Irish Names
Irish names arrived in America in waves — Kathleen and Eileen with the emigrants, Sean and Erin mid-century, and now the Gaelic spellings themselves: Saoirse, Aoife, Cillian. The current #1 boys' name in America is Irish.
| Save name | Name & connection | History 1926–2025, yearly counts; individually scaled | Babies 2025 · rank | 5-year rank movement | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anglicized Caitlín — the great Irish-American favorite. | 201#1,156 | Down 151 rank positions in five years | 1951 | ||
The apostle of Ireland, and its most exported name. | 1,495#235 | Down 30 rank positions in five years | 1964 | ||
The Irish form of John. | 616#489 | Down 155 rank positions in five years | 1990 | ||
The Irish short form of William, long since standing on its own. | 20,818#1 | Steady | 2024 | ||
From Éirinn — the poetic name of Ireland itself. | 327#833 | Down 312 rank positions in five years | 1983 | ||
Anglicized Eoghan: 'born of the yew tree'. | 7,190#31 | Down 9 rank positions in five years | 2016 | ||
From Conchobar, the legendary Ulster king. | 2,211#166 | Down 88 rank positions in five years | 2004 | ||
Short form of Honora, 'honor' — a Dublin standard for a century. | 6,380#20 | Up 10 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Irish Eibhlín, cousin of Evelyn and Helen. | 437#654 | Up 47 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
The Irish pet form of Mary, straight out of a Dublin song. | 1,601#196 | Down 23 rank positions in five years | 1991 | ||
From Ó Nualláin: 'descendant of the noble one'. | 4,846#65 | Down 4 rank positions in five years | 2015 | ||
From Aodhán: 'little fire'. | 1,043#326 | Down 65 rank positions in five years | 2003 | ||
From Brigid, goddess and saint — the most Irish of girls' names. | 385#724 | Up 26 rank positions in five years | 1973 | ||
The Navigator — the saint who sailed for the world's edge. | 195#1,098 | Down 376 rank positions in five years | 1999 | ||
The saint who reached Ireland before Patrick did. | 2,570#139 | Down 37 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Irish for 'friend'. | 168#1,326 | Down 418 rank positions in five years | 1985 | ||
The surname of Conn's descendants, gone first-name. | 2,634#97 | Down 13 rank positions in five years | 2016 | ||
From Ruairí, 'red king' — the last high king of Ireland. | 1,768#199 | Up 131 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Fionn mac Cumhaill — the giant-hearted hero of Irish legend. | 1,702#206 | Down 27 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
Irish 'dark-haired one' — KEER-a in Ireland. | 155#1,408 | Down 192 rank positions in five years | 2005 | ||
From Gaelic fionn, 'fair, white'. | 654#470 | Down 175 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
The anglicized Ciara that Hollywood knows. | 469#622 | Down 155 rank positions in five years | 2006 | ||
The warrior queen of Connacht — Medb, 'she who intoxicates'. | 3,153#76 | Up 98 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Irish 'little seal', name of a dozen early saints. | 1,406#247 | Up 23 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
The tragic beauty of the Ulster legends. | 13#7,987 | Down 983 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
The great Cork surname — súil dubh, 'dark eye'. | 1,083#314 | Up 84 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Old Irish 'lamb'; a fairy queen in folklore. | 49#3,245 | Down 535 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
The Irish form of James — poet Seamus Heaney's name. | 154#1,280 | Down 85 rank positions in five years | 2008 | ||
The Irish form of Joan, said shi-VAWN. | 90#2,096 | Up 560 rank positions in five years | 1980 | ||
The Irish Edmund — president Éamon de Valera's name. | 102#1,646 | Down 219 rank positions in five years | 2016 | ||
Said KILL-ee-an; carried to Hollywood by Cillian Murphy. | 595#507 | Up 450 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Irish for 'freedom', said SEER-sha — a name born of independence. | 222#1,089 | Down 354 rank positions in five years | 2020 | ||
The wise high king of legend; borne by novelist McCarthy. | 150#1,298 | Down 71 rank positions in five years | 2014 | ||
Said EE-fa: the greatest woman warrior in Irish legend. | 88#2,120 | Down 300 rank positions in five years | 2018 | ||
Niall of the Nine Hostages, ancestor of the O'Neills. | 96#1,706 | Up 423 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Said NEEV — the golden-haired princess of Tír na nÓg. | 43#3,560 | Up 679 rank positions in five years | 2008 | ||
Irish 'dream, vision' — a whole genre of patriotic poetry. | 39#3,781 | Up 672 rank positions in five years | 2002 | ||
From Órfhlaith: 'golden princess'. | 70#2,532 | Up 1,804 rank positions in five years | 2024 |
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Sources & methodology
Meaning summaries use Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and referenced name histories. Each name’s detail page includes its sources.
Membership on this list is editorial — we chose names that genuinely fit the theme. Every number is from official birth data: "—" means the name had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, which makes it a genuinely rare pick today, not an invalid one. The dot marks whether the stats shown are for the girls' or boys' use of the name.