Celtic names for witch queens

Writers' Corner
1

I’m writing a novel at the moment that centres largely around a group of 4 cousins, and I can’t settle on any of their names. I want them all the have Celtic names, and I’ll be especially pleased if I can name them after characters in Celtic folklore, but that seems unlikely.

My characters are;

Cousin 1. She’s my main villain, and a very powerful witch (second only to her aunt [name_f]Niamh[/name_f]). She becomes queen in the first chapter after the death of her parents ([name_m]Lachlan[/name_m] and [name_f]Finola[/name_f]). She’s cousin 2’s elder sister. I want to name her [name_f]Aoife[/name_f], but its hard to pronounce, and as far as I’m aware doesn’t have a commonly accepted English version.

Cousin 2. She’s the only one of the cousins not to have blonde hair. Her hair is dark red, so I’d like for her name to mean red. I’ve been considering [name_u]Roan[/name_u], but I don’t think it goes well with the rest of the names in her family. I’ve also been thinking about [name_m]Mael[/name_m] (which was the name of Lady MacBeth’s grandson, but is also a a feminine name), but I think it should be pronounced like [name_u]Mal[/name_u], which I’m not keen on.

Cousin 3. She is my main character and [name_f]Niamh[/name_f]'s daughter. I’ve always intended on naming her [name_f]Bryony[/name_f], but now I’m not 100% sure. She’s definitely a warrior type character, with little witch-type power, but she’s not masculine and I want to give her a name that whilst feminine is not too girly, which I think [name_f]Bryony[/name_f] fits, but its not Celtic.

Cousin 4. She’s a fairly minor character throughout the books but does some major stuff. She, unlike her cousins, is half mortal and does not really resemble a witch at all. She is always been called [name_f]Orlaith[/name_f] in my head, but again I’m worried about the pronunciation. My second choice for her would be [name_f]Nuala[/name_f], but then I would have to change [name_f]Finola[/name_f]'s name, as they are too similar and originate from the same name. I do, however, prefer [name_f]Nuala[/name_f] to [name_f]Orla[/name_f] (the English spelling of [name_f]Orlaith[/name_f]).

Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to give enough information. Is there anyone who can give me their thoughts of their names?

2

[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_f]Aithne[/name_f] for number 1? Sounds similar, much easier to pronouce (I believe it means fire)

3

Thanks tally! I think it probably is easier to pronounce but I don’t see her as a firey character at all. I think if I were to asign her an a nature it would be water.

4

Does anybody else have any opinions?

5

I don’t know a thing about celtic names but here I go:

I don’t think [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] is hard to pronounce. I think the closest “easy” thing would be [name_f]Eva[/name_f]?

You can spell [name_m]Mael[/name_m] as Maël to make claer it’s not pronounced “[name_u]Mal[/name_u]”.
A quick search for names meaning red turned up [name_m]Flann[/name_m], [name_f]Garnet[/name_f], [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], [name_u]Rory[/name_u]. Also [name_f]Kamala[/name_f], which is indian, but i think it sounds fine with the others.

If you’re looking for something with a warrior-meaning to replace [name_f]Bryony[/name_f], these all sound good: Browse Names - Behind the Name
Or just stick with [name_f]Bryony[/name_f]. It doesn’t stick out or anything.

If you want to replace [name_f]Finola[/name_f], how about [name_f]Fabiola[/name_f]? If you’d rather replace [name_f]Orla[/name_f]/[name_f]Nuala[/name_f], you could use [name_f]Mona[/name_f], [name_f]Maire[/name_f], [name_f]Moira[/name_f], [name_f]Nola[/name_f], [name_f]Oona[/name_f], [name_f]Onora[/name_f], [name_f]Eira[/name_f].

All in all I think you should stick with your original choices. It’s not that bad that they’re not all celtic.

6

Purely from the title, my first thought was [name_f]Morgana[/name_f], which I think I like best for Cousin 3.

I would name them:

~Cousin 1:
[name_f]Rowena[/name_f] or [name_f]Isolde[/name_f]

~Cousin 2:
[name_f]Roisin[/name_f] (as she has red hair) or [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] (like [name_m]Mael[/name_m] but more feminine)

~Cousin 3:
[name_f]Morgana[/name_f] or [name_f]Gwyneth[/name_f] or [name_f]Grainne[/name_f] or [name_f]Brigid[/name_f] (the meaning of [name_f]Brigid[/name_f] would fit with her being a warrior)

~Cousin 4:
[name_f]Moira[/name_f] or [name_f]Elspeth[/name_f] (neither have pronunciation issues)

7

[name_m]Mael[/name_m] can be pronounced Myle

8

Thanks everyone! I considered spelling [name_m]Mael[/name_m] Maël to change the pronunciation, but it makes it non-Celtic, which voids the point in the name to begin with. I do like the Myle pronunciation though.

I also really like the suggestion of [name_f]Roisin[/name_f] for Cousin 2! And I’m going to stick with [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] and [name_f]Bryony[/name_f] for cousins 1 and 3. I’m still undecided about 4 though. I may keep her as [name_f]Nuala[/name_f] and make [name_f]Finola[/name_f] as [name_f]Orla[/name_f].