I’m a massive name nerd, so this list coming out is basically Christmas for me!!

https://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/ireland

It’s nice to see so many Irish names in the top 100…one of them is Páidí, which is actually the name of Emma Warren’s child! (I think he was born in 2025? Who knows, time is an illusion.). That name climbed up a whopping ten spots from last year, and is now at number 12.

I’ve linked the list, but here’s a quick overview if you don’t want to look.

The top 10 names, separated by sex:

Boys:
1. Rían (an Irish form of Ryan, which means “little king”)
2. Jack (down one spot from last year; the name’s actually been number one for a long time now. This is also the name of one of Lisa Kelly’s sons)
3. Noah
4. James
5. Oisín (another Irish name that’s gained traction in recent years—this name means “little deer”, and legendary warrior Oisín is a famous namesake, including in the tale of Tír na nÓg!)
6. Fionn (from old Irish “Finn”, meaning “white, blessed”. It’s pronounced similar to the better-known Finn. See also: the cognate Gwyn in Welsh, where we also get names such as Gwendolyn and Guinevere.)
7. Liam
8. Tadhg (pronounced “Tieg”, means “poet”)
9. Cillian
10. Leo (up a whopping 12 places from last year!)


Girls:
1. Lily (I feel that this is an odd name for number one…nature names have always been around, but have they ever gotten in the top three? I like this change!)
2. Éabha (yes, like the legend herself, Éabha McMahon! This name is the Irish form of Eve, which comes from the Hebrew Chawah meaning “breath”)
3. Fiadh (means “deer” from the word “fia”, or “respect”)
4. Grace
5. Sadie
6. Emily (tied with Sophie)
6. Sophie (tied with Emily)
8. Olivia
9. Croía (comes from Irish “croí” meaning “heart”. This gained popularity after Conor McGregor named his daughter this in 2019. This went up 7 spots.)
10. Éala (from Irish “eala” meaning “swan”. According to Behind The Name, the accent was added to make the name sound more like “Ella”. This went up a wild 30 spots from last year.)



Here’s the highest climbers as well:

Boys:
1. Ruairí (means “red king”. Went up 31 spots.)
2. Dáithí (means “swiftness”. Went up 27 spots. A notable namesake is the musician Dáithí Sproule, who has been a member of Irish folk band Altan since 1992.
3. Henry (up 23 spots)
4. Jude (up 22 spots)
5. Senan (up 21 spots. Unaccented form of “Senán”, which means “little old one”.)
5. Daithí (same as Dáithí, but minus the fada on the “a”. Went up 21 spots.)
7. Hugo (went up 18 spots)
8. Levi (first time ever on the Irish charts)
9. Billy (up 17 spots)
10. Rowan (up 15 spots. Although most usage in other countries is tied to the tree, usage in Ireland is most likely derived from the old Irish name Rúadán, which means “red”.)


Girls:
1. Éala
2. Aurora (up 22 spots)
3. Charlotte (up 21 spots. I’m actually surprised that it’s not higher, as Charlotte has been an extremely popular name for a while now. It’s number 2 in the US and number one in several countries in the Anglosphere.)
4. Ríadh (entirely new to the charts. It’s derived from the word “ríadh” meaning “interest”.)
5. Elsie (up 18 spots)
5. Caragh (up 18 spots as well. This is an Irish form of Cara.)
7. Emilia (up 16 spots)
8. Ayla (up 15 spots)
8. Ailbhe (also up 15 spots. This means either “white” or “rock”.)
10. Zoe (up 13 spots)


And the highest fallers (without leaving the charts entirely) are:

Boys:
1. Jake (minus 33 spots)
2. Dylan (minus 30)
3. Ronan (another Irish name, this one meaning “little seal”. A famous bearer is Ronan Hardiman, who composed the Lord Of The Dance soundtrack that Máiréad Nesbitt was famously a fiddler for. This went down 21 spots.)
4. Mason (minus 19)
5. Jamie (minus 17)
5. Evan (minus 17)
7. Tomás (Irish form of Thomas, although to many, it might be more recognisable as the Spanish and Portuguese form. This one fell 14 spots.)
8. Matthew (minus 13)
8. Leon (minus 13)
10. Callum (a bit sad about this one, as this is one of my favourite masculine names. This fell 12 spots.)

Girls:
1. Erin (minus 36)
2. Bonnie (minus 30)
2. Holly (minus 30)
4. Maya (minus 23)
5. Lottie (minus 19)
6. Cara (minus 15)
6. Phoebe (minus 15)
8. Hallie (minus 14; it’s at 99 now, so I won’t be surprised if it leaves the chart next year)
9. Freya (minus 13)
10. Faye (minus 12)

I find it interesting that most of the names that fell in popularity are more anglicised compared to the highest climbing ones. You can also see a bit of the 2010s’ influence waning with names like Mason and Maya falling (Maya may not actually be a 2010s name, but that’s the decade I associate it with most). It also seems like there’s slightly more Irish influence on the boys’ names than for girls’.

Anyway, although these are some highlights, this is not at all a comprehensive look at the charts, and I would encourage you to look at them yourself. I haven’t even mentioned how the name I go by online, Áine, made it to #91, or how another one of my favourite names, Mabel, made it to #94!

Anyway, this was a very long post, but I thought you all might find it interesting…and it’s a way to discuss three of my favourite subjects: names, Ireland, and statistics!

Hi! You are right that filming at the castles is indeed so "Celtic womany." 🙂 I do love the Postcards from Ireland, but it does make them look like a whole lot of other singers and bands that record in lovely scenes of nature.

I agree about the Destiny roundroom. Some might like it because it evokes mo re intimacy with the audience, but it always made me a think of a dinner show. Not as high class or high quality as I would prefer, but that is just me. 🙂

What I am mad about us that they did not do a filmig of the Emerald show when they were touring with Mairead Carlin. We missed out
seeing her sing with Lisa L and Susan, (and Lynn at times), as well as their lovely gowns that year. I know there are clips but it is not the same. I know they filmed it earlier with Chloe, but, I am too picky. 😉 I should be grateful for what we have!


I do hope they film a special for New Era......

Oh this is an interesting poll.

PFI is very special because it was during the pandemic, and that filming style will always remind us of the pandemic.

In fact, I've been listening to PFI lately because it makes me think back to that time. Like how did we all survive that w/o going crazy? Plus, Megan's songs are so good & I wish she were still with the group.

Hi, so I believe it was only a special Celtic Woman promotional performace for New Year's Eve which is very similar to another time when they did a special performance filming in Japan while on their A New Journey Tour, however Alex who was filling in for Lisa at the time performed "May It Be" even though that song was not part of the tour set list for ANJ Tour.

It is really amazing and I wonder if because of that it led them to be inspired to have Susan sing it as a solo for The Emerald Tour. As to what tour period that was it certainly was perhaps 2012 having the lineup has Chloe in it and not Mairead C. Whether they was touring Believe or World Tour 2.0 is uncertain unless you know exact that it was say end of 2012 you could then come to a conclusion answer! Emerald was recorded in 2012 but the Tour was in 2014.

 

Tara Howley released a cover of "A Gift Of A Thistle" (from Braveheart) last week.

We now have two excellent covers of that melody by Taras who have performed in Celtic Woman.