Irish baby names are some of the most unique and beautiful in the world.
As the child of a Francophile I always resented my boring easily spelled name and was delighted when in national school the teacher gave everyone (who didn’t already have one) their “Irish” name during Irish. Though I noticed that anyone with an ‘S’ name was called Saidhbh and anyone with an ‘M’ name, Máire; everyone was pretty much Saidhbh or Máire (it wasn’t an exact science). Similarly no matter how anglo or foreign-sounding your surname was they just stuck and ‘Ó’ or a ‘Ní’ in front of it…
The popularity of unisex baby names is on the up and the Irish names really lend themselves to this trend. Lots of the names on the list are genuinely unisex and some are traditionally used for boys or girls but definitely could work for either.
20 Unisex Irish Baby Names That Will Work For Na Buachaillí Agus Na Cailíní!
1. Ailbe
Pronunciation: Ale-by
Old Irish word for white
2. Barra
Pronunciation: Bar-a
Meaning: Fair-haired
3. Banba
Pronunciation: Ban-ba
Meaning: One of the original goddess sister who founded Ireland
4. Branna
Meaning: Raven
5. Caoilainn
Pronunciation: Kay-lin
Meaning: from the words ‘caol’ meaning slender and fionn meaning ‘pure’.
6. Daire
Pronunciation: Dar-a
Meaning: Fruitful and fertile
7. Daireann
Pronunciation: Dar-awn
Meaning: Fruitful and bountiful
8. Dillon
Pronunciation: Dil-on
Meaning: From the Irish word ‘dealan’ meaning flash of lightning
9. Darcie
Pronunciation: Dar-cee
Meaning: Derived from the family name Ó Dorchaidhe meaning of the dark one, which may be slightly ominous sounding origins for a baby name but it is very pretty.
10. Enda
Pronunciation: En-da
Meaning: Bird
11. Eirnin
Pronunciation: Air-nin
Meaning: Iron
12. Fianna
Pronunciation: Fee-ana
Meaning: Ancient warrior army of Ireland
13. Faolan
Pronunciation: Fwail-awn
Meaning: from the word ‘faol’ meaning wolf
14. Murtagh
Pronunciation: Mur-ta
Meaning: Skills of the sea
15. Nollaig
Pronunciation: null-ig
Meaning: Christmas
16. Regan
Pronunciation: Ree-gan
Meaning: From the Irish word “rí” meaning king, it means king’s child.
17. Tierney
Pronunciation: Teer-nee
Meaning: Lord or chief
18. Odhran
Pronunciation: O-ran
Meaning: dark haired
19. Radha
Pronunciation: Row-a
Meaning: Beautiful view from the Irish word ‘radharc’ meaning view or vision
20. Rionnach
Pronunciation: Ree-in-ock
Meaning: Royal from the Irish word ‘Rí’ meaning king