Irish names?

[coffeeforthewin]

Suggestions for Irish names (including pronunciation) for boys and girls?? ☘️

Girls

Aoife (eefa)
Fiadh (fee-a)
Saoirse (sersha)
Ceola (key-Oh-la)
Laoise (leesha)
Eimear (ee-mur)
Aislí (ashley)
Ciara (kee-ra)
Keelin
Orla
Cara
Cora

Boys

Cian (kee-an)
Dara/ Darragh
Caolon (keelin)
Tiernan
Daithi (da-hee)
Carey
Conal

There are obviously loads more they are just some of my favourites/ ones that jump to mind!

@Discobabe98 thank you - I really love Fiadh (fee-a)!

Aoife (eefa)
Aisling (ashling)
Caoimhe (Keeva or queeva dep. on region)
Mairead (ma-raid)
Cadhla (kyla)
Ailbhe (Alva)

Boys:
Oisin (osheen or usheen)
Tadgh (tige)
Padraig (porigg)
Aiden
Malachy (Mala-key)
Cuan (coo-awn)

Aoife
Bebhinn
Ciara
Niamh
Nuala
Saoirse

Cian
Cillian
Conor or Con
Darragh
Fionn
Finn (not sure if this is Irish actually but I love it)
Murtagh
Oisin
Oran

Caolon (keelin)

It’s Caolan.

Be careful OP to do your own research on any names suggested as often they aren’t actually Irish names, just “Irishy sounding” names. Anything with a K for example isn’t Irish, it’ll likely be an anglicisation of an Irish name as there is no K in the Irish language.

What sort of names do you like to start off?

Bláthnaid (BLAW-ned) means blossom
Aoife (EE-fa)
Gráinne (GRAW-nya)
Clodagh (CLO-da) o as in "oh"
Niamh (Neev)
Sorcha (sur-uh-ka)
Úna (OO-na)
Finola (fin-NO-la) or Finuala (fin-NOO-la)
Nuala (NOO-la)
Caoimhe (KWEE-va)

Donnocha (DUN-uh-ka)
Seoirse (SHORE-sha) Irish for George I think
Fionn (Fyunn)
Ronan (as spelled)
Dara/Darragh (as spelled)
Fergal (as spelled)
Ruarí (ROO-ree) similar to Rory
Cian (KEE-un)
Cillian (KILLY-un)
Cathal (CAW-hul)
Colm (CULL-um)
Tola (as written)
Tadhg (TIEg) "tie" with a G on the end
Dónal (DOH-nul)
Oisín (UH-sheen)

Fiadh is a great name!
Where are you though? I would worry about a lifetime of correcting people pronouncing wrong

Sorry wasn't clear on Rónan, the Ó makes "oh" sound so ROH-nun

"there is no K in the Irish language"

For real?! FFS more evidence than my nan is talking shit when she says my name is Irish! She just got Kreative with spelling and wont admit it

Yep, no k in the Irish alphabet. Ditto j, y, w, x, q, z, v. I'm probably forgetting some there as well.

Love Liadáin (lea-dawn), Ríona (ree-ohna), Róise (row-shah) and Luisne (lishna) for girls OP. Also like Croía (cree-ah) though it's a bit makey-uppey. Have heard Fiona is Irish too but haven't looked into it.

@olderthanyouthink

"there is no K in the Irish language"

For real?! FFS more evidence than my nan is talking shit when she says my name is Irish! She just got Kreative with spelling and wont admit it

A lot of Irish names beginning with the letter C have anglicised versions beginning with K - eg Cian/ Kian; Cillian/ Killian; Ciara/ Kiera etc. So Irish in origin, but with an anglicised spelling...maybe your name is one of these?

I think Fiona was created by Walter Scott

@olderthanyouthink

"there is no K in the Irish language"

For real?! FFS more evidence than my nan is talking shit when she says my name is Irish! She just got Kreative with spelling and wont admit it

I’m afraid so.

Lots of Irish names were anglicised out of necessity way back when it wasn’t safe to speak the language. And also there was the forced anglicisation. Unfortunately many of them have never made it back in their original forms and the English version has been accepted/assumed to be the right spelling.

@coffeeforthewin are you naming a baby/ pet or writing a novel? I can't guess why you'd ask for Irish names in general.
Saoirse and Tadhg have highly charged cultural context which it might help to be aware of.

If you have to ask for suggestions and their pronunciations, then perhaps best to choose a name you are already familiar with.

If you are looking at lists online or asking on here, you may get suggestions that are misspelt, or mispronounced, or just not Irish.

@wtftodo @Oatbaroatbar thanks so much for the suggestions! I agree with regards to spelling making it a pain!

@Oatbaroatbar thank you, of course I'd look in to any names of interest in to more detail, previously when hearing/seeing Irish names I've like the sound and uniqueness of them, I tend to prefer softer sounding names.

@SionnachRua Liadáin is lovely!

@SenCallec baby names, thanks for the thought :)

@MikeUniformMike thanks for the thought.

Wincing at "no k in Irish". The spelling is just an indication of the spoken word. Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names. There aren't "right" and "wrong" spellings.

@SenCallec, they are anglicised spellings of irish names.

Ireland was part of the Empire once.

Wincing at "no k in Irish".

Not sure why, you just look a bit silly pulling faces. There’s no k in the Irish language. It doesn’t exist. So if you see an “Irish” name with a k in it, it’s actually an anglicised version of an Irish name.

Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names.

They’re new, anglicised spellings of the original names. There’s no two ways about that.

Irish surnames were anglicised as part of the deliberate destruction of irish culture.

@SenCallec

Wincing at "no k in Irish". The spelling is just an indication of the spoken word. Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names. There aren't "right" and "wrong" spellings.

There exists both original Irish language names and the anglicised renderings of those names though. The anglicised version may differ from the original in spelling, pronunciation or both. "There is no k in the Irish language" is a perfectly factual statement.

I love these soft-sounding names @coffeeforthewin

Keira
Kayleigh
Kathleen
Fraochan (okay I made that up, it means "wild one" and is the usual word for a blueberry. I think it would be okay as a name. I'm sure others will have strong views.)

Kennedy
Kelleher
Kevin
Cahal

Not really sure what your problem is @SenCallec but you seem a bit obsessed. Do you have a K name you thought was Irish?

@SenCallec aren’t those the anglicised versions?
Eg Keira is definitely the English version of Ciara, same with Kathleen /Caitlin?

Kayleigh is not Irish!!