Luke, Maria still the favourite baby names

The most popular names given to babies in 2007 - when 3,871 children were born - were Luke and Maria, the same as in 2006.

The total number of births in 2007 showed a drop of 0.4 per cent over 2006. Fifty-three per cent of babies born last year were boys.

According to the National Statistics Office, Luke was once again the most popular name given to boys with 4.8 per cent having that appellation or its variant Luca.

Matthew, and its variants, and Jake remained the second and third most popular names for boys, with 4.3 and 2.8 per cent respectively. Names that notably gained in popularity were Julian, Zach, James/Jamie and Jayden. Michael, Kyle and Christian and their variants were significantly less popular than in the previous year.

Appearing for the first time in the top 20 boys' names last year were Jeremy, including Jerome, Miguel, Mark, including Marco, and Dejan, while Jean, Andrew, Neil and Karl and their variants reappeared after having been absent in 2006.

Tristan, Kurt, Leon and Sven, all in the top 20 in 2006, fell from this range last year.

For the fifth consecutive year, Maria, including its variant Mariah, was the most popular name given to baby girls in 2007, four per cent of baby girls being so named.

In its wake was Martina, with 2.6 per cent, which moved up from fourth place in 2006. Christina, including its variants, occupied third place in 2007, having been noticeably absent from the top 20 girls' names in 2006 as compared to previous years.

Also reappearing this year were Jade, Kylie and Elena, while Alexandra, including Alessia, Ella, Leah, Rihanna and Kiera were among the names appearing for the first time in the top 20.

Julia, Elisa, Nicole, Katrina and Aaliyah and their variants all increased in popularity between 2006 and 2007. On the other hand, Emma, Maya, Amy, Michela/Michelle and Shania lost their popularity. Names present in the top 20 in 2006 but not in 2007 were Amber, Lara, Mireille, Naomi, Matthea and Kaylie.

The NSO said that the practice of naming babies after international celebrities is also very much in evidence, with names such as Denzel, Shania, Aaliyah and Rihanna all appearing among the 20 most popular babies' names.

Religious connotations are also apparent, with biblical names such as Luke, Matthew, Isaac, Maria and Sarah remaining consistently popular year after year.