Irish girls names

emo72

seriously, wont someone please think of the american starbucks baristas?

Jellybaby1

Get thee to a good library. Ask to see 'The Annals of the Four Masters'. Then sit and read for hours. You will find many Irish names therein. I'm not overly keen on names that I can neither pronounce or spell. However, my own favourite is Fiona. But if you really want something no one else has, there's always Gobnait but I wouldn't advise it. Check this link out for more names:

http://www.libraryireland.com/names/women/irish-english-a.php

Speedsie

If you want unusual, Duinseach, 6th century high Queen of Tara.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duinseach_ingen_Duach

Or as Jellybean suggests look at the Annals.

Noo

Neasa

Stheno

Danu?

GalwayGrrrrrl

LionelNashe wrote: »

Realtin - "Little star". I've only ever met 1 woman with this name. Or, you could get an Irish-English dictionary and just look for a noun that you like the sound & meaning of.

I’ve only met one (5 year old) with the name Reailtín but I recently saw another (12 year old) in our local newspaper so there are a few around. It means little star which is a similar derivation to Esther.
I’ve a common sounding name with an unusual spelling and it is very irritating. Eg if my name was John I’ve spent my life saying “John with two Ns”.

Anne1982h

ifElseThen wrote: »

What is the problem.with having a more popular name? Do parents really think having an unusual name will bestow a life less ordinary on their child or what's the craic with the insistence on finding a name that is uber rare?

Exactly!!! Especially looking for Irish words and having them as a name. Irish is a language. There are Irish names recognized in that language and there are random Irish words people are now calling their children to be ‘unusual’.

Lisha

Deirdre
Gráinne

houseplant

How about Uachtar-Reoite or Scamall?

Peregrinus

Ckpippa wrote: »

Yes it is spelt Líle and it's the Irish version of Lily.

Nitpick: The Irish for "lily" (the flower) is lile without a fada. It's pronounced with a short 'i' - "Lilleh", not "Leeleh".

I've never heard it as a given name, but there's no reason why it couldn't be one, just as it is in English.

Líle with a fada is not a known Irish word.

iamwhoiam

Anne1982h wrote: »

Exactly!!! Especially looking for Irish words and having them as a name. Irish is a language. There are Irish names recognized in that language and there are random Irish words people are now calling their children to be ‘unusual’.

That is how names come about and evolve . Throughout history people have used flower names , names that mean something etc . Take Hunter , Fletcher , Leon , Leo etc these names did not arrive with the Ark . People have always used situations or nature as names and then carried them down through generations .Language has always been used as names and epecially in Irish . Look up any anciient Irish name and it wil mean a hunter or a wild one or a blonde girl etc . ( Fionnuala , Feardorcha , Blaithín , , etc etc )
Maybe way back then they also clucked when someone called their son " the wild hunter " !

So why can't this generation then do the same ? Or are we only to use names from the past that other generations decided on ?

Dr Turk Turkelton

houseplant wrote: »

How about Uachtar-Reoite or Scamall?

My own favourite Irish name would be Leithreas.

heldel00

Used to work with a girl Lasarfhíona (sp?) - Cinderella. (She called herself Las day to day)
You did say you wanted unusual.

iamwhoiam

heldel00 wrote: »

Used to work with a girl Lasarfhíona (sp?) - Cinderella. (She called herself Las day to day)
You did say you wanted unusual.

I knew a Laiserfhiona too ! Means wine flames I think ?

Ckpippa

I have this name on my list as I met a girl with this name on the Aran islands once. It's very pretty. Thanks

heldel00 wrote: »

Used to work with a girl Lasarfhíona (sp?) - Cinderella. (She called herself Las day to day)
You did say you wanted unusual.

Teyla Emmagan

iamwhoiam wrote:

I knew a Lasarfhiona too !

Is there a Lasariona as well? Or is that how you pronounce Lasarfhiona? Either way, I think that's a really ugly name OP, don't go with it!

