690+ Irish Names (With Meanings and Popularity)

Makes Donna into a cool twenty-first-century unisex Irish surname.

Loman is one of those rare names that is at once simple and very unusual, with fewer than five baby boys given the name in the US in the most recent year.

Poetic name that's terminally mournful.

As seen on SNL, Pat is the ultimate androgynous name. Stick with long form Patrick, and make sure everyone calls him Patrick.

Name your daughter Duana after a Duane relative if you like, but please pronounce it doo-ahn-a and not doo-wain-a.

Friendly, cheerful Irish name that originated as a nickname for a redhead. Potential problem: reminiscent of the Spanish custard.

The use of O-prefixes could create the next wave of Irish-inflected names, offering an innovative way of honoring a relative with the old-fashioned moniker Brian. On Downton Abbey, the surname O'Brien was heard so often, it began to seem like a first.

Uncommon choice too reminiscent of "bidet". Try Bridie instead.

Sorley is an anglicization of the Irish name Somhairle, itself derived from the Old Norse Sumarliði, a nickname for a summer traveler (perhaps meaning a viking raider!). It is sometimes used as a boy name in Britain, but very rarely in the US. The similarity to the word "sorely" may put some off, but we still think it makes a jaunty, unusual surname-style option.

Keefe is an energetic Irish surname occasionally used as a first. Only caveat: Will people think your little Keefe is a Keith with enunciation problems?

Out-of-date for a boy, innovative for a girl.

Fania would make an interesting choice for a child of Irish Russian heritage, being a Celtic name with a Russian Tania-like feel.

An old saint's name that, even with the post-Aidan wave of Irish names, is a bit too close to crone.

One Irish surname that will never make it as a first.

See SEAMUS.

Actor Pierce made both his first and last name appealing.

Despite its virtuous meaning, Fergall - along with the more standard spellings Fergal, Ferghal and Fearghal - has never made it across the ocean. In the States, Fergall is a rare yet pronounceable name with strong ties to Ireland. In its native land, it's been worn for over a thousand years by everyone from chieftains to poets to sportsmen, and still appears steadily in birth records.