irish names

[mum2niamh]

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

Here are some of my cousin's names ( I have 65 first cousins!)

Girls
Mairaid (not sure if you spell it like that - but pronounced - myraid
Erin
Finola
Carmel
Eithna

Boys
Fergus
Finbar
Kieron
Declan
Owen

I had Lorcan and Lachlan at the top of my list of boys names (unused as it was a dd not a ds).
dd1 is Aleanbh (Allanah) and dd2 Saoirse

I have a Finn and A MiloI am in Ireland.

For earlier posters, Danan doesn't really mean anything, it is a mythical name. According to legend, before Celts, Ireland was populated by the Tuatha de Danan (People of Danan), a courageous, and poetic race. Members of this race included all the usual suspects, Deirdre, Niamh, Fiona, Fergus, Oisin, Conor etc.

I suppose it is like calling a child Saxon or Helena.

i have a finbar
love orla for a girl

Ah, picking the brains of the serious Irish name brigade, I have a second cousin and I'm trying to spell his name (don't see him very often, he's only 5!) but I can't find it for the life of me and am too embarrassed to ask rest of family!

I think it's pronounced Kway-lon and I'm sure it starts with a Q unless I'm going mad. Ring any bells?

My dh is Irish so lots of Irish nieces and nephews -

Oisin
Conall
Connor
Dervla
Roisin
Cathal (I like)
Maeve

I know a little girl called Caolinn (Kee-lyn)

LOL I'm going to have to ask, aren't I?

I love Dervla. It's easy (unless you spell it Dearbhla or Deirbhile) but very underused here. I suggested it for dd but very English DH thought it was a bit rebellious.

Eyeballs, there is no letter Q in the Irish alphabet, there are in fact only 18 letters, as there is no J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y or Z.
Think you may have to ask, all right

I thought it didn't look right. Bumholes. And what's worse, my mum doesn't know either. Will have to bribe her to ask for me.

my favourite is Orla / Orlaith

Well I didn't get to use any of my boy names, so here they are for your delectation

Ronan
Killian/Cillian
Dara/Daragh
Colm
Cahal

And a BEAUTIFUL girl name: Liadan (there's a fada over the 'i') which means something like gray poet lady

Another unusual name for a girl is Siamsa, which is Irish for dance. Pronouced 'She-emsa'

Also like Emmet for a boy

And Fergal is a very cute name!

(mis-spelt Cathal back there)

Think the name eyeballs might be thinking of is Caolann. I have a Caoimhe and there is 2 ways of pronouncing it, the one mentioned earlier or 'ki-va'. What abouth Bronagh 'Bro-na'or Tara?

Cathal, Sean, Deirdre, Garoid, Declan, Ursula, Aine, Liam, Oonagh, Niamh, Aoife, Siobhan, Emma, Ciara, Fionnuala, Conor, Niall, Lupita, Donal, Donagh, Brendan, Darcey

above are all fairly "mainstream" Irish names i know people living in England with.

Turniphead, funny, I agree with your sister's perception of Saoirse, because it means Freedom, I also thought of it as being a bit of a statement name. Not always of course. But I wouldn't pick that one.

Roisín with Rosie for short is a very versatile one. That'd be a very good choice if living outside of Ireland but wanting to use an Irish name.

Maeve or clodagh anybody? NO!!??

ps, Cashel is an interesting name. They've taken an American trend, using place names, and used an Irish place name. So a nice Irish American blend there. Although Cashel Blue does make me think of cheese first and foremeost! I could get past that thought!

12yrgap! you tapping away on mumsnet a few hours after giving birth!? is there a record? You might have broken it!

Liadan is one of these names that I hadn't heard of grwoing up, and now I know of about 3 under 5. Where did it come from, how did it become known and what does it mean?

Tis a great name, what good taste you have!