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ArchivesSpelling of some names in Ireland since 2018
Hello
I have a question that I have been thinking about for a while, it is about some popular names in Ireland. What has made some names in the typical Irish alphabet spelling more common since 2018? I am thinking about names like Seán instead of Sean, Rían instead of Rian for boys or Éabha instead of Eabha and Róisín instead of Roisin for girls.
What is the reason for this?
https://www.behindthename.com/name/ro10isi10n/top/ireland
https://www.behindthename.com/name/e10abha/top/ireland
https://www.behindthename.com/name/rian/top/ireland
https://www.behindthename.com/name/sean/top/ireland
I have a question that I have been thinking about for a while, it is about some popular names in Ireland. What has made some names in the typical Irish alphabet spelling more common since 2018? I am thinking about names like Seán instead of Sean, Rían instead of Rian for boys or Éabha instead of Eabha and Róisín instead of Roisin for girls.
What is the reason for this?
https://www.behindthename.com/name/ro10isi10n/top/ireland
https://www.behindthename.com/name/e10abha/top/ireland
https://www.behindthename.com/name/rian/top/ireland
https://www.behindthename.com/name/sean/top/ireland
This message was edited 3/12/2025, 12:05 PM
1
Replies
The CSO started including síneadh fadas and other diacritical marks that year, and the baby names reflect this. Previously Seán and Sean were included as Sean. Irish people can be casual about fadas anyway in everyday use.
You'll find this information note on the CSO baby names page at the bottom.
“Information note
The CSO’s Irish Babies' Names 2023 publication includes the síneadh fada and other diacritics since it was first introduced for names registered in 2018. This change has resulted in a break in the series, with new entries created for names with the síneadh fada and other diacritics.
This has an impact in the order of the popularity of some forenames. For example Sean (without the síneadh fada) has always been in the top 100 most popular names for boys. Seán with the síneadh fada is now included in the data and both spellings are treated as 2 separate names since 2018, thus Seán has a rank of 14 while Sean has fallen to rank 124 in 2023."
You'll find this information note on the CSO baby names page at the bottom.
“Information note
The CSO’s Irish Babies' Names 2023 publication includes the síneadh fada and other diacritics since it was first introduced for names registered in 2018. This change has resulted in a break in the series, with new entries created for names with the síneadh fada and other diacritics.
This has an impact in the order of the popularity of some forenames. For example Sean (without the síneadh fada) has always been in the top 100 most popular names for boys. Seán with the síneadh fada is now included in the data and both spellings are treated as 2 separate names since 2018, thus Seán has a rank of 14 while Sean has fallen to rank 124 in 2023."
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