130+ Unique Irish Names

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.

Connolly, an alternate spelling of Connelly, could make a livelier and less common substitute for Connor.

Oengus is the old Irish form of the name most commonly found in the modern world as Angus, typically Scottish.
In Irish mythology, Oengus is the god of youth, love, and poetry.

With Galway and Ireland in play as names (not to mention Shannon and Kerry), there's no reason this one can't work, too.

Has an incomplete feeling....

A slimmed down spelling of the more traditional Aiobheann. It's a beautiful name, but the spelling might throw some non-Irish natives off.

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

A newly minted name for 2024, Alanneabh comes from the Irish term of endearment, a leanbh, meaning "my child". Introduced into the lexicon by Self-Build-DIY-Instagrammers Cat and Ciaran (who use the handle castlequarterhouse), it shares the same origin as the better known Alannah.

Donal is, yes, just Donald with the final d cut off, but that somehow gives it a jauntier, fresher feel. Donal Logue is a Canadian actor and Donal Skehan is an Irish cookbook author.

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

Associated with the poet and novelist Galway Kinnell, this name of an Irish city, county, and bay would make an evocative choice. For further literary cred, writers Liam O'Flaherty and Frank Harris both hail from Galway.

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

If you like the Irish surname feel, there are loads of more congenial options.

Tongue twister of a name common in Ireland in both its Gaelic and its Anglicized forms. American or British parents looking for an Irish name that's still largely unknown in the outside world might consider this.

Bridget variation that's the root of the unattractive nickname Biddy. Bedelia is another spelling.

The use of O-prefixes could create the next wave of Irish inflected names, offering an innovative way of honoring a relative with a behind the times moniker.

A naval inspired name borne by several Irish kings. It is anglicized as Murdo or Murdoch.

An Irish form of the anglicized Duncan, other forms include Donnchadh and Donagh. Rugby player Donncha O'Callaghan is one notable bearer and the popular surname Donoghue derives from it.

This rare Irish word name might be pronounced slightly differently across Ireland.

An Irish word name that emerged during the late 19th-century Gaelic revival movement, which sought to preserve the language and inspire new interest in it. Fírinne means truth, making it a potential virtue name. Pronunciation varies regionally throughout Ireland.