Irish Names for Girls: The Complete List

Kiernan Shipka, aka Sally Draper on Mad Men, brings this Irish surname into the girls' column. And, like Kieran and Tierney and Tiernan, it's one of the perfectly unisex baby names. Only 14 girls were named Kiernan in the US in a recent year...and three times as many boys. If you want to move beyond Riley and Kennedy to one of the more unusual surname-based Irish names for girls, this may be a good choice.

Nela is a pretty if slight name that ranks among the Top 1000 for girls in the UK. It is commonly used throughout Europe as a short form for any range of names ending in -nela including Cornelia and Fenella, though it is widely used on its own.

An unusual, energetic surname choice that would make a good Madison alternative. Madigan was a typical police detective series of the 1970s, starring Richard Widmark.

An ancient Aoibheann was the mother of Saint Enda, and Aoibheann remains popular in Ireland today, sometimes with its Anglicized spelling Eavan.

Another increasingly well-used, more feminine, form of Riley, this one is particularly popular in the South. Ryleigh, along with Rylee, have been rising in popularity in recent years. Ryleigh paved the way for Everleigh, Kayleigh, Charleigh, and several other "-leigh" ending names that are trending now. Ryleigh entered the charts in 1999, and has been in the Top 200 since 2010.

Angliziced spelling of Muirne, the name of the mother of Finn mac Cool in Irish legend. Actress Myrna Loy was a notable bearer.

This Irish saint's name sounds like a lopped-off Lorna.

Popular name in Ireland -- it's pronounced ee-mer -- from the legendary wife of Cuchulainn who was supposed to possess the six gifts of womanhood: beauty, voice, speech, wisdom, chastity, and of course, needlework. Is found in the poetry of Yeats.

Variation of Isolde, the name of a great Celtic heroine. The mononymous French singer Yseult is the most notable bearer today.

Grainne is the Irish form of the name often Anglicized as Grania. It was the name of the ancient grain goddess and also of the fiancee of mythological hero Finn McCool and lover of Dermot, who was a heroine of the seas.

With this spelling, and one-syllable pronunciation, it sounds less like a whole name than a cut-off version of Mary. In fact, actress Mare Winningham was christened Mary.

The name of one of the most famous medieval Irish saints, who was known as "the foster-mother of the saints," and founded a nunnery in the county of Limerick. Might be of interest to someone looking for an unusual 3-letter name.

The unusual and intriguing Tullia has been used since Roman times as a feminine of the illustrious family name Tullius, as in philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. Modern parents who like Tallulah or Lillia but want something even more unusual would do well to consider the nearly-unknown Tullia, which may also be varied to Tulia, rhyming with Julia.

Shawn is one name that's become less unisex and more distinctly male over time in all its spellings, given to only 14 baby girls and over 500 boys in the US in the most recent year counted. But at its peak in the early 1970s, it was a Top 200 baby name for girls in the US, given to nearly 2000 baby girls... and 12,000 boys in this spelling alone.

Kerry is the name of one of the most beautiful and lush counties of Ireland was a seventies favorite. Related, updated versions might include Cerys and Keira.

While the most famous Channing is the very male Channing Tatum, the name is now given about a third of the time for girls. It makes an attractive surname-name for either gender.

Talula might be a streamlined spelling of either the Native American Tallulah or the Irish Talulla -- and very few namers know the difference as they sound identical. Investigate further and you decide, or you can just consider Talula a relative of both.

Name of a fertility goddess said to confer luck on its bearer, though to avoid confusion you may want to use the phonetic spelling Anya or Enya.

A name with a bit of glamor but also cowgirl vibes, Dallas entered the US Top 1000 for girls in 1992. It fell out of style during noughties, but reappeared in 2012 when other gender neutral names like River, Sawyer, Rowan, and Blake were also climbing fast.

Bronagh, along with Anglicized form Brona, is a popular name in Ireland. It's the name of a sixth century mystic as well as a modern television character on Penny Dreadful.