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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

irish names

107 replies

mum2niamh · 01/08/2008 09:02

my dd is called niamh and i would like a celtic/irish/scottish name for my next child, sex as yet unknown. Suggestions please!

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roxieroo · 19/08/2008 10:22

My daughter is Maeve and her cousins are
Sorcha (pr. Sorica)
Tiernan and
Tadhg (pr. Tige)

I've read that Maeve means intoxicating and she was the first Queen of Ireland - " a beauty so terrible it can't be looked upon".

Queen Maeve was Shakespeare's inspiration for Queen Mab in Romeo and Juliet who was "no bigger than agate on the finger of an alderman", which was appropriate for us as our Maeve was/still is tiny!

The only small downside is that some people think her name is short for Mavis!

SJisontheway · 14/08/2008 19:13

Saoirse - as a couple of other posters have mentioned means freedom. Would not really be appropriate for someone in UK without Irish background. Would be quite ironic. I agree it is very pretty but would steer clear unless you are Irish.

rhetorician · 14/08/2008 16:29

aoghan (pronounced ay-gon, means little fire) for a boy; daragh (means oak, ok for girl or boy); blanaid (blon-ad, 'little flower', girl, obv.)Muireann is lovely for a girl.

expatinscotland · 13/08/2008 23:19

Muireann for a girl.

blueskythinker · 13/08/2008 22:45

Amidaiwish, Ursula is not Irish, it is German, although in Ireland a lot of Ursulas are pronounced Urshula, so people assume it is Irish (as in Roisin - Rosheen, Sinead - Shinade etc)

expatinscotland · 13/08/2008 22:44

I like how Scots people say 'Struan'. I can't ever say it the way they do.

DD1's class has an Innes, a Oisin (like the name, but sad story), a Niamh and a Cillian, among others.

I like Grainne for a girl.

Weegiemum · 13/08/2008 22:37

I love your girls names expat, adn love Struan as well.

we have friends with 3 boys called Hamish, Iain and Struan, and they sound so lovely said together in a West Highland accent!

Also have a friend in the highlands with a little boy called Brodie. I like that too.

Help, is it me, liking names on the name threads????

expatinscotland · 13/08/2008 22:20

A boy piper in Bute stopped to speak to DD1, who is an Eilidh and his name was Coinneach, the Gaelic for Kenneth. I thought that was as lovely as him on his pipes!

expatinscotland · 13/08/2008 22:20

A boy piper in Bute stopped to speak to DD1, who is an Eilidh and his name was Coinneach, the Gaelic for Kenneth. I thought that was as lovely as him on his pipes!

expatinscotland · 13/08/2008 22:19

We have a Roisin. DH's beloved maternal Nana was Roisin, she was from Cork, so we named DD2 after her.

He liked the lady, I never had a chance to meet her, but I am a sucker for a good story, and the story of how she came to Scotland and stayed I liked.

I am reading 'West Highland Tales' and there are some great names in there.

Fraoch for a boy.

Diarmuid, of course.

Grainne for a girl.

Aisla for a girl.

Our son will be a Struan.

Weegiemum · 13/08/2008 22:14

Some nice ones on here. I am biased but I love Aidan - its my ds's name! Our kids are in a Gaelic language school in Scotland so there are lots of scots gaelic names but also Irish - Seamus is popular, also Finn, Ruriadh (spelling?) Lachlann, Uilleam, Colm, Iain. For girls, Roisin, Caitlinn, Siobhan, Eilidh, Morna, Muireann,

Saoirse is lovely, but the only place I have ever come across it is in the book 'Round Ireland With A Fridge' - its the fridge's name. So that would put me off just a little!!!

watsthestory · 13/08/2008 21:28

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lunavix · 13/08/2008 21:27

how exactly do you pronounce maeve?

yummymama · 13/08/2008 10:42

What about soirse, i think thats very pretty

auburnmum · 03/08/2008 21:27

Cai is nice for a boy (it's welsh)

Turniphead1 · 03/08/2008 17:09

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roisin · 03/08/2008 16:48

I always put the accent on the second syllable, sort of Ruh-SHEEN, which I think is common in England. But I believe it is more correct to say ROE-sheen (as in Roe deer).

Turniphead1 · 03/08/2008 16:43

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roisin · 03/08/2008 09:55

My boys both have Irish names, but pretty mainstream ones iyswim. ds2 was going to be Roisin if he had been a girl.

So as he didn't need the name, I nabbed it for here. I love it!

Comerscroft · 03/08/2008 09:09

I met a little girl yesterday whose name is pronounced 'Grieg' as in the composer.

However, it is actually spelt 'Grug' and is a Welsh name.

Pretty name but shame about the spelling.

keevamum · 03/08/2008 08:27

I have a Keeva which is Caoimhe but as we are in England we decided to anglicise it for ease of pronounciation and spelling. Keeva says she prefers the Irish spelling but I guess she can change it when she gets older. In my opinion a beautiful name.

DMCT · 02/08/2008 21:20

I like Aine for a girl, I called my boy Conor. Or if your baby is due around Xmas Nollaig (for a girl meaning Christmas)

twelveyeargap · 02/08/2008 21:07

Cookoo - Liadan means "grey lady", sort of, but is an old mythological name, so "meaning" isn't really important iyswim.

(Incidentally - I posted my "birth announcement" exactly 2 hours after the birth and my antenatal thread (from last May when I had last baby) are wondering if that's a record. )

Caolain, as a girls' name is usually spelled Caoilainn afaik. Caolain is a surname.

EyeballsinHiding · 02/08/2008 15:29

cikecaka you were right. I bit the bullet and asked them It's Caolain.

Happy now...and it's a lovely name too. Thanks all.

Momto2 · 02/08/2008 14:46

Naoise pronounced neesha

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