690+ Irish Names (With Meanings and Popularity)

One of many takes on the Keira/Kyra concept, this one was chosen by ice-skating champ Kristi Yamaguchi.

A very popular name for boys in Ireland that's well-used throughout the British Isles, Darragh is also occasionally used for girls and certainly sounds feminine or at least unisex to the American ear. Simplified form Dara pushes it further toward the girls' side.

Aydan has been a popular alternate spellings of Aidan, though it has been declining in usage since 2008. It has also been seen as a girl's name.

McCabe is an Irish patronymic surname that originated with Scottish mercenaries in Ireland who wore distinctive hats -- or cabas, which is also the name for capes.

Forever Dickens's con artist in Oliver Twist.

If you're looking for an Irish last name that moves beyond Casey and Cassidy, this one is pleasant sounding and worth considering. Kavanaugh, which can also be spelled Cavanagh, Cavenagh, Kavanagh, and Cavanaugh, is one of the few traditional Irish surnames not to start with Mc or O'. Kavanagh relates to the name first Kevin or Caomhan. Early kings of Leinster bore the name Kavanaugh.

Magee became one of the first gender-bending Irish surname names so popular today thanks to New York television newswoman Magee Hickey. In case you don't know, the g is hard, as in Maggie, but with the opposite emphasis.

Unusual and attractive entry to the growing Irish name canon.

McDermott is a common Irish surname that means, as all Mc or Mac names do, "son of" --then Dermott or Dermot, which is an Anglicization of the Irish Gaelic Diarmaid. The legendary Diarmaid was the lover of Grainne and the real King Diarmaid, in the twelfth century, first invited the English into Ireland. Actor Dermot Mulroney made his name famous in the U.S.

Infrequently used relic of the Maureen-Colleen-Kathleen era, though it does seem to have a bit more energy than the others.

Patsy has been rarely heard for half a century, for either gender, and we're not expecting that to change in the near future..

Julia Roberts's choice of Phinnaeus gives a boost to all Ph forms. Or should we say, phorms.

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

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

Authentic Irish choice, easy to spell, tricky to pronounce.

Ancient Irish king of the underworld, so much more powerful than Don.

Unusual Mary variety with literary underpinnings, most famously as a character in J.M. Synge's Riders to the Sea. You may have to do constant explaining of the spelling and pronunciation, but if you're looking for a distinctive and attractive form of Mary, you've found it.

Fogarty has the Old Fogey problem.

Has a decidedly Roman Catholic feel, thanks to the bishop.