Most popular boys’ names in Ireland, 1979
The official ranking as published, with the number of babies given each name. Names with the same count share a rank.
| Rank | Name | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John | 2,707 |
| 2 | David | 1,695 |
| 3 | Paul | 1,492 |
| 4 | Michael | 1,332 |
| 5 | Patrick | 1,227 |
| 6 | James | 1,023 |
| 7 | Brian | 895 |
| 8 | Mark | 878 |
| 9 | Thomas | 794 |
| 10 | Alan | 735 |
| 11 | Stephen | 720 |
| 12 | Robert | 579 |
| 13 | Kevin | 529 |
| 14 | Martin | 502 |
| 15 | Anthony | 482 |
| 16 | William | 457 |
| 17 | Peter | 447 |
| 18 | Shane | 438 |
| 19 | Joseph | 421 |
| 20 | Keith | 418 |
| 21 | Andrew | 411 |
| 22 | Gerard | 397 |
| 23 | Brendan | 389 |
| 24 | Richard | 385 |
| 25 | Niall | 373 |