Breege vs Holly
Breege and Hollycompared on official birth-registration statistics and Namewise's recorded data. This page states what each name's record shows — it never picks a winner or scores one name against the other.
Head to head
Ranks are only compared within one published list and one year. Two ranks from different years, from a boys' and a girls' list, or from different registrars are not comparable, so they are not placed side by side.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
In 1997, Breege was ranked #576 and Holly #65 among girls in Republic of Ireland.
Breege and Holly over time
Breege and Holly appear together in 1 published list, across 12 years of shared records. Holly held the stronger position in more years in 1 of them, Breege in 0.
The order between them changed and held in one of those lists — a change in that published list, never a claim that one name displaced the other.
Breege reached its own highest recorded position earlier in 1 of those lists, and Holly in none. Each position is a place inside its own list, so this compares when they peaked and never how high.
Counted list by list. Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale in the same year, so those comparisons are real — but positions from different lists are not, so nothing here is combined into an overall standing.
List by list
Republic of Ireland · Girls12 shared years, 1976–1997
Breege held the stronger position in 2 of those years, Holly in 8.
Highest recorded here: Breege #272 in 1981, Holly #65 in 1997.
The order changed in 1983: Holly moved ahead. In 1982 they stood at #272 and #533; by 1983 that had become #438 and #365.
Most recent shared year, 1997: Breege #576, Holly #65.
Two names moving past each other in a ranking is a fact about the ranking. Namewise does not claim one name displaced the other, that families chose between them, or that either influenced the other — none of that is in this data.
Side by side
| Field | Breege | Holly |
|---|---|---|
| Record type | Official statistical record (evidence-only) | Official statistical record (evidence-only) |
| Gender usage | female | female |
| Meaning | Not yet recorded | Not yet recorded |
| Origin | Not yet recorded | Not yet recorded |
| Pronunciation | Not yet recorded | |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| Common variants / nicknames | Not yet recorded | Not yet recorded |
| Recorded regional usage | IE | AU-NSW, GB-ENW, GB-NIR, GB-SCT, IE, NZ |
| Most recent popularity observation | Republic of Ireland · Girls #576 (1997) | Republic of Ireland · Girls #69 (2025) |
| Pronunciation clarity (demonstration score) | Not yet recorded | Not yet recorded |
| Spelling simplicity (demonstration score) | 88/100 | 94/100 |
| International familiarity (demonstration score) | 40/100 | 100/100 |
| Data Confidence | medium | medium |
What the data shows
- Breege and Holly both have 2 syllables.
- Both names have recorded usage in IE.
How each name got here
Breege
Popularity journey
First recorded1964
First recorded at #372 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1964 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1964–1997
Highest recorded position: #272 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1981 (recorded 1964–1997).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent1997
Most recently recorded at #576 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1997.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Holly
Popularity journey
First recorded1976
First recorded at #392 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1976 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1976–2025
Highest recorded position: #11 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2010 (recorded 1976–2025).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #69 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls