Irish names

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

I'm working on a story involving an Irish Catholic family in NYC with 13 children. The children would have been born between 1950 and 1975 (ish) and I'm working with an alphabet theme of Irish names. The first 12 are boys, the last is a girl. I don't even know if all will make an appearance in the story, but I like to name things so what the heck LOL.

So, A-L Irish boy name suggestions and M Irish girl suggestions please!

Thanks!

Comments

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

Your family is American, so you would likely want the Anglicized versions of names:

For the girl:
Maureen
Moira or Mary
Molly (was in the top 200 for US girls' names in 1975)
Margaret (also in the top 100 in 1975)
Megan (not specifically an Irish name in origin, but it might sound right and it was 69th in popularity for girls in 1975)

For the boys:

Brendan (doesn't really start rising in popularity until 1966, though) or Brian (in the top 100 from 1947 through to 2010)
Carey (not popular for boys really in the timeframe you're looking at) or Christopher
Devin (doesn't really rise in popularity until sometime in the '80s, but it could still be usable) or Donald (in the top 100 for a long time, in the top 30 between 1950 and 1970) or Daniel (also another steadily popular one)
Gerald (in the top 100 until 1971)
John (a top 10 name from 1880 through to 1986)

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

If you replace "NYC" with "St. Louis," you'd have my mother's family. They were all born in that span of time...but there were 8 girls and 5 boys. Sorry, I just thought that was an amusing coincidence.

Aidan
Blaine, Blair, Brian, Brendan, Brady, Brody
Callum, Carroll, Carrick, Casey, Cassidy, Cian, Cillian, Clancy, Colin, Connor, Corey, Cormac, Corrin, Cowan, Craig, Cullen, Curran
Darcy, Darby, Darren, Declan, Delaney, Dermot (Diarmid), Derry, Devin, Devlin, Digby, Dillon, Donal, Donnell, Donovan, Dugan, Dwayne
Ea, Eachan, Eagan, Eamon(n), Earl, Eion, Evan
Fagan, Farrell, Fergus, Ferris, Fitzroy, Flynn, Forbes
Gallagher, Galloway, Galvin, Garrett, Garvey, Genty, Ghilchrist, Gilmore, Glenn, Godfrey, Gorman, Grady,
Hagen, Haley, Harkin, Hoyt, Hurley
Innis, Irving
Jarlath
Kearney, Keegan, Keenan, Keir, Kellen, Kelly, Kelvin, Kendrick, Kennedy, Kenneth, Kenyon, Keon, Kerry, Kevin, Kier(n)an, Killian, Kinnard, Kyle
Larkin, Laughlin, Lennon, Liam, Lochlain, Loman, Lorcan, Lunn, Lynch

Mab, Mackenzie, Maeve, Maira/Maire/Mare, Maura, Maureen, McKenna, McKinley, Megan/Meagan/Meghan, Melvina, Moira, Molly/Mollie, Mona, Morena, Myrna

I hope this helps.

[r0ck-y0ur-s0ul.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy Moira as a girls name.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-dahling-/]

Madigan

[gemmagic.livejournal.com]

This. Madigan is my very favourite Irish girls name beginning with M. I read a book last year where the main character/villian was named Madigan. :)

[starcrossed.livejournal.com]

Aidan (or Aedan the Irish spelling)
Brendan (Breandan)
Colm
Dermot
Eamon
Fergal
Gerald
Hugh
Iollan
Jarlath
Kevin
Lorcan
Maeve

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Maeve, Mary (or you could spell it Maire),Maggie, Maria, Maura, Meg, Moira.. That's about all I've got right now. You'll notice most of them come from Mary!

Personally, Mary, Meg and Maeve are my favourites.

[chadwah.livejournal.com]

My husband's family is Irish Catholic, and his dad and dad's siblings names (all born around that time) are:

Edward (nn Riley), Richard, Michael Thomas, Meghan (pronounced "MEE-gan") Brigid, Mark (goes by mn Colin), Moira, Brigid Meghan

Other interesting family names from that same side: Charlotte Ursula (born in Ireland), Pierce, Peter Leo (LOTS of Peters)


I LOVE the name Moira, and Brigid, too. Not sure if it was generational or what, but it seems interesting that they went with Irish names for the girls and either Biblical or English names for the boys... The sibset is also all 2nd generation American, if it matters.

[takhallus.livejournal.com]

I have a friend born in that time frame whose name is Maire (pronounced Moya)

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

My mom is the 6th of 8 from an Irish Catholic family in the suburbs of NYC born between 1944 and 1957. They are Kathleen, Patricia, Craig, Kevin, Claire, Ann, Janet, and John. Not trying to tell you how to write your story but if these kids were born in the US, it's unlikely that they would have EXTREMELY Irish names, they would be far more likely to be kind of Irish-English hybrid names because especially in the 1950s there was still a bit of a stigma about being "too ethnic."

Based on my mom's family as well as families she grew up with (as well as consulting the SSA list, adding 2 years with each letter starting at 1950):
Alan/Allen, Andrew*, Albert, Adam (1950)
Barry, Bryan/Brian*, Brendan (1952)
Craig*, Charles, Calvin, Chester (1954)
David, Donald*, Douglas, Duane (1956)
Eagan/Egan, Eric, Edward*, Ernest (1958)
Frank, Frederick, Francis* (1960)
Gregory, George, Glenn*, Gerald (1962)
Henry*, Howard, Herbert, Hugh (1964)
Ian, Ivan*, Irving (1966)
John*, Jerry, Jason, Jonathan, Joel, Jack (1968)
Kevin*, Kelly, Keith, Kirk, Karl (1970)
Lucas, Larry*, Lee, Lance (1972)
Mary, Margaret, Megan, Martha, Meredith, Molly, Maureen* (1974)
* is my first choice

[chadwah.livejournal.com]

Not trying to tell you how to write your story but if these kids were born in the US, it's unlikely that they would have EXTREMELY Irish names, they would be far more likely to be kind of Irish-English hybrid names because especially in the 1950s there was still a bit of a stigma about being "too ethnic."

This. It was the era for that all around -- my husband's family's generation at the time is above, and while the sisters all have Irish names, none of the brothers do. My dad and his siblings, for another example (not Irish, but 1st generation American Polish Jews): William (originally Zev), Roy, and Michelle.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

Cornelius/Connie, the brother of a family friend (born here, but to immigrant parents). the others were William/Billy, Michael, and.... eh, can't remember the 4th. but it was more american sounding, too.

M is easy, Moira/Maura, Maggie, Molly, Maureen, Mary (or Mary Kate)... etc.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

yeah. there would totally not be an Aidan, for example *looks at above comments*

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

Thats actually a really good point (the ethnic stigma). Thank you for pointing it out!

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

The point was actually made by my mom because I called her to ask her names from some of the families she grew up with. She was born in 1953 so she's definitely a great resource if you need more names for a particular letter.

[silvermidnight.livejournal.com]

how is Iollan spelled? I've never heard of it but I like it!

[so-there.livejournal.com]

I just remembered the name of the 4th brother--Jack. which reminds me of my uncle-by-marriage of the same name, also with immigrant parents. he has a brother named Brian. they were also born in the time frame you're thinking.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

Except that my aunt, who was born in 1973 (youngest of 13), had a childhood playmate named Aidan (though it was pronounced "Eye-din", apparently). So, no, just because a name is popular now does not mean it was never used before the surge.

Also, when I went through a name book, Aidan was the only "A" name marked with an Irish origin.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

It's true that a lot of Irish Catholic families had Anglo names, but perhaps she wants to go with very Irish names for thematic reasons. We shouldn't say "don't do that" because it wasn't a widespread trend then. Especially when I see people promoting lots of unusual names around here.

Also, Craig, Kevin, and Kathleen are all stereotypically Irish.

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

I did say "Not trying to tell you how to write your story but..."

Kathleen and Kevin are Anglicized forms of Irish names (Caitlín and Caoimhín respectively), commonly used in Irish-American families. Craig is actually a Scottish surname that has been adopted as a first name.

[kerijm27.livejournal.com]

My daughter has an "Eye-din" in her class. His is spelled Aydin. I have NO idea what his family background is though. We really thought of doing an Irish name (my grandmother is Irish), but most people would have really messed up our faves - Eoin & Cian. DH had NO idea how to pronounce them until I told him lol