Irish Girl Names by ViVi
By vivi52302
Updated Mon May 22 2023
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These are names specifically for girls. No male or unisex names. Also, these are names that are 100% Irish, meaning they don't derive from Latin, Greek, etc...
These are not all names I would necessarily personally use. But some might find names on this list appealing that I may not. Please let me know if there is a name I forgot to include on this list.
Parents with Irish heritage who would like to pass on their heritage to their daughter through her name would find this list interesting.
I am an American of Irish descent. I descend from the O'Leary/Ó Laoghaire clan. I plan to give at least one of my future daughters an authentic Irish name to pass on my heritage to her. (I am a girl.). I have always been interested in reconnecting with my IRish culture.
Please read through and enjoy this lst and learn more about girls names that come from my culture!
- Maeve
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"she who intoxicates"Description:
Maeve is a short and sweet name that has become one of the most stylish Irish names for girls in the modern US. It joined the Top 100 for the first time in 2023 and now ranks at Number 75.
- Orla
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"golden princess"Description:
Orla is an Irish name closely associated with the high king Brian Boru, as it was the name of his sister, daughter and niece. It was very popular in the Middle Ages – the fourth most popular name in twelfth century Ireland – and has become popular again in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales today. In Irish, the name is commonly spelled Orlaith or Orlagh.
- Alana
Origin:
Feminization of Alan, Irish; variation of Ilana, Hebrew; Gaelic; HawaiianMeaning:
"handsome, rock; oak tree; child; awakening"Description:
Alana, in all its various spellings, was at one time reserved for daughters of dads named Alan, but is now much more widespread. It came into prominence via model/actress/celeb spouse Alana Hamilton Stewart.
- Saoirse
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"liberty"Description:
Before the young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan made her mark in the films Ladybird and The Lovely Bones, few of us had heard this name, let alone known how to pronounce it. But now it is slowly way edging its way into the mainstream, particularly, of course, with parents who have Irish roots. It made its first appearance in the US Top 1000 in 2016, when it was the third-fastest-rising girls' name.
- Keira
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"little dark one"Description:
Keira is an attractive girls’ name that's gotten a huge boost from the meteoric rise of Keira Knightley. Original spelling Kiera, which relates more directly to the male Kieran, was the more popular form until the rise of Keira Knightley reversed the order. Both are Anglicized versions of the Irish Ciara.
- Enya
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"fire"Description:
This phonetic Anglicization of the Irish name Eithne was made familiar by the single-named Irish singer and composer. St. Eithne was the daughter of a king and an early Irish convert to Christianity.
- Tara
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"rocky hill"Description:
Despite a rich history in Irish myth preceding its plantation appearance in Gone with the Wind, widespread use in the seventies caused Tara to lose its Irish accent.
- Niamh
Origin:
Irish GaelicMeaning:
"bright"Description:
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.
- Erin
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"from the island to the west"Description:
First-wave Irish name and place name—the poetic name for Ireland—now supplanted by newer alternatives such as Maeve and Delaney.
- Kiera
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"little dark one"Description:
Kiera entered the American popularity list in 1988, though it lags behind the alternate spelling Keira, largely due to the fame of actress Keira Knightley.
- Taryn
Origin:
Variation of Tara or Tyrone, English, IrishMeaning:
"rocky hill, elevated place; land of Eoghan"Description:
Taryn is an offshoot of Tara that has a variety of meanings in a variety of cultures. In 1953, Taryn was presented to the public as an invention by actors Tyrone Power and Linda Christian for their daughter's name, at which point it gained a short spurt of popularity. Taryn returned to the Top 1000 in 1974, peaked in the 1980s, then disappeared from the charts back in the 2010s.
- Clodagh
Origin:
Irish river nameDescription:
A popular choice in Ireland, Clodagh was the name of a river and later a saint. The "cloddy" aspect of the name has prevented it from spreading beyond Ireland, but that could change with the rise of other Irish choices like Maeve and Orla.
- Muriel
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"of the bright sea, sea-bright"Description:
Once a poetic Celtic name, that of the angel who governs the month of June, Muriel has for a time, become the mom or grandma of TV sitcoms. A Top 200 name from 1912 to 1933, Muriel might just be due for a comeback, fitting as it does with the likes of Margot, Mabel, Marjorie, and Marilyn.
- Elva
Origin:
Feminine form of Alf or anglicized form of Ailbhe, Danish, Icelandic, IrishMeaning:
"elf; bright, light, white"Description:
Elva is a multicultural choice, being both an anglicization of the Irish Ailbhe and an feminine form of the name Alf, meaning "elf". Popular in the US at the beginning of the 20th century, it remained in the charts until the 1970s before falling out of favor.
- Roisin
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"little rose"Description:
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.
- Brianna
Origin:
Feminine variation of BrianMeaning:
"strong, virtuous and honorable"Description:
Brianna's popularity in the US came later than father name Brian's, peaking in the 1990s, two decades after Brian's Top 10 reign of the 1970s.
- Briana
Origin:
Feminine variation of BrianMeaning:
"strong, virtuous, honorable"Description:
Spelled this way, Briana was coined by Edmund Spenser for his great literary work, The Faerie Queene, which gives the now-overexposed name a far classier pedigree than it's usually credited with.
- Aisling
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"dream, vision"Description:
Aisling is currently a very popular Irish name for girls. Pronounced variously as ASH-ling, ASH-lin or ash-LEEN, it was part of the revival of authentic Irish names in the twentieth century, and is now being sparingly used by U.S. parents in place of the dated Ashley--though often spelled phonetically as Ashlyn or Ashlynn.
- Ciara
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"little dark one"Description:
Ciara is very popular in Ireland, more familiar here as the Anglicized Kiera or Keira. The uninitiated will tend to pronounce Ciara as the Italian Chiara, a form of Claire—kee-AHR-a or even see-AHR-a, like the American singer-songwriter Ciara. In the US, Ciara peaked in 2005, when it was the Number 150 name; it's since fallen down to Number 882.
- Mona
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"noble good"Description:
Mona had more than a moment in the sun, peaking in 1950 at Number 230 but falling off the Top 1000 completely in the late 1980s. Its similarity to the word "moaner" undercuts the appeal of its simplicity. In one recent year, fewer than 100 baby girls received the name, and we don't see it reviving any time soon.
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