As we come towards the end of 2017, data about trends throughout the year will begin to emerge. With this is mind we took a look at the most popular baby names in 2016, and what we expect to feature at the top this year.

In 2016, James and Emily were the most popular names. James had been the second most popular boys name for the last five years but jumped up to first place in 2016. Emily has been the most popular girls name for the last six consecutive years.

Following James, the top 5 boys’ names were Jack, Daniel, Conor and Sean. The most popularity growth has been seen with the names Louis, Lucas, Josh and Ollie. Muhammad (ranked 83), Jason (ranked 98) and Zach (ranked 97) all entered the top 100 charts after being ranked 119, 113 and 103 in 2015.

Following Emily, the top girls’ names were Grace, Ana, Lucy while Amelia and Sophie were joint fifth.

Speaking about these trends, statistician with the CSO Marie Crowley said: “I’m not surprised that James has ranked first place for 2016, as it was always in the top five since 1988 onwards, and consistently ranked second place from 2011 to 2015.

“Emily has been the most popular girls name for six years in a row now, so I’m not surprised that it came out on top again for 2016.

“It’s difficult to predict what names might be the most popular for 2017, but looking back at the most popular names over the years, they generally feature in the top five most popular names the previous years. So, it is likely that James and Emily will come out somewhere in the top five for 2017.”

In Dublin City, Emily and James were the most popular names. While in South Dublin Emily and Jack were the most popular and in Fingal, Emily and Daniel were most popular.

By Nicole McNelis