Who's leading the name trends? ↗️

And what's hot in Ireland?

If you want to know the hottest names about to take off, where should you look?

The most popular names on Nameberry? Mostly yes, and definitely the current top bunch…

Celebrity baby announcements? Maybe… for sure, some starbaby names launch or accelerate their popularity in the charts. But sometimes celebs are riding on the trends rather than setting them — recent examples include Apollo (Tessa and Barron Hilton), Beau (Chloe Bridges and Adam DeVine), and Luna (Lauren and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino).

And then there are the names that come out of left-field and seem pretty unlikely to spark a trend. Like after naming her first three sons Flynn, Hart and Myles, no-one foresaw that Miranda Kerr would call her fourth Pierre! (But who knows, maybe next year I’ll be eating my words as Pierre soars up the charts.)

Anyway. When you’re looking for the next up-and-coming names, remember your friends who are teachers, midwives, or otherwise work with a lot of young children, and ask what’s on their list.

They see the name trends live as they happen, and — based on highly unscientific evidence — tend to avoid the names they see and say every day, and either choose mega-classics, or names that sound cool but they haven’t met yet. If you haven’t hung out with young children recently, they’ll give you a reality check that Violet and Ezra aren’t quite as unique as you thought they were.

Like, a teacher at my local school just welcomed a baby boy called Lowen 🔥 He’s the first one I’ve known in real life, though it was a friend’s top choice for a boy a few years ago. Surprise surprise, she works in schools… and has a girl with an equally great name.

Lowen is also one of our names that should be on your list in 2024. If you’re a teacher (or even if not!) check it out for lots of fresh, wearable ideas.

In other news…

Top Baby Names in Ireland 2023

Ireland recently published its baby name report for 2023 (while we’re still waiting for the 2022 stats for England and Wales 😭), and the top names are… drum roll… Grace and Jack!

Just like in the US and other countries, change happens s-l-o-w-l-y at the top of the charts. Jack has been the number one boy name for twenty of the last 24 years, while Grace is a relative newcomer, having only been in the Top 3 since 2016.

But lower down on the charts, there’s more moving and shifting, and alongside international favorites like Noah and Emily, there are plenty of names you’ll only find in Ireland (for now). Fiadh and Oisín make the Top 5, and new entrants to the Top 100 include Síofra (meaning changeling), Cadhla, and Lucia; and for boys, Éanna (possibly meaning bird), Caelan, Jude, Paddy, and Dáithí.

More notable names of the week

• Halcyon — English rugby player Ben Foden did great naming his daughter Olympia “Pia”, but her middle name is next-level dreamy.

• Willoughby — a British reality couple used this, and it baffles me why more people aren’t, either in the UK or Stateside.

• Plymouth — is this a viable place name? In the States, it’s meaningful but colonial. But I’m more amused by how underwhelmed the Brits are by the city in southwest England.

• Twifia — would you use this name to get free WiFi for eighteen years?