Irish Names for Boys

Has a harmonic feel.

This genial Irish surname feels much more current than Donald.

The Arthur variation preferred in Portugal and across much of Eastern Europe. It’s a truly international name, and one that would be easy to wear in the US as well.

The spoiled only son of the richest family in town in a fifties movie.

In Cool Names, we cite this as an "Artist Name," for twentieth-century abstract painter Grace Hartigan, though for you it may just be an upbeat Irish surname.

Gives Carlo a place-name/surname spin.

A jovial and jaunty Irish name, the title of a long-gone TV crime drama, this would make an appealing choice. Slight downside: Maddy is already a mega-popular nickname for Madeline/Madelyn and Madison, so this Mad- name might not feel as distinctive as the stats would suggest.

This name was consistently in the boys' Top 200 until WW2. It's a name with so many dimensions to it: the hyper-masculine meaning, the surname-as-firstname trendiness, and the softer sound and connotation since homophone Carol was favoured in the 1940s and '50s for daughters. We think it's time for a resurgence of Carrolls amongst the boys.

This somewhat boisterous Celtic name would be at home in a noisy pub or out walking on the moors. In Scotland, it was originally a nickname for someone with dark hair or a swarthy complexion.

Authentic Gaelic name with pronunciation problems in the US. In Scotland Eachann has been anglicized as Hector, not because of its sound, but because the Trojan hero Hector had the reputation as a mighty horseman.

An Irish county name almost exclusively used for girls now. Kerrigan would be a more modern and masculine choice.

Variation of Cluny best only if you're a major George fan. And even then, better go with George, Georgia, or Georgiana.

Transformation of the stolid Gilbert into an animated surname name.

Much stronger than Dale for a boy.

Feeny and its alternative spelling Feeney have several origins in Irish. They are anglicised forms of the surnames Ó Fiannaidhe (descendant of Fiannaidhe, meaning warrior), and Ó Fidhne (descendant of Fidhne, from the word for tree or wood). Feeny is also a place name in Northern Ireland, meaning "the woods. Although many Irish surnames are in style, like Keegan and Sullivan, this is one you've probably never met on a person before.

An Irish surname name with a combination of boldness and élan. Some might connect it to the founder of the group T. Rex -- Marc Bolan.

Not your typical jovial Irish surname; but has a dark, craggy appeal, and Tag as a nickname.

After being one of the hot upscale surnames of the nineties, Garrett has left the Top 100 and this streamlined spelling is dawdling near the bottom of the Top 1000.

The -ee suffix is decisively feminine, so it's no surprise that male usage of this name lags behind female usage.

With Galway and Ireland in play as names (not to mention Shannon and Kerry), there's no reason this one can't work, too.