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Croía (also Croíadh; both /ˈkriːə/), are feminine given names derived from the Irish word croí meaning "heart". Croía by 2023 had risen to 23rd most popular girl's name in the Republic of Ireland, and 59th in Northern Ireland. Isolated instances (one or two babies per annum registered with the name) were noted by NISRA (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) in 1998 (Croia), 2004 (Croiagh), 2005, 2016, and 2017 (Croiadh). The first year in which the Central Statistics Office recorded more than three babies registered with either name in the Republic was 2018. Maitiú Ó Coimín comments that Croía and its variants are not Irish words, and that the root word Croí has also been used occasionally as a name (7 boys and 3 girls in 2019).
Many friends of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's wife Sorcha are given extravagantly Irish names to satirise a certain middle-class view of Irishness; a 2018 column featured one named Croia who found Sorcha's Guys and Dolls fancy-dress theme gender binarist. Conor McGregor's daughter born in January 2019 was named Croía, which Her.ie at the time described as "unique"; later commentators have suggested McGregor's choice might have helped its subsequent increased popularity.
Frequency of Croía and Croíadh in Ireland
Name→
Croía
Croíadh
↓Year
Count
Rank
Count
Rank
Rep
NI
Rep
NI
Rep
NI
Rep
NI
2023
166
36
23
59
13
9
296
193
2022
140
33
38
64
16
6
266
266
2021
116
19
52
123
27
1–2
177
>446
2020
56
4
95
333
16
1–2
264
>397
2019
32
4
162
336
12
5
347
298
2018
18
0
255
—
11
1–2
387
>434
Notes
NISRA statistics do not take note of the síneadh fada, so í appears as i.
As a name for females registered as born in a given year. Rep = Republic of Ireland; NI = Northern Ireland
^ "Baby Names 2023". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 15 April 2024. Full Names List, 1997-2023 Tables. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
O'Brien, Eugene (2023). Reading Paul Howard: the art of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly. Routledge Studies in Irish Literature. New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 42. ISBN978-0367645359.