places from 135) Rosie joint at number 89 (up 17 places from 106) Eden at number 94 (up 41 places from 135) These replaced Alexandra (102), Casey (106), Ciara, Lexie, Maria and Emilia joint at (109), Julia and Cliodhna joint at (115), Orla and Connie joint at (123), Robyn (126), Victoria (131) and Rebekah (139) which fell out of the top 100. The highest climber within the girl s top 100 between 2011 and 2012 was Sofia, which rose 45 places to 48. Rose was the second highest climber, up 34 places to position 55 and Lacey which climbed 32 places to 68. The greatest falls in ranks for girls within the top 100 were Kayla, down 33 places to number 73, Kate, down 28 to position 98 and Heidi, down 25 places to number 94. 4

5 Tables for the top 100 boys and girls names for 2012 can be downloaded here. Changes over the past decade Five of the top 10 most popular boys names in 2012 were also in the top 10 in 2002: Jack, James, Daniel, Matthew and Ryan. Jack and James, which were the most popular names in 2012, were ranked second and fifth respectively in Matthew, which held the number one spot in 2002, was ranked seventh in The greatest changes over the decade within the top 10 include the increase in popularity of Charlie (up 85 places to rank 5 in 2012) and Harry (up 37 places to rank 4) and the decline in popularity of Ben (down 30 places to rank 38). Within the top 100 boys names, Jayden (up 411 to number 50), Kaiden (up 362 to 99) and Alfie (up 307 to 19) were the highest climbers between 2002 and 2012, while Jordan (down 314 to number 346), Craig (down 254 to number 346) and Gary (down 229 to number 311) fell the furthest, out of the top 100. Only one of the top 10 most popular girls names in 2012 was also in the top 10 in Katie, ranked eighth in 2012 was ranked third in Sophie and Emily, the two most popular girls names in 2012, appeared in the top 20 in 2002, but not the top 10 and were ranked 14 and 20 respectively. Chloe held the top spot in 2002 and last year dropped out of the top 10 to rank 11. The greatest changes in the top 10 girls names over the decade include the increase in popularity of Amelia (up 283 to number four) and Sophia (up 150 to number five), while Lauren (down 49 to number 55) and Rebecca (down 43 to number 53) have fallen the furthest when compared with Within the top 100 girls names over the decade Lola rose in popularity (up 531 to number 73), as did Summer (up 520 places to 84) and Sienna (up 361 to 59). Kerry (down 765 to 847), Kirsty (down 488 to 560) and Stephanie (down 460 to 560) fell the most in the past 10 years. 5

6 Changes in popularity compared with thirty years ago James is the only name which appeared in both the 1982 top 10 boys names and the 2012 top 10. Ryan, ranked eighth in 2012, was among the top 20 boys names in None of the top 10 girls names from 1982 appeared in the 2012 top 10, but Emma and Sarah made the top 20 in The table below shows the ten most popular names for boys and girls in 1982 and their corresponding rank in Interestingly, the boys names have retained their popularity much more than the girls names over the past 30 years. Table 2: Top 10 baby names in Northern Ireland, 1982 Boys Girls Rank Name Rank in 2012 Name Rank in David 53 Emma 17 2 Christopher 70 Claire John 47 Laura 98 4 Paul 133 Lisa Stephen 120 Sarah 20 6 Michael 21 Catherine 89 7 Andrew 99 Joanne Mark 79 Louise Jonathan 174 Michelle James 2 Julie n/a Regional variations In 2012 Jack was the most popular boy s name in eight of the 26 Local Government Districts in Northern Ireland. James was the most popular name in a further six districts. Interestingly, the top choices of boys names in some individual districts did not make the top 20 in Northern Ireland in Oisin, which was top choice in Derry ranked number 22 in the Northern Ireland top 100, while Jamie and John, favourites in Ballymoney came in at ranks 26 and 47 respectively in Amongst baby girls names, Sophie was the most popular name in seven Local Government Districts, and Emily was the most popular in four districts. Two of the most popular names in Moyle Local Government District were not within the top 20 in Northern Ireland in Caitlin and Molly were ranked numbers 25 and 33 respectively in the Northern Ireland top 100 in Tables containing the most popular boys and girls names by Local Government District and Health and Social Care Trust can be downloaded here. 6

