Irish girls' names in England and Wales 2021

[SeanChailleach]

Here are the top twenty Irish names given to girls in 2020 in the UK:
Erin 884
Orla 794
Maeve 654
Nora 406
Niamh 362
Alba 352
Cora 349
Connie 338
Paige 252
Maeva 226
Kiara 213
Quinn 210
Tallulah 194
Norah 176
Neve 172
Anya 171
Keira 147
Peggy 125
Cara 123
Lia 118
Kyra 110
Margo 103

[Title edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

Quinn in England would be read as intended. Coinn would be read as the English word for a little round piece of metal that we use as money.

Being Danish I always struggle with Orla as a girls name as I grew up with it as a very normal boys name. When you look on wiki
Female (Irish)
Male (Danish)
Unisex (Norwegian, Finnish, German)

On A tangent I am the same w Kim to me its male not female 😄

Many names have more than one origin. In my case I would not consider. Connie Peggy Talulah and Anya of Irish origin. Even if there are Irish names simar. To me that is not the same to op it seems to be.

Let me be clear, "iniamh" is not a name, it's an Irish word that means "inclusion". I was expressing my frustration with the narrow definition of Irish.

There are people who think of themselves as Irish who think of Paige as an Irish name, who spell Ciara with a k, and who like using surnames as names.
This thread is for all people who are interested in names that are Irish or derived from Irish or are specially important in Irish culture (such as Peg).

The discussion I was expecting was along the lines of "what no Ciaras?" And there were actuall 78, but I missed them. I'm doing this for fun to pass the time: if you want academic precision you'll have to pay me.

Alba is not an Irish name. It is not an anglicisation of Ailbhe. Rarely, Alva is used as an anglicisation of Ailbhe but it’s more likely that if you meet an Alva they are Scandinavian / without an Irish link.

You can’t claim Margo/t as Old Irish, it’s very fashionable in the Uk right now as a shortform of Margaret. That’s where it’s current usage is almost always from.

Peggy is also generally a diminutive of Margaret in the Uk.

You can’t claim Anya as a version of Aine either. It might be in some cases, but generally it’s used as a variation on Anna from Eastern Europe.

Similarly Cora comes from Coral, Connie comes from Constance, Alba is Spanish, Paige is a US import from the surname, Cara is Italian, Lia is a diminutive of all sorts of names. This is not to say they can’t be used as Anglicised versions of Irish names, but in the vast majority of cases they aren’t.

Op the issue some of us have is your very WIDE range of claiming Irish. I've just gone through 8 name websites not one of them lists Margot as Irish. French or Greek not even always as a demunative of Margaret as suggested here.

Many of us are on the name board because we have a keen interest in onomastics.

I have a dd with a Irish name (not on your list) I am interested in Irish names. I do not agree your list is Irish names only.

A big chunk of the names in your first post are 100% not Irish.

Neither are Tara or Cara from the next list.
Teamhair, yes, and Cara if pronounced Corra. But otherwise no way.

Erin 884 Borderline
Orla 794
Maeve 654
Nora 406
Niamh 362
Alba 352 Nope
Cora 349 Nope
Connie 338 Nope
Paige 252 Nope
Maeva 226 Nope
Kiara 213 Borderline
Quinn 210 Borderline
Tallulah 194 Nope
Norah 176
Neve 172 Borderline
Anya 171 Nope
Keira 147
Peggy 125 Nope
Cara 123 Borderline
Lia 118 Nope
Kyra 110 Borderline
Margo 103 Nope

OP people have every right to question your list and the thinking behind it. You can interpret that as bitterness and an instance on a "narrow definition of Irish" (LOL) if you want but the dominant reaction here indicates that you are stretching the concept of an Irish name and applying it in highly unusual ways.

Personally, I love Irish names but how would you feel if someone produced a list of Russian or Welsh names with Aoife or Sadhbh on it because they sound a little bit like a Russian or Welsh name? Would you point out that those are clearly Irish names or would stay quiet to avoid seeming bitter and narrow minded?

Mathanxiety and LizzieAnt how else would anyone pronounce Cara? I've only ever heard it the same way as the word "cara".

