I am pregnant with my third child, my first with my husband. We decided not to find out the sex, so I need boys’ and girls’ names. We have completely opposite opinions on every name!
My husband has an Irish background and really wants an Irish name. He likes strong names that are meaningful and/or have a strong history, especially from myths and Irish stories. For girls his favorite for years have been Blathain (blah-heen)–no way! Sorry, [name]Honey[/name]!–and Niahm (nee-ev). For a boy he likes Fian, which is okay but rhymes with our last name so it’s out, and [name]Cormac[/name], which I’m so-so on. I’ve browsed hundreds of Irish/Celtic/Gaelic names and, though I TRY to love at least one, I’m just not wild about any of them.
My daughters’ first names came to me in dreams and have very significant meanings for me. Their other names are family names: [name]Sage[/name] [name]Amara[/name] [name]Helen[/name] and [name]Lotus[/name] (nn [name]Lolo[/name]) [name]Alana[/name] [name]Jill[/name]. I love earthy, pretty names that have strong meanings, for girls and for boys.
I’m a regular lurker on these forums and always see so many awesome suggestions for people who are stuck. I know someone out there can help us! Thanks!
This one is tough. I tried to find Irish names that flowed well with [name]Sage[/name] and [name]Lotus[/name] (very pretty names, by the way) or had an earthy meaning.
[name]Carlow[/name]
[name]Fallon[/name]
[name]Finn[/name]
Grian (means sun)
[name]Kellen[/name]
[name]Nolan[/name]
[name]Quinlan[/name] or [name]Quin[/name]
[name]Shay[/name] or [name]Shea[/name] (hawk)
[name]Aislin[/name] (vision, dream)
[name]How[/name] about [name]Callum[/name] for a boy (Columba - Wikipedia). I also like [name]Ronan[/name], [name]Declan[/name], and [name]Finn[/name].
For girls I’m fond of [name]Sorcha[/name], [name]Ciara[/name] or [name]Cliona[/name].
Honestly I think [name]Maeve[/name] is the perfect girls name for you. You husband should love it in any case. I’m also a fan of [name]Bridget[/name]. Irish boy names I’m not as keen on, so I don’t have any suggestions unfortunately.
Thank you for the suggestions! Some of these are tentatively on our lists, but I’m not in love with any of them. [name]Aoife[/name] is my favorite and might be a possibility. [name]Sage[/name], [name]Lotus[/name] and [name]Aoife[/name] works. I think it will be really hard to find a name that’s nice with [name]Sage[/name] and [name]Lotus[/name] without being totally matchy. I had that dilemma when I named [name]Lotus[/name]–I didn’t really want them to match, but that was just her name. Nothing else would have been right.
I’ve always loved [name]Beatrix[/name] and Talulah, which are in another world of names, but I might be quirky enough to kind of fit. Hubbie wrinkled his nose at them, of course, and promptly suggested Buddica…It’ll be a long road.
[name]Rowen[/name]/[name]Rowan[/name] is nice for a boy, although I think it’s pretty popular and we know a couple of Rowens already. I think most boys we know have names ending in -en/-an! Boys names are so difficult for me!
I like [name]Talullah[/name] and think it fits nicely with your girls, and for a boy Fian is nice.
Here are some other Irish names I found with an earthy meaning that I think sound nice:
for a boy what about [name]Oisin[/name] (osh-een)? It means ‘little deer’ but i reckon, since it sounds a bit like [name]Ocean[/name] it’ll go really nicely with your two girls!
[name]Sage[/name], [name]Lotus[/name] and [name]Oisin[/name]!
Ooh this is tough. [name]Sage[/name] and [name]Lotus[/name] are lovely names and very clearly nature names too, so it could be difficult finding something that will match that is also Irish. A lot of Irish names are quite difficult to pronounce for people who aren’t Irsh as well, and next to [name]Sage[/name] and [name]Lotus[/name], which are very clear to pronounce, it could make it stand out even more.
