{"id":11568,"date":"2026-09-25T07:15:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T07:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forbabyboss.com\/baby-names-in-northern-ireland-2025-what-nisras-figures-show-about-noah-grace-and-the-irish-language-favourites\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T07:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T07:15:39","slug":"baby-names-in-northern-ireland-2025-what-nisras-figures-show-about-noah-grace-and-the-irish-language-favourites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forbabyboss.com\/pl\/baby-names-in-northern-ireland-2025-what-nisras-figures-show-about-noah-grace-and-the-irish-language-favourites\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Names in Northern Ireland 2025: What NISRA’s Figures Show About Noah, Grace and the Irish-Language Favourites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northern Ireland publishes its own baby name statistics, and they look noticeably different from the England and Wales or Scottish lists: Irish-language names such as Fiadh, Oisin and Aoife sit in the top ten alongside familiar favourites. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) released its 2025 tables on 16 April 2026, and its next release is scheduled for spring 2027. This guide summarises NISRA’s press notice and spreadsheet. The figures relate to Northern Ireland only; for England and Wales see the site’s guide to baby names in England and Wales<\/a>, and for Scotland the guide to baby names in Scotland<\/a>. This is general information about trends, not a recommendation.<\/p>\n

How NISRA counts names (Northern Ireland)<\/h2>\n

NISRA’s notes say the statistics come from births registered in the year, to both resident and non-resident mothers, so a birth near the end of December may be counted in the next year. Different spellings are treated as separate names, for example Amelia and Amelija, and names with accents are analysed without them, so S\u00e9an is counted as Sean. Names with equal counts are placed in alphabetical order, and totals below three are suppressed in the tables.<\/p>\n

The top ten boys’ names (Northern Ireland)<\/h2>\n

According to NISRA, Noah was the most popular boys’ name in 2025 with 170 babies, returning to first place after reaching the top spot jointly in 2018 and regaining it in 2023. It has appeared in the top three for nine consecutive years. Jack came second (150) and James third (135). The rest of the top ten was Charlie (123), Leo (115), Oisin (108), Theo (106), Luca (104), and a joint ninth place for Arthur and Jude (both 101). NISRA notes that Arthur entered the boys’ top ten for the first time in a series dating back to 1997, and that Leo re-entered after appearing in 2018, 2021 and 2023. Jack has been in the top four since 1998, with twelve consecutive years at number one from 2003 to 2014, while James held first place from 2015 to 2020 and in 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n

The top ten girls’ names (Northern Ireland)<\/h2>\n

Grace was the most popular girls’ name with 127 babies, keeping the top spot after 2024 and after five years at number one from 2018 to 2022. NISRA says Grace has been in the top three for 20 consecutive years. Fiadh came second (105), up from third, and has held a top-three place since 2021. Olivia was third (101), followed by Isla (97), Lily (96), Emily (94), Annie (91), Aoife (85), Meabh (81) and Freya (78). Annie re-entered the top ten, having appeared once before, in 2022, and Meabh entered for the first time.<\/p>\n

Risers and less common names<\/h2>\n

NISRA’s press notice lists the highest climbers within the top 100 between 2024 and 2025. Among boys these were Naoise, Conn, Reggie and Micheal, and among girls, Lainey, Millie, Cassie and Harper. Some of the less common boys’ names registered were Ace, Bowie and Phoenix, and for girls Wynter, Zendaya and Pixie. There was a greater variety of girls’ names (2,225) than boys’ (1,875), and 966 names used in 2025 had not been used before.<\/p>\n

Local patterns (Northern Ireland)<\/h2>\n

The spreadsheet’s local government district table shows that the most popular names vary by area. Noah led for boys in Belfast (28 babies) and Causeway Coast and Glens, Cillian in Derry City and Strabane, James in Fermanagh and Omagh and in Lisburn and Castlereagh, Jack in Mid Ulster and in Newry, Mourne and Down, and Jude in Antrim and Newtownabbey and Mid and East Antrim. For girls, Fiadh led in Belfast (24), Fermanagh and Omagh, and, jointly with Eabha, Derry City and Strabane, while Grace led in Lisburn and Castlereagh, Mid Ulster and Newry, Mourne and Down. Ards and North Down favoured Henry and Poppy.<\/p>\n

Mother’s age and middle names<\/h2>\n

By the age of the mother, the boys’ leaders were Noah (48) among mothers aged 20 to 29, Jack (81) among those 30 to 39 and James (12) among those aged 40 and over. For girls, Freya led among mothers aged 20 to 29, Grace among those 30 to 39 and Anna among those 40 and over. A separate table counts additional names given after the first forename. In 2025 the most common additional boys’ names were James (779), John (445) and Patrick (321), and the most common for girls were Rose (478), Grace (442) and Elizabeth (277).<\/p>\n

Using the figures<\/h2>\n