Unnamed List

  1. Cael
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "slender"
    • Description:

      Cael is the name of the angel of the zodiac sign of Cancer and also of a warrior of Irish mythology. Its ascendance to the Top 1000 over the past decade probably has to do with its similarity to Cale and Kale (and Kyle and Cayden etcetera).
  2. Cashel
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "castle, stone fort"
    • Description:

      Cashel is one of the many appealing Irish names that have not yet emigrated to the US. Cashel was chosen by actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his writer-director wife Rebecca Miller for their son.
  3. Faolan
    • Origin:

      Irish Gaelic
    • Meaning:

      "little wolf"
    • Description:

      Properly spelled with a fada in Gaelic (Faolán), this name is the origin of the Irish surname Phelan. It derives from the Gaelic fáel "wolf", plus a diminutive suffix, making this a handsome hidden nature name.
  4. Finnian
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "fair"
    • Description:

      Finnian is a fair jig of a name, energetic and easy on the ear. Finnian (and brother Finian) is also familiar in its alternate spelling through the classic 1968 Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, later made into a film starring Fred Astaire as Finian McLonergan.
  5. Fitz
    • Origin:

      Scottish
    • Meaning:

      "son of"
    • Description:

      Any number of Fitz names -- Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Fitzroy, Fitzwilliam -- have been used as Christian names, in fact Fitzwilliam was the given name of the dashing Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Fitz can be a short form of any of them and is often, like Mac, a nickname drawn from a surname.
  6. Kian
    • Origin:

      Irish; Persian
    • Meaning:

      "ancient; king"
    • Description:

      A friendly Irish and Persian name chosen by Geena Davis for one of her twin boys, whose father is Iranian.
  7. Lochlainn
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "land of the Vikings"
    • Description:

      Conjures up pleasant images of lakes, but the pronunciation challenge makes the Anglicized Loughlin preferable.
  8. Lochlan
    • Origin:

      Spelling variation of Lachlan
    • Description:

      Lochlan and Lachlan are running neck and neck and both rising into the Top 1000. Which spelling you use is purely a matter of taste.
  9. Malachy
    • Origin:

      Irish version of Malachi, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "second"
    • Description:

      This spelling, which came to the attention of readers of the best-selling Angela's Ashes as the name of author Frank McCourt's father and brother, the latter of whom wrote a bestseller of his own, lends the biblical name a more expansive, almost boisterous image. Malachy is one of the Irish baby names that manages to strike the golden mean between familiarity and distinctiveness.

  10. Neal
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "champion or cloud"
    • Description:

      Always the less common spelling of Irish classic Neil, Neal has been on a fifty-year slide, and now doesn't even make the Top 1000. It has a streamlined, surnamey appeal in this spelling.
  11. Torin
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "chief"
    • Description:

      Though it has a Scandinavian ring, this is an out-of-the-ordinary Irish family name. The hard 'T' at the beginning prevents it from sounding as feminine as, say, Loren. Torin's Passage was an early video game.