Sean and Emma were the most popular babies' names registered in 2003. There were 897 boys named Sean (3.1% of baby boys) and 791 girls named Emma (2.8% of baby girls).

The top five names for boys remained the same as last year, although the order changed slightly. Katie replaced Chloe in the top 5 for girls.

There were 8 new entries to the top 100 for boys: Cameron, Colin, Daire, Emmanuel, Karl, Max, Reece and Ruairi. The highest new entry was Colin (+29 places). First time entries to the top 100 are Ruairi, Emmanuel and Max.

There were 9 new names in the top 100 for girls: Alana, Amber, Aoibhe, Cara, Clara, Faye, Naomi, Sophia and Sorcha. The highest new entry was Clara (+22 places). Newcomers to the top 100 are Faye, Naomi, Aoibhe and Sophia.

The top 100 accounted for 61.5% of girls' names compared with 71.8% of boys' names.

Sean was the most popular name in five out of the eight regions: Midland, West, Dublin, Mid-East and South-West. Conor was the most popular boys' name in the Border and Mid-West regions, and Jack in the South East.

Emma was the most popular name in six out of the eight regions: Border, West, Dublin, Mid-East, Mid-West and the South-West. Sarah was the most popular girls' name in the Midlands and Aoife in the South East.

Over 93% of birth notifications in 2003 included baby's first name when the statistical return was sent to the Central Statistics Office of Ireland.