Irish Names for Girls: The Complete List

This Irish surname packs a lot of attitude, projecting an image of spunk and sass. The Welsh singer Duffy, born Aimee Anne Duffy, is best known for her songs Mercy and Warwick Avenue.

With both the Dillon and Dylan spellings, usage of this gender-neutral names runs about ten to one boys to girls. But Dylan is used about 20 times as often as Dillon for both genders. Which might be a vote in favor of Dillon, though for better or worse, this spellings distances the name from singer Bob and poet Thomas.

Irish goddess and saint name that's strong, to say the least.

Meabh, the native Irish spelling of Maeve, is in the Top 100 in Ireland and becoming more popular here in its Anglicized form. Outside of Ireland, life will be easier with the Maeve spelling of this lovely queen's name.

Connelly is a rollicking and rare example of the popular surname genre that may work even better for girls. A huge update on Colleen.

Cool a few decades ago, along with Lori and Tori -- but no more.

The nickname of Mrs. Al Gore (born Mary Elizabeth), bestowed because her favorite childhood lullaby was "Tippy Tippy Tin," should remain her exclusive property.

Although the Mc or Mac prefix always means "son of", the first names McKenna and MacKenna are used in the US exclusively for girls, with the McKenna spelling outpacing this one 14 to 1. There are no boys recorded with either spelling of the name.

Aiden/Aidan is just beginning to wander into the girls' side of the name popularity list, but it's so huge for boys in all its spellings that it will be a long time before it can be called a unisex name.

This name of the final service on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is sometimes given symbolically to girls born on that day.

Stronger and more contemporary twist on Carla or Carly, Carlin was used just about equally for girls and boys in the US last year.

More streamlined – and more authentic – than Shawna.

Ethne is one of the many Irish Gaelic names whose spelling and pronunciation -- it's en-ya -- will prove endlessly confusing to English speakers.

A name from the East African Kikuyu language with a sweet meaning; and a simplified spelling of McKenna.

The Irish Gaelic form of Cecilia, which is the origin of the Anglicized version Sheila, which subsequently became very popular across the English-speaking world.

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.

Dacey is a delicate and lacy Irish name with real possibilities.

Kaitlin is a variation of Caitlin that's on a steep decline; it dropped out of the Top 1000 in 2013, after more than three decades on the list.

Another two-syllable surname zooming up the ladder for boys, and poised to be grabbed by the girls.

Rohan is an Indian name, but may also be a variation of the Irish surname Rowan, sometimes used for girls.