7 Variation in forenames by mother s country of birth In 2012, while Jack was the most popular boys name chosen by mothers born in Northern Ireland, for mothers born in the rest of the UK, James proved more popular, with Jack in second place. Matthew was the most popular choice for mothers born in the Republic of Ireland followed by James, while for mothers born in the A8 1 countries, Adam was the top choice, with Filip in second place. The mothers born in other parts of the world chose Daniel as their top name, followed by James. For girls names, while Sophie was the top choice among mothers born in Northern Ireland, for those born in the rest of the UK, Grace was the favourite, with Amelia and Sophie in joint second place. Aoife proved most popular for mothers born in the Republic of Ireland, with Emily and Emma joint second favourites. Maja was the top name given to baby girls of mothers born in the A8 countries, with Julia and Olivia in joint second place. Sophia proved most popular for mothers born elsewhere, with Sophie as second favourite choice. Variation in forenames by mother s age There is some variation in the forenames given to baby boys and girls in Northern Ireland depending on the age of the mother. For mothers under twenty years of age Riley and Tyler were more popular choices than Jack. For mothers in their twenties, Jack was the most popular choice, followed by Riley. James and Daniel were the favourites of mothers in their thirties, and for mothers in their forties and over names such as Thomas, Patrick, Ethan and Ryan were popular choices, as was James. There was less variation among the girls names, with Sophie being a popular choice among all age-goups, typically in first or second place, however Amelia and Sophia were more popular among mothers under twenty. Emily was the favourite for mothers in their thirties, whereas for mothers in their forties and over Grace, Emily and Hannah were other popular choices along with Sophie. Variation in forenames by month of registration In Northern Ireland, there wasn t much variation in baby names depending on the month in which the birth was registered, however a couple of trends do appear. In March, the boy s 1 A8 countries - Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia 7

8 name Patrick was more popular than it was in any other month of the year, coinciding with Saint Patrick s Day, while in January and December Holly and Hollie were extremely popular choices for girls, while Summer was a popular choice during the months June to September, but very uncommon in the remaining months of the year. Additional forenames The majority of babies (87%) registered in Northern Ireland in 2012 had additional forenames. James, John, Patrick, Joseph and Thomas were the most popular choices for boys additional forenames, with James being given as an additional forename to over 800 boys. John and Patrick were each given to more than 450 boys and Joseph and Thomas to more than 350 boys. For girls, the names Rose, Grace, Elizabeth, Mary, Marie and Louise were popular as additional forenames. Rose was given to almost 750 girls while Grace was given as an additional forename to over 350 girls. The other names were each given to more than 300 girls. Further Information: The latest baby names statistics in Great Britain and Ireland are available at the following links: Northern Ireland England and Wales Scotland Republic of Ireland An interactive map which enables trends in baby names to be analysed at Local Government District level is available at: Map/atlas.html A baby names comparison tool is available which allows you to analyse changing trends in boys and girls names in Northern Ireland. This tool enables comparison of baby name rankings in 2012 with 2011 and See /babyname.html 8

9 Background Notes 1. The baby name statistics have been derived from annual births registration data and include all live births registered in Northern Ireland in The number of births is higher than that previously published as analysis is based on first names recorded on birth registrations to both resident and non-resident mothers. Different spellings of a name have been treated as separate names, e.g. Conor and Connor. Names containing accents have been analysed without those accents, e.g. Séan was analysed as Sean. 3. We welcome feedback from users on the content, format and relevance of this release. Please send feedback to the address below. 4. Follow NISRA on Twitter and Facebook 5. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance review to ensure they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. Crown copyright The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics: meet identified user needs; are well explained and readily accessible; are produced according to sound methods, and are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest. Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed. 7. The Vital Statistics Quality Assurance Policy and Revisions and Errors Policy are both available from the NISRA website. 9

10 8. All media inquiries should be directed to the DFP Communications Office: Telephone: Any queries relating to its statistical or data content and requests for further information should be addressed to NISRA Customer Services at: Telephone Number: Responsible Statistician: Dr. David Marshall 10