Unnamed List
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- Cael
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"slender"Description:
Cael is the name of the angel of the zodiac sign of Cancer and also of a warrior of Irish mythology. Its ascendance to the Top 1000 over the past decade probably has to do with its similarity to Cale and Kale (and Kyle and Cayden etcetera).
- Cashel
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"castle, stone fort"Description:
Cashel is one of the many appealing Irish names that have not yet emigrated to the US. Cashel was chosen by actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his writer-director wife Rebecca Miller for their son.
- Faolan
Origin:
Irish GaelicMeaning:
"little wolf"Description:
Properly spelled with a fada in Gaelic (Faolán), this name is the origin of the Irish surname Phelan. It derives from the Gaelic fáel "wolf", plus a diminutive suffix, making this a handsome hidden nature name.
- Finnian
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"fair"Description:
Finnian is a fair jig of a name, energetic and easy on the ear. Finnian (and brother Finian) is also familiar in its alternate spelling through the classic 1968 Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, later made into a film starring Fred Astaire as Finian McLonergan.
- Fitz
Origin:
ScottishMeaning:
"son of"Description:
Any number of Fitz names -- Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Fitzroy, Fitzwilliam -- have been used as Christian names, in fact Fitzwilliam was the given name of the dashing Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Fitz can be a short form of any of them and is often, like Mac, a nickname drawn from a surname.
- Kian
Origin:
Irish; PersianMeaning:
"ancient; king"Description:
A friendly Irish and Persian name chosen by Geena Davis for one of her twin boys, whose father is Iranian.
- Lochlainn
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"land of the Vikings"Description:
Conjures up pleasant images of lakes, but the pronunciation challenge makes the Anglicized Loughlin preferable.
- Lochlan
Origin:
Spelling variation of LachlanDescription:
Lochlan and Lachlan are running neck and neck and both rising into the Top 1000. Which spelling you use is purely a matter of taste.
- Malachy
Origin:
Irish version of Malachi, HebrewMeaning:
"second"Description:
This spelling, which came to the attention of readers of the best-selling Angela's Ashes as the name of author Frank McCourt's father and brother, the latter of whom wrote a bestseller of his own, lends the biblical name a more expansive, almost boisterous image. Malachy is one of the Irish baby names that manages to strike the golden mean between familiarity and distinctiveness.
- Neal
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"champion or cloud"Description:
Always the less common spelling of Irish classic Neil, Neal has been on a fifty-year slide, and now doesn't even make the Top 1000. It has a streamlined, surnamey appeal in this spelling.
- Torin
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"chief"Description:
Though it has a Scandinavian ring, this is an out-of-the-ordinary Irish family name. The hard 'T' at the beginning prevents it from sounding as feminine as, say, Loren. Torin's Passage was an early video game.