I recently encountered this resource on the website of the Central Statistics Office for the Republic of Ireland. It may be of interest to people who have Irish ancestors or are just interested in Irish names.
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-1916/1916irl/people/names/
It lists the most popular names from Ireland’s 1911 census (this was before Partition so includes the whole island of Ireland). The first two tables list the names that were most common in 1911 among all age groups. The second two tables list the names that were most popular for babies in 1911.
Note that sometimes people were recorded on the census using their nickname rather than their full name (e.g. the men recorded as Pat were probably actually named Patrick, and likewise the women named Lizzie were probably actually Elizabeth).
What are your thoughts? Are there any names that surprise you?
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To me these names stand out as seeming the “most” Irish (compared to names that were popular in the US and England at the time).
Patrick
Jeremiah
Cornelius
Bernard
Denis (with the one N)
Micheál (since it’s the Irish form of Michael!)
Mary
Bridget (it’s so interesting that a quarter of women were named either Mary or Bridget!)
Norah/Nora
Kathleen
I am also a bit surprised by the popularity of Delia since I wasn’t aware it was that common in Ireland historically. It’s also interesting that Owen was so common, since I’ve often thought of it as being a Welsh name (I’d assume in Ireland it was used as an Anglicised form of Eoghan).
US and England stats, for comparison:
US - Popular Names in the United States 1911 - Behind the Name
England - The Top 100 Names in England and Wales 1914 - British Baby Names (This was the closest year I could find to 1911)
This is cool! I’ll have to check it out later. 
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Bumping this thread in case anyone hasn’t seen this resource.
Yes, it definitely seems strange nowadays. I guess it was because back then there was a limited naming pool, plus a strong tradition of naming children after relatives.
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