Ancient Irish Gaelic Girls name?

Writers' Corner
1

[name]Long[/name] story short, this girl is descended from a Celtic warrior goddess and has to save the world before its taken over by evil, dark creatures called shades. She’s 5’4, very pale, willowy build, with grey eyes and dark brown hair. She’s an observer, and likes to step back and watch what’s going on before joining in. Socially awkward, she’s very smart and clever and can be a bit of a smart ass and very feisty when she warms up to someone. This girl is very stubborn and loyal to the death and very protective of what she loves.

Names I’m considering:
[name]Delaney[/name]
”ine
[name]Fallon[/name]
[name]Moira[/name]
Riley

Any suggestions, ideas, ect, would be greatly appreciated!

2

Some other suggestions
[name]Maeve[/name]
Ailidh
[name]Ailis[/name]
[name]Brigit[/name]
[name]Fiona[/name]
[name]Keira[/name]
[name]Niamh[/name]
[name]Orla[/name]
[name]Roisin[/name]
From your list I like: [name]Moira[/name] and [name]Aine[/name]. [name]Hope[/name] this helped!

3

I’m a native Irish speaker, born and bred in [name]Ireland[/name]. The Irish spelling of [name]Riley[/name] is [name]Reilly[/name]. :slight_smile:

  • Laoíse (“lee-sha”), it’s an Irish name that means warrior maiden.
  • [name]Niamh[/name] (“n-eave”), the story of Tír Na nÓg.
  • [name]Ciara[/name].
  • [name]Saoirse[/name] (“sear-sha”), taken from the Irish word saor, which means free(dom).
  • [name]Aoife[/name] (“ee-fa”).
  • [name]Ashling[/name] (“ash-ling”), means vision or dream.
  • [name]Cara[/name] (“car-a”), it’s the Irish word for friend.
  • [name]Deirdre[/name] (“dear-dra”), the Irish legend, [name]Deirdre[/name] of the Sorrows.
  • [name]Nessa[/name], wife of one of the Kings of Ulster.

[name]Hope[/name] that helps in some way. :slight_smile:

4

My favourite from your list is ”ine.
Here are some of my favs… Sorry I don’t know where they came from.

[name]Aoife[/name](“ee + fa”)
[name]Brigid[/name](“bridge + id”)
[name]Caoimhe[/name](“kee + va”)
[name]Ciara[/name](“kee + ra”)
[name]Deirdre[/name](deer + dre”)
[name]Maebh[/name](“may + v”)
[name]Mairead[/name](“mawr + aid”)
[name]Niamh/name
[name]Roisin[/name](“ro + sheen”)
[name]Saoirse[/name](“sear + sha”)
[name]Siobhan[/name](“shiv + awn”)
[name]Sorcha[/name](“sor + aka”)
[name]Yseult[/name](“ee + solt”)

5

I would avoid [name]Fallon[/name], [name]Riley[/name] and [name]Delaney[/name], personally. They aren’t used as given names in modern day [name]Ireland[/name], let alone ancient times! They are all very much considered popular surnames and are NOT used as given names. I don’t mean to offend, but I would question whether the author of a book had researched her story properly if any of her characters (ancient or otherwise) were Irish and named things such as [name]Fallon[/name], [name]McKenzie[/name], [name]Riley[/name], etc. because they simply aren’t used as names in [name]Ireland[/name]. I would consider them faux Irish…Generally used by people not living in the country but who still want to honour their Irish ancestors/culture.

You’ve been given some great suggestions! I’ll add…

Sive (or [name]Sadhbh[/name]. Rhymes with “five”)
[name]Grainne[/name] (grawn-ya. [name]King[/name] of like anya with “gra-” at the beginning)
[name]Aoibheann[/name] ([name]Eve[/name]-een or Ay-veen. Means “love”)
[name]Saoirse[/name] (seer-sha)
Saorla (Sare-la)

6

Agree, with PinkBallerina most of the names you’ve listed are modern and not used in [name]Ireland[/name]. You can’t use [name]Saoirse[/name] either as it’s only had modern usage.

Most modern Irish names have been anglicised or the spelling changed a bit to make them work with modern Gaelic. If you’re going to use [name]Maeve[/name] you need to use the old spelling Medb, old form of [name]Brigid[/name] would be [name]Brigit[/name], the old form of [name]Nessa[/name] is Neas, the older form of [name]Deirdre[/name] is Deirdru. [name]Moira[/name] is the anglicised version of [name]Maire[/name].

[name]Etain[/name]
[name]Emer[/name]
Clidna
Muirne
Sadb
Liadan
Lassairfhionna

Please note I’ve left out a lot of accents as I can’t find them easily on my keyboard, but you’ll need them if you want the name prn properly.