Irish Names for Boys

We'd be leery of this one.

Transformation of the stolid Gilbert into an animated surname name.

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

Popular in Ireland, as is the similarly difficult spelling EOGHAN, but over here, most would stick with Owen.

One Irish surname that will never make it as a first.

Unusual and attractive entry to the growing Irish name canon.

Great way to honor either Irish or Southern heritage without being too on the nose. Similar to other boys' names like Pacey, Casey, Percy and Chauncy.

Magee has a broad and bouncy appeal for the sons of anyone from Adam to Zachary.

Despite its virtuous meaning, Fergall - along with the more standard spellings Fergal, Ferghal and Fearghal - has never made it across the ocean. In the States, Fergall is a rare yet pronounceable name with strong ties to Ireland. In its native land, it's been worn for over a thousand years by everyone from chieftains to poets to sportsmen, and still appears steadily in birth records.

Compact, to-the-point surname name. Bear in mind the stock-market association - it may be a bit much with the last name Jones.

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.

McCabe is an Irish patronymic surname that originated with Scottish mercenaries in Ireland who wore distinctive hats -- or cabas, which is also the name for capes.

Obscure and quirky, but not without some appeal.

Undiscovered Irish surname with a lot more bounce and masculine dash than Shannon.

Same problem as Eóin -- squared.

Gary Sinise chose this Mc name for his late son McCanna, called Mac, in 1990, before Irish and Scottish surnames beginning with Mc or Mac became common as first names. Mac Sinise passed away from a rare form of cancer at the age of 33.