210+ Irish Girl Names (and Meanings)

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

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.

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.

We'd opt for Fiona.

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.

Finola, the readily accessible version of some of the more problematic Gaelic versions of the name, would make a welcome addition to the stockpot of Irish girls' names.

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.

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.

Kieran is a boys' name that could cross over, as an update of outmoded Karen or a variation on trendy Kiera (or Keira or Kyra). Keren Ann is an Israeli-born singer. The proportion of babies named Kieran who are girls is less than ten percent, but is slowly growing. Kieran had an increase in use for girls in 2022.

Animated Gaelic name popularized by singer Sheena Easton, also brings to mind Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, the Amazonian comic book and TV series heroine. Sine is considered to be and English equivalent of Jane or Jean.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

Cait, pronounced like more popular sister Kate, is the form used when shortening Caitlin or any of the other Irish and Gaelic Cait-starting variations of Catherine.

As a boy's name, Shane is related more directly to the 50s movie cowboy and the Irish name Sean; for a girl, it might be a variation on Shannon, Shana, or Shawn. Parenthood star Erika Christensen named her daughter Shane. Another spin, used by Eddie Murphy, is Shayne.

Noreen's in limbo, especially now that Nora has made a comeback.

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.

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

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

Aidan is an ancient Irish saint's name with a fire meaning that's mega popular for boys, most often spelled as Aiden. The name is occasionally used for girls, sometimes as Aidyn or Ayden, as well. Aidan was the name of a famous seventh-century Irish saint, and is related to the Irish word for fire.

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

Stylish and boyish but could work for a girl -- especially one with brown eyes -- and Sully is a quirky and jaunty nickname.