James was the most popular name for newborn boys last year, with Emily the most common name chosen for new baby girls.
The name Muhammad has seen the biggest increase in popularity between 2015 and 2016. The name jumped up 36 places in the list of popular baby names registered, to become the 83rd most common in Ireland last year.
In 2015, 58 newborn babies were called Muhammad, this increased last year to 85 babies, according to the annual figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
For the first time since 2007, Jack is no longer the most popular baby name for boys in Ireland. The Central Statistics Office said 688 babies were named James last year, and 684 babies were named Jack. Daniel was the third most common name among boys, followed by Conor and Sean. Noah was the 6th most popular name among boys.
Emily remains the most popular name for newborn girls, followed by Grace, Ava and Lucy. Sophie and Amelia were tied for the fifth most common girls' name last year.
Emily has been the most popular girls' name in Ireland since 2011. But the number of girls being named Emily has dropped from 626 in 2015, down to 490 last year.
Rare boys’ first names registered last year included Cruz, Brodie, Feilim and Riain. The name Matilda has made a comeback among girls’ names,with 58 girls named Matilda last year, jumping up from the 146th most common name in 2015, to number 97 last year.
Less common girls’ names that were registered by parents last year included Indigo, Romy, Peyton, and Blake. In families where both parents' nationality was Irish, Grace was the most popular name for girls, and Jack the most common for boys.
Murphy was the most common surname last year for newborns, followed by Kelly, O’Brien, Ryan and Walsh.
Girls’ names rising in popularity this year included Aria, Harper and Heidi, which all broke into the top 100 most popular names. Parents are more original when naming baby girls, the CSO found, with a wider variety of names registered for newborn girls than boys. Overall, more boys were born last year, with 32,819 boys registered, compared to 31,078 girls.
The CSO also released the number of baby names recorded from 1966, and found that 50 years ago, John was the most common name for boys, followed by Michael, Patrick, James and Paul.
The most popular girls' name from 1966 was Mary, followed by Catherine and Margaret, historical records examined by the CSO found.
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