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Irish Baby Boy Names A - C |
| NAME | PRONOUNCE | ENGLISH | DESCRIPTION |
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| Aedan, Aodhan | "aid + an" or "aid + on" |
Aidan | A diminutive form of the name Aed meaning "fire" and would imply "born of fire." It became a popular name in honour of St. Aidan of Iona (c. 630 AD) who founded a famous monastery on the island of Lindisfarne which he used as a base to evangalize the North of England. In art Aidan is usually represented as a stag, a reference to the legend that he saved a deer that was being hunted by making it invisible. |
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| Aengus, Aonghus, Oengus | "eng + iss" | From aon "excellent" and gus "strength, vigor." Aengus was the god of love and of youth. His words were as sweet as honey, attracting bees and birds. He fell deeply in love with a beautiful girl he saw in a dream and passed through many trials, including turning himself into a swan, to win her love. The poet William Butler Yeats immortalised his search in "The Song of Wandering Aengus:"
I went out to the hazel wood, |
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| Ailbe | "all + bay" | Alby | From an old Irish word meaning "white," the 6th century St. Ailbe was associated with the monastery at Emly in County Tipperary. The local people requested that he bless a river that had no fish. St. Ailbe did and that very day the river was filled with an abundance of fish. The people built five churches in St. Ailbe's honor at the best fishing spots along the river. Ailbe may be used for a boy or a girl. |
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| Ailill | "all + yill" | From the Irish ailleacht "beauty." Ailill was the young husband of Queen Maebh, chosen by her because he was "a man without meaness, fear or jealosy, a match for my own greatness." His argument with Maebh over who had the greater herd of cattle led to The Cattle Raid of Cooley (read the legend), one of the greatest epic tales in Irish mythology. |
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| Alroy | From rua "red" and would make an appropriate name for a red-headed child. |
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| Ardan | "are + dawn" | From ardanach meaning "high aspiration." Ardan was one of the sons of Usna who helped Deirdre escape to Scotland so that she would not be forced to marry King Conchobhar MacNessa. |
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| Art | Arthur | In Ireland a seperate name from Arthur it comes from an ancient word for "a bear," used in the sense of "outstanding warrior" or "champion." A pagan High King of Ireland, Art's rule was so honest that two angels hovered over him in battle. |
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| Bartley | Bert, Bertie, Parthalon, Partlan |
The name of one of the twelve apostles, it is the Irish form of the Hebrew name Bartholemew "Son of Talmai." Bartley is also a derivation of the name Parthalon who was the leader of the first people to occupy Ireland after the Biblical flood, about 2,800 BC, and who, according to legend, brought agriculture to their new homeland. As such it is not really an Irish name although it was in relatively common usage in times past, particularly in the west of Ireland. The present Prime Minister of Ireland is Batholomew Ahern, although he is more commonly known as "Bertie." |
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| Bradan | "bray + dawn" | Braden | Comes from the word bradan meaning "a salmon" in Irish and the bradan feasa, the "Salmon of Knowledge" (read the legend) is central to the tales of Fionn MacCool (read the legend). |
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| Breandan | "bren + dawn" | Brendan, Brandan, Brandon | There are at least seventeen saints who bear the name but St. Breandan the Navigator is probably the best known. Tradition has it that he was born in County Kerry, set sail in a small boat with a group of monks in the early 6th century, visited an island inhabited by birdmen, rode on the back of a whale and was the first European to set foot on the shores of the Americas, nearly a thousand years before Columbus. In the 1970s Tim Severin recreated St. Breandan's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in a flimsy, hide-covered rowboat known as a "curragh." St. Breandan is venerated in Ireland as the patron saint of seafarers and travellers. |
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| Brian | "bree + an" | Brian (pron. "bry + an") |
From brigh "high, noble, strong." This is one of the most widespread Irish names ever, in honour of the most revered High King of Ireland, Brian Boru (read the legend) who defeated an army of invading Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 but died of wounds he received in the battle. Kincora – a poem by James Clarence Mangan (translated). |
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| Cabhan | "kav + an" | Cavan, Kevan, Keevan | In Irish cabhan means "grassy hill" or "hollow" and is the name of the Ulster county Cavan. |
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Kenneth Kenny |
coinneach "attractive person," "pleasant person." A sixth-century Irish missionary St. Canice founded churches in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. As Coinneach he gave his name to the town of Kilkenny, Cill Coinneach "Coinneach's Church."
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| Carney, Cearney, Kearney Cearnaigh |
From cearnach "victorious" and implies "victorious champion." |
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| Carrick, Carrig | Craig | From carraig "a rock." |
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| Cathal, Cahal | "ka + hal" | Charles | cath "battle" and all "mighty" and signifies "a great warrior." On his way home from a visit to Rome (c. 666 AD) St. Cathal was asked to fill the vacant see of Taranto in southern Italy and served as it"s prelate until his death. Known as St. Cathaldus, he is still venerated in the area and a fresh water stream in the bay is known as "l'annello di san Cathaldo," "the ring of St. Cathaldus," as it marks the place where he is believed to have stilled a storm by throwing his ring into the water. He was the patron saint of the Italian army during WWI. One of the most common names in Ireland in the Middle Ages, it is popular again in Ireland. |
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| Cearul | "kar + ul" | Carroll Carl |
From the Irish word cearbhall and means "fierce in battle." |
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| Cian, Kian |
"key + in" | Kane, Kean, Keane |
From cian "ancient, enduring." In legend Cian Mac Mael Muad was the son-in-law of Brian Boru (read the legend) who led the armies from the province of Munster to victory over the invading Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, a battle in which both he and Brian were killed. Cian was the eighth most popular baby name for boys in Ireland in 2003. |
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| Ciaran | "keer + awn" or "keer + in" |
Kieran, Kieron, Keiran | ciar "dark" and the diminutive -in it means "little dark one." Popular for over 1500 years, at least 26 saints have borne the name. The most notable, St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (c. 530 AD), was the son of a carpenter who studied with St. Enda for seven years and went on to establish a monastery at Clonmacnoise, on the banks of the River Shannon in County Westmeath. It became a major spiritual and educational center and despite being plundered by the Vikings and the English, remained a major religious center until the 1550s. |
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