RubyRoss if someone told me Aoife was a Russian or Welsh name I'd tend to agree, as I tend to think of Aoife as Eva. Sadhbh is more complex, but I'd be intrigued and want to know more.

Enko I don't rely on name websites. I like reading Irish manuscripts and dictionaries. Orla in this list is definitely a girls' name as it's a list of girls - the ONS has a separate list of boys' names, on which Orla doesn't feature.

Mathanxiety and LizzieAnt how else would anyone pronounce Cara? I've only ever heard it the same way as the word "cara".

The word cara is not pronounced the same in all languages though. In Irish it's said quite differently than it is in the romance languages - the first vowel sound is different.
I've linked the Irish pronunciation below.

www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/cara

I haven't ever heard the Irish pronunciation used as a name for a person, though my friend has a male dog called Cara(corra)😀

To add, I do have a neighbour called Cara too, but she pronounces her name Kaa-ra.

The point us though that several of those names are not Irish. They may sound similar to Irish names but that doesn't make them Irish.
Even Erin isn't a traditional Irish name. I think it probably originated in America.

And Cora is not big in Ireland.

Also Aine is pronounced Awn ye not Anya.

I don't think anyone is being bitter, just correcting many inaccuracies in your posts.

Agree with people's points re inaccuracies and no Q or K in Irish! Neve, no, not commonly used by Irish people, ime.
However, I've never met an Italian Cara, and accepted it as Irish for friend and an Irish girl's name. I stand corrected however if I'm wrong on that.

Absolutely.

No, there is no letter Q and no letter K in Irish. But I'm not talking about names spelt using Modern Irish spelling. I'm talking about Irish names, meaning names that, broadly, remind people of Ireland for one reason or another.

No, in Ireland the spelling Neve was not used last year for any babies. In England and Wales it is used for the name Niamh. Like Maeve is used for Méabh.

Áine is only pronounced Awnya in Southern dialects, by which I mean Cork, Kerry, possibly parts of Connacht. In Donegal it's actually Aana. Slender n, big wide A. There isn't really a consonantal y. Eithne, Aighneas, and the word aithne have a y, but Áine doesn't.
See I can be pedantic too. But I love the name Anya so I'm happy.

Cora is big in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It's in the stats, it's displacing Cara.

Just because a name is popular in Ireland or NI does not make it Irish. Just because a name sounds like an Irish word or name does not make it Irish.

Otherwise with increased diversity you'll soon be claiming Mohammed and Li as Irish.

But I suppose, for me, names that broadly remind people of Ireland, aren't necessarily Irish names! We'll have to agree to disagree on your definition :) It was you who said Neve was commonly used by Irish people, which is why I commented on that. Maeve I think is an example of an anglicised version of an Irish name that is still accepted as an Irish name, similar-ish to Conor for Conchúr/Conchubair.

No it's not. It's pronounced Awn ye almost everywhere.

And Cora is not a popular baby name in Ireland. Why are you pretending to have knowledge you don't have?

Do you actually live in Ireland OP?

Mathanxiety and LizzieAnt how else would anyone pronounce Cara? I've only ever heard it the same way as the word "cara".

The word that means friend is pronounced corra.

The name Cara rhymes with Tara.

Constance Georgine Markievicz (Polish: Markiewicz [marˈkʲɛvitʂ]; néee^ Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz,[2] was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, socialist, and the first woman elected to the Westminster Parliament, and was elected Minister for Labour in the First Dáil, becoming the first female cabinet minister in Europe. She served as a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South constituency from 1921 to 1922 and 1923 to 1927. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Dublin St Patrick's from 1918 to 1922.

Polish / Irish 🤷🏻‍♀️

Constance Georgine Gore-Booth Markiewicz was the name of a famous woman from Irish history.

It isn't an Irish name - a name originating in the Irish language. Its origin is Latin.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Prem_Nath_Dass
It isn't an Indian name either.

The fact that she was Irish doesn't mean her name was Irish.
Our first President was called Douglas.
We have had Prime Ministers called Jack, Charles, Albert and Leo. Are you going to call those Irish names as well?