MATTHEW AND Lucy were the most popular names chosen by parents who announced their babies' arrivals in the birth columns of The Irish Timeslast year.
This was a major comeback for Lucy, which languished in tenth place last year after being the second most popular name in 2007.
Matthew shared the fourth most popular slot with Adam in 2008 but toppled James from the top spot last year.
More than 780 births were announced in the Saturday column last year including some 20 sets of twins.
Charlie, Conor, Harry, Jack and Daniel were all popular boys’ names last year while Oscar and Joshua made their debut in the top 10.
Lucy took the top spot from Grace and Anna on the girls’ list last year. Lily enjoyed a surge of popularity, as did Alice, Alexandra and Chloe.
If the variations of Isobel were combined, it would have been the third most popular name with Isabel, Isobel and Isabelle all appearing frequently.
Mary appeared just once on the list but Patrick proved more popular, with five appearances.
As always, many unusual names appeared in the birth columns and parents of girls were again more adventurous in their choices.
Neala, Circe, Nerys, Maybel, Nyah, Élodie and Thoraí were some of the uncommon names given to girls.
Parents of boys did not disappoint either with unusual names such as Espen, Uilleac, Cianán, Lir, Devlinn and Madoc appearing throughout the year.
Some parents preferred to use their creativity in the selection of middle names, with Star, Bluebell, Emerald and Janejira bestowed on girls and Óige and Ciaus selected for boys.
The growing multiculturalism of Ireland was reflected in names such as Zayd, Ari, Leda and Hewan but parents also opted for Irish names such as Síabhra-Róise, Siún, Fiachra, Fionn and Cathal.
Several announcements involved adoptions from abroad, from countries such as Vietnam and China.
The Central Statistics Office will not be releasing data on the most common names in the State last year until late summer, but last year, Jack and Ava were the most popular names. They were followed by Seán and Katie.
It appears that globalisation has extended to name choices with little variation in the top 10 lists of many English-speaking countries and regions.
Jack and Katie were the most popular baby names among parents in Northern Ireland in the past year while Jack and Olivia were the most common names chosen in Britain.
Jack and Sophie were the most popular baby names in Scotland in 2009. Jack and Sophie were also the most popular names chosen by parents in New Zealand last year.
The most popular names in the Netherlands were Emma for girls and Daan for boys.
