Michael and Mary have emerged as the most popular baby names shared with parents, according to data for 2024.
Of the 508 babies named after their parents last year, 464 were boys and 44 were girls, figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
Michael was the number one name for a baby boy shared with their father, while Mary was the most popular name for baby girls shared with their mother. In the boys’ name league, Michael placed 17th overall in 2024.
For girls, Mary was the most popular name 50 years ago, whereas in 2024 it ranked joint 105th spot alongside Laura and Zoey.
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CSO statistician Seán O’Connor said it was the first time the organisation had examined the trend of a parent giving a child their own name.
Less than one in every 100 babies born in Ireland share the exact same name as either their mother or father – 0.94 per cent, to be exact, of the 54,060 babies whose names were registered in 2024.
There were 35 babies called Michael last year who had a father of the same name. Patrick featured in a father-son combination in 25 cases and James in 24 instances. There were four babies called Mary who had a mother of the same name.
Figures published by the CSO earlier this year revealed Jack as the most popular name for boys born in Ireland once again, while Sophie was the top choice for baby girls.
This was only the third time in 50 years that the name Mary did not feature in the top 100 most popular names in Ireland with 46 babies being given the name in 2024.
Jack has held its number one position every year since 2007, with the exception of 2016, when James briefly became the most popular choice of name.
