Updated November 2023
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Scottish
"clan chieftain"
This early Scottish title -- known to us via Shakespeare's Macbeth -- has recently surfaced as a baby name possibility, familiar sounding through its similarity to names like Zane and Wayne.
Celtic
"chieftain"
Melvina ranked in the Top 1000 for over 65 years in the US, coinciding to a large extent with the years its much more popular masculine counterpart Melvin ranked in the Top 100. Today, Melvin is…
Irish
"brown chieftain"
Barely-used Irish surname that's more streamlined than popular Donovan.
"a venerable chieftain"
There are many dynamic three-syllable Irish surnames; this is one of the rarer two-syllable ones. Molloy is the title of a 1951 novel by Samuel Beckett, initially written in French. Another Beckett…
Breton
"prince, chieftain"
In France, Maël has been a runaway success of the 21st century. This is the French spelling of the Breton name Mael, from a British Celtic word for a prince or chieftain also found in Welsh names.