Irish Gaelic Names

Niamh, derived from the Old Irish Niam, is an ancient Irish name that was originally a term for a goddess. In Irish myth, one who bore it was Niamh of the Golden Hair, daughter of the sea god, who falls in love with Finn's son Oisin and takes him to the Land of Promise, where they stayed for three hundred years. Niamh can be Anglicized as Neve, Nieve, or Neave.

Aoife, pronounced EE-fa, is derived from the Irish word aoibh, meaning "beauty." Aoife was borne by several different heroines of ancient Irish legend. In one tale, she was the fiercest woman warrior in the world and enemy of her twin sister, Scathach.

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).

Ferelith is an unusual yet deeply-rooted Scottish girl's name, also found in ancient Ireland and drawn from the Gaelic Forbhlaith or Forbflaith. While it went through a period of dormancy after the Middle Ages, there are some modern women named Ferelith, including actress Ferelith Young and Princess of Denmark Anne Ferelith Fenella Bowes-Lyon.

One of the first of the appealing Irish surnames to take off in this country, this boys’ name has long outgrown its "Mellow Yellow" association, which came via the single from a sixties singer-songwriter named Donovan.

Pronounced lee-sha, Laoise is the feminine form of the Irish mythological names Lugh and Lugus, which means light. Lugus was the Celtic god of commerce and craftsmanship, the equivalent of the Roman Mercury, thought to inspire the later Irish hero Lugh. Laoise is among the Top 100 Irish names for girls, but Americans will definitely have pronunciation issues.

Caoimhe, pronounced (more properly) kwee-va or kee-va, is a pretty and distinctive Gaelic name but one that could well lead to no end of confusion outside the Irish community. Even in its native habitat, it is sometimes spelled Keeva.

No, the pronunciation--ro-SHEEN--isn't immediately obvious to the non-Gaelic viewer, but the sound of this shiny Irish version of Rose is pretty enough to make it worth considering. Very popular in its native Ireland, it's one of many Irish girl names finding a wider audience. Earlier generations Anglicized at as Rosaleen, but we stay stick to the original.

Fionn, the modern Irish form of Finn, is more popular in Ireland these days than Finn, which is rising fast in the U.S. where Fionn is virtually unknown. That's probably a good thing, because few Americans would know that Fionn and Finn have the same root and are pronounced the same, like the fin of a fish. It's the namesake of a great hero from Irish mythology, Fionn MacCumhaill, who acquired divine wisdom by eating an enchanted salmon of knowledge.

While Irish Gaelic spellings add intrigue to a name, they'll prove endlessly confusing. Ailbhe is pronounced like the less intriguing but infinitely simpler Alva.

The traditional Irish girl's name Bevin – an Anglicization of Bébhinn – is rarely heard outside the Emerald Isle, but could make an fresh and fashionable namesake for an Aunt Beverly.

Guthrie, one of the most attractive Scottish names that's also a surname, has a particularly romantic, windswept aura, with a touch of the buckaroo thrown in.

Ruadhan (sometimes spelt with a fada: Ruadhán) is a fashionable name in its native Ireland. Borne one of the Twelve Irish Apostles, it originated as a diminutive of Ruadh, meaning "red-haired". It has sometimes been Anglicized as Rowan.

Popular name in Ireland -- it's pronounced ee-mer -- from the legendary wife of Cuchulainn who was supposed to possess the six gifts of womanhood: beauty, voice, speech, wisdom, chastity, and of course, needlework. Is found in the poetry of Yeats.

Short, sweet, and perhaps misleadingly simple, Sina is in fact a multicultural choice with a wide range of origins. In Samoan mythology, Sina is used for a number of figures, and notably appears in the creation story of the coconut tree, Sina and the Eel. In this case, the name means "white or gray haired" and appears in the Disney movie Moana.

One of the best known of the Irish girls' names, thanks to singer Sinead O'Connor. Though it's still in the Irish Top 100, it's no longer quite as fashionable in Ireland as Aoife or Aisling. But by now everyone in the Western World knows it's pronounced shin-aid and so would have no trouble fitting in on an American playground.

In early, pre-Norman Ireland, this name was borne by both a sister and a niece of high king Brian Boru. Now, the English form Orla is more commonly used.

This is an Anglicized form of various names; the Irish Gaelic O Bruic; German, Bruck or Breck, meaning "swamp" or "wood"; Yiddish, Brik, "bridge"; and Slovenian, Bric, "dweller from a hilly place." Gosh, and we thought it was just a macho word name invented by Tennessee Williams for the hero of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

This original spelling may present its challenges outside of Ireland, but it certainly has a more poetic look to it. Those daunted by the pronunciation obstacles may wish to consider Keenan.

An Irish mythology name belonging to a semi-legendary high king of Ireland, often equated with English David though not etymologically related.