John, Mary, David and Michelle: The most popular baby names in Ireland in 1978.Getty
The same year that "Star Wars" won six Oscars and Katherine Heigl was born, according to the CSO, the boy’s name John ranked number one just as it had since 1964 when records began.
In a similar pattern, the most popular girl’s name was Mary which held the top spot from 1964 to 1982. 1978 saw 2,280 baby boys named John being welcomed into the world compared to 152 in 2023 where the name took the 31st spot on the list.
Over four decades later, the popularity of the name Mary has also taken a similar route, dropping from number one in 1978 with 1,005 babies born that year placing 130th on the list in 2023 with 36 babies being given the name.
The year that ABBA’s "Take a Chance on Me" and The Bee Gees’ "Night Fever" were topping the Irish singles charts, Michelle and Sinead took second and third place respectively among the most popular girls' names of 1978.
For the boys, the much-loved names David and Paul ranked in the top three with 1,637 baby Davids and 1,343 Pauls welcomed into the world in 1978.
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The top baby names for boys in Ireland in 1978:
- John – 2,280
- David – 1,637
- Paul – 1,343
- Michael – 1,327
- Patrick – 1,166
- James – 949
- Mark – 919
- Brian – 857
- Thomas – 811
- Stephen – 710
The top baby names for boys in Ireland in 2023:
- Jack – 561
- Noah – 473
- James – 369
- Rían – 339
- Oisín – 330
- Fionn – 306
- Tadhg – 301
- Liam – 289
- Cillian – 275
- Daniel – 256
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The top baby names for girls in Ireland in 1978:
- Mary – 1,005
- Michelle – 650
- Sinead – 629
- Catherine – 628
- Caroline – 578
- Jennifer – 535
- Fiona – 507
- Deirdre – 499
- Karen – 482
- Lisa – 466
The top baby names for girls in Ireland in 2023:
- Grace – 339
- Fiadh – 300
- Emily – 297
- Sophie – 283
- Lily – 270
- Ellie – 252
- Mia – 242
- Amelia – 241
- Éabha – 241
- Ella – 231
* This article was originally published on Rollercoaster.ie