Old/ unusual Irish boys names

[Wapawapa]

We are Irish living in Ireland and considering an Irish name.
Not one of the "common" names like Cian, Sean, Liam, Cillian, Peadar, Micheal , Fiachra, Conn, Fionn, Oisin, Naoise etc

Not one of the ones that have become popular recently as family/ friends have got there first!
Eg Odhran, Rian, Tiernan, Tadhg

We are thus leaning towards an unusual/ old name that is not commonly used. I will get a book but as the weekend is coming up I'd love to have a few suggestions

(Excuse my lack of fadas!)

Grma

The length and breadth of Irish names is fascinating.

My wee boy is Corran he's the only one in the school

@bcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyza

My wee boy is Corran he's the only one in the school

Meaning crane, heron, stork, like the birds? I think people who don't speak Irish need to know corr is the ordinary word for odd, angular, long-nosed. Corrán is a surname but not usually a given name.

Coran (Corán?) Is a saint's name too, well known around Youghal, Co. Cork.

Corrán also means sickle or crescent. Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain, is Corrán Tuathail and is thought to possibly mean Tuathal's sickle, though this is uncertain.

Tuathal is another name for you OP, can't remember if it's been listed upthread (sounds a bit like tool though...)

@LizzieAnt

Coran (Corán?) Is a saint's name too, well known around Youghal, Co. Cork.

Corrán also means sickle or crescent. Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain, is Corrán Tuathail and is thought to possibly mean Tuathal's sickle, though this is uncertain.

Tuathal is another name for you OP, can't remember if it's been listed upthread (sounds a bit like tool though...)

That's interesting, LizzieAnt. I hadn't known that about Carrauntoohil, that it might relate to Corán.

I don't know if the mountain has anything to do with the saint Fuzzy, but it's hard to be sure of course. The origin of the mountain's name is uncertain - Tuathal's sickle is just one suggestion, and there are others too.
From Wikipedia -
" one of the earliest written accounts of the mountain byIsaac Weldin 1812, calls it Gheraun-Tuel, andSamuel Lewis'sTopographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) calls it Garran Tual; suggesting the first element was géarán ('fang')—which is found in the names of other Kerry mountains—and that the earlier name may have been Géarán Tuathail ('Tuathal's fang')."
It's Corrán Tuathail in Irish today though.

St Corán is well recognized around Youghal afaik, there's a well in his name there etc, but I don't know if much is known of his history.

Should have said - he's supposed to have founded a monastic settlement there around the 5th or 6th century and so 'founded' Youghal, but I don't know anything more.

@LizzieAnt

I don't know if the mountain has anything to do with the saint Fuzzy, but it's hard to be sure of course. The origin of the mountain's name is uncertain - Tuathal's sickle is just one suggestion, and there are others too. From Wikipedia - " one of the earliest written accounts of the mountain byIsaac Weldin 1812, calls it Gheraun-Tuel, andSamuel Lewis'sTopographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) calls it Garran Tual; suggesting the first element was géarán ('fang')—which is found in the names of other Kerry mountains—and that the earlier name may have been Géarán Tuathail ('Tuathal's fang')." It's Corrán Tuathail in Irish today though.

St Corán is well recognized around Youghal afaik, there's a well in his name there etc, but I don't know if much is known of his history.

Very interesting, Lizzie. Etymology is so interesting. It is open to interpretation, isn't it.

I haven't heard of St. Corán. There is no shortage of Irish saints in the annals of our island, however. The name I mentioned to the op was Macdara. He was the patron saint of seafarers, apparently. I hadn't heard of him either. I came across the name recently so I thought I'd mention it.
I gave my son 'Daragh' as a middle name, which was popular at the time and he also has a popular Irish name. I like it though and the names go well together.

Daragh is lovely I know a young Macdara too, but it is definitely rarer.

@LizzieAnt

Daragh is lovely I know a young Macdara too, but it is definitely rarer.

Yes, it is and it comes across as a strong, masculine name.

Yes, and the Irish saints are one way the old names have persisted down through the ages, as they endure in some areas at least. There was a St Mogue, derived from Mo Aodh Óg (aka St Máedóc or St Aidan), who I hadn't heard of until I came across a GAA club named after him, for example. (He's more well known in Cavan and Wexford, I believe.)

Many of the older saints' names are preserved in the dedication of cathedrals and old rural parish churches, or in patronage of dioceses. This goes for both RC and CoI. And YY to GAA clubs keeping traditions alive.

Schools are quite often named after the local saint too.

@LizzieAnt

Coran (Corán?) Is a saint's name too, well known around Youghal, Co. Cork.

Corrán also means sickle or crescent. Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain, is Corrán Tuathail and is thought to possibly mean Tuathal's sickle, though this is uncertain.

Tuathal is another name for you OP, can't remember if it's been listed upthread (sounds a bit like tool though...)

Also means spear warrior according to google

Cearbhall

Aodh (pronounced Ay), meaning "fire".

Caelan, meaning "warrior".

Both lovely IMO

Very enjoyable reading!

I liked
Caolán
Ceallach
Conchobhar
Turlough
Finbarr
Diarmuid

I'm not Irish but have ancestry but husband's family are from strong gaeltacht area in co. Cork. Would love one of the last two but they're uncles from opposite sides of the family so best avoid arguments! All ruled out from our choices. Lachlan, Séamus, Cillian and Tadgh are up there for me. I'm leaning towards Lachlan as we're both blonde and I like that it's a nod to the Viking side of the family too 🤣 Cillian is bound for popularity after Mr Murphy, I really don't like supplanter as the name origin and I worry I'll miss having a second syllable to play with with Tadhg - I don't actually mind if he gets Tadj as I quite like that as a nickname.

My name was unusual when I got it. See it everywhere now but still gets spelled and pronounced in all different ways. I moved around a lot too. I think it gave me a bit of resilience and character.

Hadn't thought of fadas and online banking etc in the uk. Is it easy enough anyone who has one?

Oh well. He's rhino 🦏 for now! Little beast.

Meant to say...

www.cso.ie/en/interactivezone/visualisationtools/babynamesofireland/

Great for checking current/past popularity in Ireland. Can search individual names or see popularity list by year.

I'm leaning towards Lachlan as we're both blonde and I like that it's a nod to the Viking side of the family too
As far as I know, the Irish form of the name is Lochlann, though you'll find Lachlan here too - both reasonably rare though. Lochlann and Lachlan are pronounced a bit differently, but your husband and his family will know that anyway. Congrats and good luck with the name hunting.

You're right, @LizzieAnt I was cross referencing with the Scottish and wrote the wrong one. I prefer the Irish spelling too. I've been awake too long 😂🤦🏼‍♀️ Apologies!

And @LizzieAnt how funny for the Irish spelling to look more like it sounds!

@CycloGoose
Oh dear, I don't know that it does unless you speak Irish But I pronounce Loch to (sort of) rhyme with duck (though the ch is different to a k really). Like they do in this link here:

forvo.com/word/lochlann

Thanks @LizzieAnt apparently it's out anyway due to personal reasons for hubs. It's the Lough sound I liked at the beginning of how I've heard it pronounced.

Did check again on the registry and equal numbers of Lachlans and Lochlanns registered in Ireland in 2020.