Hm, [name]Sage[/name] and [name]Lotus[/name] are very clearly nature names. [name]How[/name] about [name]Clover[/name] for a girl, it fits with your theme and is strongly associated with [name]Ireland[/name]. [name]Rosemary[/name], [name]Fern[/name] and Thistle are also native to [name]Ireland[/name] and could work as names. For a boy [name]Heath[/name] perhaps? Or [name]Bran[/name] (means raven). Or [name]Dara[/name] ([name]Darragh[/name]) which means “oak tree” (in [name]Ireland[/name] it’s a boy name, but I personally like it on a girl). Some other Irish/naturey names: Girls
[name]Clodagh[/name] (name of a river in [name]Ireland[/name])
[name]Deirdre[/name]
[name]Enna[/name]
[name]Finola[/name]/[name]Fionnuala[/name] (feh-NOO-la) (in Irish mythology, she was turned into a swan)
[name]Maeve[/name]
[name]Nessa[/name]
[name]Poppy[/name]
[name]Quinn[/name]
[name]Roisin[/name] (roh-[name]SHEEN[/name]. Means rose)
Boys
Cairbre
[name]Cian[/name] (KEE-in or [name]KEEN[/name])
[name]Conley[/name]
[name]Declan[/name]
[name]Dermot[/name]
[name]Donegal[/name] (a bay)
[name]Finnian[/name]
[name]Flann[/name]
[name]Kent[/name]
[name]Lachlan[/name]
[name]Oscar[/name] (deer lover)
[name]Padraig[/name]
[name]Rowan[/name]
[name]Seamus[/name]
[name]Tadhg[/name] (TEEG)
[name]Torin[/name]
I told a friend of mine our dilemma today and she immediately said, [name]Fionnuala[/name]. I’ve read it before, but hearing her say it, I fell in love right away. I told my husband and he wasn’t convinced, but as he sat with it, he eventually said, “OK, it’s on the list. We’ll keep that one.” It’s similar to [name]Tallulah[/name] and has some cute nn–[name]Nula[/name], Finny. Still stuck on a boys’ name, but there was a little progress today. Thank you! Please keep them coming!
Girls
[name]Saoirse[/name]/ [name]Sorcha[/name]
[name]Orla[/name]
[name]Erin[/name]
Aila
[name]Bonnie[/name]
[name]Cadie[/name]- Might be a bit simple for your taste? Not sure, but a lovely classic name I think
[name]Finola[/name]
[name]Carys[/name]
[name]Eilis[/name]
[name]Ennis[/name]
[name]Iona[/name]
[name]Isla[/name]
[name]Onora[/name]
[name]Una[/name]
[name]Nuala[/name]
[name]Caoimhe[/name]
[name]Galatea[/name]- Not Irish but I thought goes nicely with your two girls (beautiful) names so far! (NN: [name]Gee[/name], [name]Gia[/name])
[name]Catriona[/name]
(You asked for Earthy and the following actually MEAN earth. haha)
[name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Eartha[/name]
[name]Gaia[/name]
[name]Adaminna[/name] (Scottish, meaning [name]Earth[/name]. Possible NN: [name]Minna[/name]?)
[name]Hope[/name] a couple of these help! [name]Do[/name] let me know if any do, hahaha. Im curious now
Irish names are always unusual and also classic.
X
My husband and I are both Irish and also love the irish names. My sons name is [name]Tadhg[/name] ( pronounced [name]Ty[/name]-g) and people love its simplicity. Its a very old Irish name. My suggestion is looking into names of counties or towns in [name]Ireland[/name] that you like or are in the area that your husbands family’s history comes from. For Example, counties [name]Cavan[/name] or [name]Carlow[/name] are nice ( [name]Cavan[/name] sounding like the ever popular [name]Gavin[/name] )
Here are some of my favourites :
Boys
[name]Tadhg[/name]
[name]Fionn[/name]
[name]Cavan[/name]
[name]Declan[/name]
Rauri
[name]Emmet[/name]
Thanks!