Caoimhe pronounced the Donegal way is lovely I think (though not that unusual). I really like Sadhbh.

iamwhoiam

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Is there a Lasariona as well? Or is that how you pronounce Lasarfhiona? Either way, I think that's a really ugly name OP, don't go with it!

Caoimhe pronounced the Donegal way is lovely I think (though not that unusual). I really like Sadhbh.

I presume it evolved and someone dropped the fh ?

drunkmonkey

Fiona is a lot nice, Scottish so not a million miles away

Peregrinus

iamwhoiam wrote: »

I presume it evolved and someone dropped the fh ?

A standard for Irish spelling and grammar was devised and rolled out in about 1960, partly to iron out differences between regional variants of Irish but also to simplify spelling and make the language more accessible. One result was the dropping of a lot of "silent" consonant groups. For example, the name of the language itself, Gaedhilge in the classical spelling, became Gaeilge; there was no change to the pronunciation of the word.

The standard was produced for official, government use, and also for use in education, but of course individual Irish speakers were free to use it or not as they wished. Not many people would have changed the spelling of their names to conform to the standard, and as names tend to be passed on in families you will still find many names which some people spell in the classical way and others according to the official standard. Lasarfhiona/Lasariona might be one of these, and I think Labhaoise/Laoise came up earlier in the thread. These are the same name, pronounced the same way; just spelled differently.

You get spelling variants of English names too; Philip/Phillip, Ann/Anne, etc.

MarianneH

Rioghnach, i have only ever met one

Anne1982h

iamwhoiam wrote: »

That is how names come about and evolve . Throughout history people have used flower names , names that mean something etc . Take Hunter , Fletcher , Leon , Leo etc these names did not arrive with the Ark . People have always used situations or nature as names and then carried them down through generations .Language has always been used as names and epecially in Irish . Look up any anciient Irish name and it wil mean a hunter or a wild one or a blonde girl etc . ( Fionnuala , Fearfdorcha , Blaithín , , etc etc )
Maybe way back then they also clucked when someone called their son " the wild hunter " !

So why can't this generation then do the same ? Or are we only to use names from the past that other generations decided on ?

Exactly it’s how they evolved naturally. Now we have the bizarre one upmanship among parents to have the most unique name so their solution is to pluck a random word from a language they primarily don’t understand (I.e are fluent in) and hey presto unusual name. It’s all a bit ridiculous in my opinion. See some of the comments here saying to throw a fada on a word to make it more Irish!! So why not call the child doras, leabhair, siopa or my personal favourite milseain - it means sweet in Irish which is a lovely name for a little girl. Has a fada on it too only they won’t show up on my phone. Your little girl will be the most unique in class!

iamwhoiam

Anne1982h wrote: »

Exactly it’s how they evolved naturally. Now we have the bizarre one upmanship among parents to have the most unique name so their solution is to pluck a random word from a language they primarily don’t understand (I.e are fluent in) and hey presto unusual name. It’s all a bit ridiculous in my opinion. See some of the comments here saying to throw a fada on a word to make it more Irish!! So why not call the child doras, leabhair, siopa or my personal favourite milseain - it means sweet in Irish which is a lovely name for a little girl. Has a fada on it too only they won’t show up on my phone. Your little girl will be the most unique in class!

I worked with a girl called Meleana . Now normally that would be a nice sounding name but unfortunately she chose to work in the medical field where malaena means " blood in the stools " . I am sure the parents meant well but this poor girl was lumbered with name that had a darker meaning !

Tombo2001

Ckpippa wrote: »

Hi I am currently pregnant on #3. We are keeping the gender a surprise. I have my boys name decided but I am so stuck on girls names. It has to be Irish and I want it different and unusual. The only ones I can think of so far is Lile and I also like Rua but I'm not sure if it's for a boy or girl. All help greatly appreciated. Thanks ��

Sure this has been asked before

Is Lile like Lily but an kind of Irish way of saying the same thing? Why? Just call her Lily.

