[article] Girls and Boys names List

mike65

Lifted from unison.ie wholsale.

Once we were called Sean and Mary after our parents. But now we name our children all posh and proper like, as PAT STACEY observes

The names we give our children reflect the times we live in as accurately as fashion, music, movies and the price of a semi-detached house. They also tell us a lot about the national psyche.

Throw a pebble at a dole queue in the economically depressed Ireland of the 1970s and '80s and you'd most likely hit a John, a Mary, a Sean or a Maire. There were more than a few Patricks patiently awaiting their handout, too.

Against a backdrop of mass unemployment, strikes and the kind of fiscal belt-tightening preached but never practised by Charlie Haughey, calling your child Leah or Ella or Alex might have invited accusations that you were a bit flash - or worse, a West Brit.

It's been a long time since the emigration boat nudged against our shores, however, and the latest information on the most popular names in Ireland published by the Central Statistics Office reveals a much altered state.

In the theoretically wealthy, confident and fully employed Ireland of today, the rules of the name game have changed: namely, there are no longer any rules. Hundreds of children born in the last 18 months are crawling, bawling and toddling their way through the new year, bearing the kind of monikers which would have made their great-grandparents choke on their pure, untainted Fenian bile.

Maybe it's the rush of blood to the head caused by all those SSIA dividends, new cars and foreign holiday homes, but the latest lists of girls' and boys' names seems to mirror a society that's grown not just richer but also a little more posh and, dare we even think it, a little more... well, English.

The dependably classless Sarah, for years the unchallenged holder of the top slot in the girls' list, has been bumped into second place by the altogether more haughty Emma, which conjures up images of country gardens, cream teas and Jane Austen - although the fact that one of those dead-common Spice Girls was called Emma tarnishes the gloss slightly.

Things are tougher again for Sarahs in Britain, where even more up-to-date statistics for 2006 show the name has plummeted to a miserable 58th place, a long way below such atrocities as Georgia, Madison, Bethany, Paige and Scarlett, and only one place higher than the abominable Summer.

For the record, the most popular girl's name in Britain last year was the awfully snooty Olivia, and the list also features a liberal sprinkling of Charlottes, Amelias, Isabellas, Millies, Evies, Abigails, Freyas and Daisys. (The jarring presence of Ruby in fourth place can probably be put down to the all-pervasive influence of EastEnders.)

On the boys' team, meanwhile, Jack occupies the number one position both here and in Britain. The cruel irony is that Jack - which used to be a pet name for John before pet names became acceptable on passports - has earned his topdog status at the expense of the venerable Sean, the undisputed star of a thousand Folen's school texts, who must now content himself with being second in the pecking order.

'Jack agus Emma' doesn't have quite the same ring about it as 'Sean agus Maire'. Still, given publisher Albert Folen's Nazi past, this is probably preferable to 'Adolf agus Eva'.

The latest list isn't all bad news for people who believe human beings should be named after other human beings rather than after flowers, colours, fruits, seasons of the year or makes of car.

The old-fashioned Irish names - Ciara, Niamh and Roisin for the girls; Conor, Eoin and Oisin for the boys - still figure prominently in the top 25. Saintly, biblical types such as Adam, Luke, Matthew and Aaron also make a strong showing, though one suspects the corpulent ghost of Elvis Presley might be hovering over that last example.

On the boys' list, the shellsuit brigade - represented by the likes of Ryan, Shane and Dylan - are still loitering suspiciously outside the top 10 looking as if they're about to do something illegal, although not in the same numbers as back in the 1990s.

Their best mate Dean (or Deano for short) has completely vanished from the top 25, which can only be a good thing. That's one less ASBO to worry about in the future.

Aside from the unexpected appearance of Evan in 25th place, the boys are a pretty conservative bunch. It's over in the girls' locker room where the real seismic name-changes are taking place.

In years to come, top girl Emma will probably find herself sharing a classroom with the likes of Leah (at 9), Ella (10), Emily (11), Lucy (24) and Molly (25). They'll each have a crush on Evan but you can be damn sure none of them will want to go to the debs' ball with a gutty called Deano.

Dyed-in-the-Aran-wool Gaelgoirs may baulk at the Anglo-accented nature of the girls' list but they can take comfort from one fact - anything has to be better than Kylie, Natalie or Nikita.

What your name says about you

Your name is your calling card but in the rapidly changing social landscape of modern Ireland, what does it say about you?

TOP 10 GIRLS' NAMES
1. EMMA - The first thought that comes to mind is 'delicate', quickly followed by 'snooty'. Face it, girl, you reek of money and privilege, even if you're as poor as a church mouse.

2. SARAH - It's never nice being second-best but look on the bright side: your name means 'Princess', while that usurper Emma sounds like a hesitant pause in the middle of sentence.

3. KATIE - Any name ending in 'ie' or 'y' always sounds frivolous (with the obvious exception of Mary, which simply sounds stern). You're in a lose, lose situation; if your name was Kate, people would call you Katie anyway.

4. AMY - The same goes for you as for Katie. Accept your lot; you could be called Amelia.

5. AOIFE - Any name with three successive vowels at the start sounds weak, wispy and lacking in gravitas. Can you honestly imagine Aoife Peron? Thought not.

6. CIARA - So overused since the '70s, it's more of a sound than a name these days. Does anyone Ciaranymore?

7. SOPHIE - Despite its new-found ubiquity, a classy name that defies the 'ie' rule (see no. 3 above) and rings like a delicate silver bell. DO: think sexy French actress Sophie Marceau. DON'T: think cat-faced, mewling English songstress Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

8. CHLOE - Sorry, love, it sounds a bit 1990s.

9. LEAH - A weightless, characterless name that sounds like someone gagging while brushing their tongue. You face a life time of being misspelled and mispronounced.

10. ELLA - Fine, if you don't mind people thinking of a certain range of haircare products every time you introduce yourself.

TOP 10 BOYS' NAMES
1. JACK - 'Pirates of the Caribbean's' Captain Jack Sparrow briefly invested the name with a new sense of roguishness. Alas, since there are now loads of Jacks of all trades, you might as well be called John.

2. SEAN - Solid, dependable and slightly dull. Ever considered changing it to Jack?

3. ADAM - For obvious reasons, a name that reeks of self-importance. People will always approach you with caution.

4. CONOR - Oh, no, not another one! Zzzzz...

5. JAMES - Solid as a rock, James (and never Jimmy) is a name people automatically trust... unless it's attached to Blunt.

6. DANIEL - Another wonderful, weighty, confidence-inspiring name. Caution: the words 'Call me Danny' will undo all those good first impressions.

7. CIAN - Okay, so that plank from Westlife spells his with a K, but it's still a weak little squeak that barely deserves the name name.

8. LUKE - A rich, meaty name that rolls off the tongue and oozes authority.

9. AARON - Your parents are either Bible bashers or Elvis obsessives. Maybe you should marry a woman called Leah and you can be misunderstood together.

10. MICHAEL - The one name that benefits from being shortened to either Mike (which sounds vaguely cosmopolitan) or Mick (which sounds earthy). Better than Micheal, though.

Reckon he's right? Does the widening of the name pool indicate the loosening of ties with "olde Irelande" I guess the proliferation of non-Trad Irish names could be considered the human version of 'Belvadere Downs' etc estate names.

Mike.

simu

Most of the babies I've met in recent times have had Irish names all the same. I don't get why people don't check the top 10s and avoid them like the plague, though.