Cool Irish Names for Babies

Introduction

What does cool mean when it comes to names for Irish babies? Something very different than it means for other kinds of baby names.

Our first edition of Cool Names for Babies was aimed at the American market, where cool names are often invented, drawn from a range of ethnic backgrounds, borrowed from places or surnames or things. In the USA, when it comes to baby names, anything from Heaven to Harlow to Harmony goes.

The British are more conservative, so when we devised the UK edition of Cool Names, we focused on the revival of such old-fashioned names as Edith and Arthur, on trendy short forms such as Dixie and Alfie, on royal names such as Leonie and Ludovic.

And then we came to the Irish. Irish baby-naming is a culture in itself, full of gorgeous and often obscure ancient names whose original bearers were kings and queens, mythological heroes and heroines, saints and fairies. During the centuries of British rule, these native Irish names were suppressed, with anglicised forms—Grace for Gráinne, Eugene for Eoghan—taking their place.

But after Irish independence, a priest named Patrick Woulfe started a campaign to restore the use of original Irish names. His 1923 book, Irish Names for Children, launched a national revolution in the way children were named. Ancient names were rediscovered, original forms were revived and a naming culture was restored to its original glory.

Today, such Irish names as Aoife and Conor and Niamh, Cian and Caoimhe and Cillian, Oisín and Róisín, Darragh and Aisling and Saoirse are at the top of the popularity charts. They share the spotlight with non-Irish names popular throughout the English-speaking world: Emma, Sophie and Ava for girls, Jack, Daniel and Luke for boys.

Which brings us back to the issue of cool.

Cool, when we’re talking about Irish names, most often means traditional. In many ways what’s old in Irish names is what’s new. The coolest names these days are the most deeply rooted ones, spelt the original way. Names scrambling the fastest up the popularity ladder, for instance, include Fionn and Ruairí and Aoibhe (in tandem with Finn and Rory and Eve).

And if distinctive, undiscovered names often count for cool in the rest of the world, they do in Ireland as well, where the rosters are full of such treasures. You’ll find them all in these pages, along with details about why their original bearers were so inspirational. Irish literature and theatre also offer a trove of stylish names with inspiring associations, along with lots of other sources, both expected and surprising.

Here are some basic rules to keep in mind when searching for a cool name for your baby:

Cool Means Unusual

In general, the more unusual a name, the cooler it is. With once-uncommon names such as Aoife, Luke and Ella now competing for the top spots, you have to move further and further from the mainstream to find a name that’s truly distinctive. While fashionable Irish names such as Aisling and Cian may still be wonderful choices (and perhaps ultimately the right ones for you), you can’t really call them cool. And trendy names ranging from Shane to Sophie, Chloe to Conor are simply too widely used to meet the prerequisites of cool.

Cool is Diverse

This is a trickier concept when it comes to names for Irish babies than it is for, say, American or British children, since the coolest names in Ireland are often the least diverse, the most ethnocentrically Irish. Still, Irish names don’t have a monopoly on cool, and some Irish parents may wish to search farther afield for fresh choices. But you don’t have to go too far: names from other Celtic cultures—Scottish and Welsh and Cornish and Breton—might provide the individuality you crave without sacrificing too much tradition. And if your tastes run more towards the pan-cultural Emma and Edward end of the spectrum, we’ve also included here names that are considered cool throughout the rest of an ever-shrinking Europe and across the Atlantic in the USA.

Cool Goes Beyond Convention

That’s not to say there aren’t fresh sources for Irish names with cultural resonance. Hero names—borne by politicians and poets and athletes—you might not have considered as first names are one idea. Irish last names are another, and not just the usual suspects such as Kelly and Ryan but O’Brien and Maguire and Sullivan as well. Irish place names can be yet another new locale in which to search for first names. And Irish words can be turned into names, too.

Cool Draws on Popular Culture

The world is full of inspiration for cool baby-naming—and more full every day, thanks to the innovative names of characters in films and books and to the names of starbabies and celebrities themselves. In these pages you’ll find a rundown of the coolest names in modern Irish literature and film, and of the stars and their children who influence baby-naming style.

Don’t Be Afraid of Cool

When today’s parents were growing up, if you had an unusual name, other kids thought you were a bit odd. But now that the concept of cool permeates culture, with so many people from celebrities to the other kids in the classroom bearing unusual names, children are more apt to admire distinctive names than to ridicule them. Children today are often more accepting than adults of names that are unfamiliar, from different cultures or that cross gender lines.

There’s More Than One Way to Be Cool

Cool wouldn’t be cool if it was too regimented. There are cool names to suit any sensibility or level of cool, from the mainstream to the avant-garde. How far you want to go depends on your taste, your sense of adventure, your community. Before you settle at either end of the spectrum or on one particular name, weigh the various options and become comfortable with the brand and level of cool that fits you best.

Cool Isn’t Everything

So what if you’re one of those people who realise that a cool name isn’t for you or your child? What if you read this book and find yourself intrigued, entertained, inspired…but in the end a lot more convinced than you realised that you want to give your child a plain, solid and decidedly uncool name such as John or Mary?

So what indeed. A name is not your personal style statement, a choice with which to impress the world. Rather, you should think of it as something that will identify your child for the rest of his or her life, a label he or she will have to live with forever. You may decide that cool is a desirable component of such a lifelong imprimatur. But then again, you may decide that, when it comes to a name, you want nothing to do with cool (just know you may have to suffer the consequences when your child is a teenager).

Whether or not you end up with a cool name, you owe it to your baby and your choice of a name to read this book. For one thing, you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of naming options here that you won’t find anywhere else, and that will open your eyes to a way of thinking about names that no other book or source can. And you’ll know for certain, after reading this book, what constitutes a cool name—even if you eventually decide that uncool is cool enough for you.