I’m writing a story that starts in the 30’s and goes until the present (or thereabouts). The main character is [name]Emmett[/name] McCarty, and he’s from a large Scottish-Irish family. He’s the baby of the family, the youngest of eight children, and I’m struggling with the names of his family members. Mainly, I need names for his parents and siblings.
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
For the parents, I’d go with something old school. I live in [name]Ireland[/name] and some of the more common “mom and dad” names include:
[name]Mary[/name], [name]Eileen[/name], [name]Fiona[/name], [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Catherine[/name] nn [name]Kay[/name], [name]Anne[/name], [name]Maureen[/name], [name]May[/name], [name]Aileen[/name], [name]Pauline[/name], [name]Patricia[/name], [name]Joan[/name] and Bernatte.
[name]John[/name], [name]Frank[/name], [name]Timothy[/name], [name]Paul[/name], [name]Micheal[/name] nn [name]Mick[/name]/[name]Mike[/name], [name]Padraig[/name]/[name]Patrick[/name] nn [name]Pat[/name], [name]Noel[/name], [name]Joseph[/name] nn [name]Joe[/name].
For the children, I’d go with Irish names that haven’t quite made it mainstream in the USA yet, such as:
[name]Aoife[/name], [name]Ciara[/name], [name]Alva[/name], [name]Aideen[/name], [name]Niamh[/name], [name]Aine[/name], [name]Roisin[/name], [name]Evanna[/name], [name]Orla[/name], [name]Saoirse[/name], [name]Aoibheann[/name], [name]Caoimhe[/name]/[name]Keeva[/name], [name]Cate[/name], [name]Maeve[/name]/Meabh, [name]Sinead[/name], [name]Emer[/name], [name]Aisling[/name] or [name]Nessa[/name].
Cillan/[name]Killian[/name], [name]Cian[/name], [name]Liam[/name], [name]Cathal[/name], [name]Oisin[/name], [name]Colm[/name]/[name]Callum[/name], [name]Owen[/name], [name]Kieran[/name]/[name]Ciaran[/name], [name]Ruairi[/name]/[name]Rory[/name], [name]Darragh[/name]/[name]Dara[/name].
[name]Hope[/name] that helped 
Suggestions;
Mum and dad;
[name]Mary[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Dermot[/name] [name]John[/name] McCarty
Children:
[name]Ciaran[/name] [name]John[/name] McCarty
[name]Daniel[/name] [name]Eoin[/name] McCarty
[name]Maria[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] McCarty
[name]Patrick[/name] [name]Kelly[/name] McCarty
[name]Fiona[/name] [name]Kay[/name] McCarty
[name]Roisin[/name] [name]Abigail[/name] McCarty
[name]Andrew[/name] [name]Sean[/name] McCarty
and [name]Emmett[/name] [name]Francis[/name] McCarty
@ lucykate219 & michaela: Some of those names feel a little too…modern. The early part of the story is set during the Great Depression, in rural [name]Tennessee[/name], so [name]Ciaran[/name], [name]Roisin[/name], [name]Saoirse[/name], [name]Aisling[/name] might be a bit too out there, at least for this particular family.
ok, I’ll give this another go…
[name]Emmett[/name] McCarty…
[name]Gerard[/name]
[name]Gerald[/name] nn [name]Gerry[/name]
[name]Kevin[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name]
[name]Brian[/name]
[name]Kenneth[/name]
Cahal/Cathall
[name]Charles[/name]
[name]Colin[/name]
[name]David[/name]
[name]Desmond[/name]
[name]Eamon[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Alan[/name]
[name]Alasdair[/name]
[name]Alec[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]
[name]Aine[/name]
[name]Brigid[/name] or [name]Bridget[/name]
Bronagh
[name]Kathleen[/name]
[name]Catriona[/name] or [name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Clare[/name]
[name]Colleen[/name]
[name]Deirdre[/name]
[name]Eileen[/name]
[name]Eithne[/name]
[name]Enya[/name]
[name]Finola[/name]
[name]Grainne[/name]
[name]Maeve[/name]
[name]Mairead[/name]
[name]Sheila[/name]
[name]Sinead[/name]
[name]Siobhan[/name]
Hmm, I see. I understand why you’d feel like that when those names are only becoming popular in the UK/USA now, but those names have been popular here since before the Great Famine (1845) so they are really old, and would have been used back then.
Some other ideas:
[name]Noreen[/name]
[name]Maureen[/name]
Fionnula
[name]Eithne[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Maire[/name] ([name]Mara[/name])
[name]Elsa[/name]
[name]Doreen[/name]
[name]Nora[/name]
[name]Eileen[/name]
[name]Eilis[/name] (Eye-leash)
[name]Bridgit[/name]
Because it’s set in [name]Tennessee[/name], I think it’s fair to guess that the names don’t all have to be Scottish or Irish in origin. I believe [name]Emmett[/name] is [name]German[/name], though it sounds like it would fit in with Irish names. I checked some popular names for the time period, maybe some of them you’ll like?
[name]Robert[/name]
[name]John[/name]
[name]Eugene[/name]
[name]Calvin[/name]
[name]Russell[/name]
[name]Marvin[/name]
[name]Edwin[/name]
[name]Frederick[/name]
[name]Leon[/name]
[name]Cecil[/name]
[name]Dean[/name]
[name]Gene[/name]
[name]Glen[/name]
[name]Morris[/name]
[name]Patrick[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Ivan[/name]
[name]Merle[/name]
[name]Allan[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Dorothy[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]
[name]Irene[/name]
[name]Lillian[/name]
[name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Edith[/name]
[name]Hazel[/name]
[name]Vivian[/name]
[name]Elsie[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name]
[name]Rosemary[/name]
[name]Leona[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Mabel[/name]
[name]Sara[/name]
[name]Miriam[/name]
[name]Estelle[/name]
[name]Laverne[/name]
[name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Victoria[/name]
[name]Adeline[/name]
Hopefully that can be of some help.
[name]Hugh[/name], [name]Mairead[/name], [name]Maire[/name], [name]John[/name] and [name]Patrick[/name] would be some of the best for that time.
I don’t think you could not have some form or other of [name]Mary[/name] if its Irish, and [name]John[/name] or [name]Sean[/name] too.
I don’t know much in the way of Scottish names, so I’m no use their.
My own (Irish) Grand parents who would have being born around the 30s are [name]Felix[/name] and [name]Annie[/name](who has been called [name]Nancy[/name] her whole life) and [name]Maureen/name and [name]Joseph[/name].
[name]Hope[/name] that helped you.