An additional tip regarding names

The names that you think are boring and staid.....actually they are really unusual at the moment. Nobody calls their kids Siobhan any more but it is hands down one of the nicest Irish girls names out there.

On the other hand - having an really unusual name that no one can pronounce or spell, and people have a glazed vacant 'unsure what was just said' response when they ask the little girl her name and she tells them...... thats pretty much every second kid at the moment.

Peregrinus

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Sure this has been asked before

Is Lile like Lily but an kind of Irish way of saying the same thing?

Lile is an Irish word and lily is an English word. Both are derived from the Latin word lilium, which in turn comes from the Greek leiriou. All four words refer to the same flower.

(Trivial fact of the day: almost every European language has a word for this flower which comes from either the Latin or Greek names, even languages which don't normally borrow from Latin or Greek.)

Tombo2001

Peregrinus wrote: »

Lile is an Irish word and lily is an English word. Both are derived from the Latin word lilium, which in turn comes from the Greek leiriou. All four words refer to the same flower.

(Trivial fact of the day: almost every European language has a word for this flower which comes from either the Latin or Greek names, even languages which don't normally borrow from Latin or Greek.)

OK....

If I could put this way.

You are talking to me about meanings.

Lily is a name, most people would recognise it as such.

Lile isnt.

The meaning is really besides the point. People dont go around thinking, here comes Daire - that means Oak. They just think, here comes Daire.

silver campaign

Our first born is called Réiltín . (Pronounced Rail-teen) It does mean little star, but the spelling of the name is slightly different to the spelling of the noun Réalta meaning Star.

We have only met one other Réiltín, but have come across the name in newspapers and TV , so there are a few more out there.

Peregrinus

Tombo2001 wrote: »

OK....

If I could put this way.

You are talking to me about meanings.

Lily is a name, most people would recognise it as such.

Lile isnt.

The meaning is really besides the point. People dont go around thinking, here comes Daire - that means Oak. They just think, here comes Daire.

But "Lily" wasn't a personal name until people started naming their children after the flower, a practice which AFAIK didn't arise until the late nineteenth century, in the US, from where it spread to other countries. Why should it not also spread to Ireland? Why should it be acceptable to use the English word in this way, but not the Irish?

iamwhoiam

Peregrinus wrote: »

Lile is an Irish word and lily is an English word. Both are derived from the Latin word lilium, which in turn comes from the Greek leiriou. All four words refer to the same flower.

(Trivial fact of the day: almost every European language has a word for this flower which comes from either the Latin or Greek names, even languages which don't normally borrow from Latin or Greek.)

Or Lilian used by the Germans or French . I see no reason at all why the name derived from the flower Lily ( Lilium ) cannot be used in its Irish form or Croatian form( Ljiljan ) or Latvian form .Why must we stick to Lily in its English form ? People can be very strange when it comes to using the Irish version of anything !!

lawred2

Peregrinus wrote: »

But "Lily" wasn't a personal name until people started naming their children after the flower, a practice which AFAIK didn't arise until the late nineteenth century, in the US, from where it spread to other countries. Why should it not also spread to Ireland? Why should it be acceptable to use the English word in this way, but not the Irish?

Whatever about meanings, origins or languages..

For me Lile doesn't look Irish at all and in a predominately English speaking country it runs the risk of always being pronounced 'Lyle' leading to the child continuously correcting people.

bee06

Tombo2001 wrote: »

OK....

If I could put this way.

You are talking to me about meanings.

Lily is a name, most people would recognise it as such.

Lile isnt.

The meaning is really besides the point. People dont go around thinking, here comes Daire - that means Oak. They just think, here comes Daire.

Lile is a name. It’s just not very common. There was actually a classroom in my secondary school called Naomh Lile.