Irish Names that Start With M

The 6th century Irish saint Mirin emigrated to Scotland and now is the patron saint of both the Glasgow suburb of Paisley and the game of football. Mirren is one modern spelling; the Cornish Merryn, best known as the name of the seacoast town St. Merryn, is also related. The name is usually used for girls.

This is an old Irish name associated with such heroes as the seventeenth century chieftain, scholar and poet Manus O'Donnell. In this country, though, parents would not find Manus as pleasing or impressive as Magnus.

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.

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.

Common in its native habitat, and worth consideration by parents in search of an authentic Irish name, though a pronunciation challenge.

Poetic name that's terminally mournful.

Magee has a broad and bouncy appeal for the sons of anyone from Adam to Zachary.

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.

Gary Sinise chose this Mc name for his late son McCanna, called Mac, in 1990, before Irish and Scottish surnames beginning with Mc or Mac became common as first names. Mac Sinise passed away from a rare form of cancer at the age of 33.

When ordering a baby name, hold the mayo.

Too close to baloney.

There are many dynamic three-syllable Irish surnames; this is one of the rarer two-syllable ones. Molloy is the title of a 1951 novel by Samuel Beckett, initially written in French. Another Beckett novel of naming interest is Malone Dies.

This Gaelic version of the enduring Michael was chosen by Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson for their first son.