Irish Female Name Generator

In recent Irish birth statistics the most popular distinctly Irish girls' names are Fiadh, Éabha, Saoirse, Aoife, Caoimhe, Croía, Ciara and Clodagh, with Sadhbh, Méabh and Aoibhinn close behind. Niamh, Aisling, Orla and Sinéad were the big names of earlier decades and now belong to women in their twenties to fifties.

In the Irish language Ó means "descendant of" and is masculine; a daughter uses Ní (short for iníon uí, "daughter of the descendant") and a daughter of a Mac family uses Nic. The surname is also lenited, so a man is Ó Briain but his sister is Ní Bhriain. In English both become O'Brien, which is why the prefix difference is only visible in Irish-language forms.

Most English names have an accepted Irish form: Mary is Máire, Margaret is Mairéad, Catherine is Caitríona, Bridget is Bríd, Ellen and Helen are Eibhlín, Sarah is Sorcha, Joan is Siobhán, Jane is Sinéad, Agnes is Úna and Ann is Áine. Find the Irish first name in the list, then attach your surname in its Ní or Nic form.

Yes. The fully Gaelic forms such as Gormlaith Ní Dhomhnaill or Étaín Nic Giolla Phádraig suit medieval, mythic and Celtic-flavoured fantasy, and names like Deirdre, Gráinne, Étaín, Niamh and Clíodhna come straight from Irish legend. For a Victorian or emigrant-era story, use anglicised forms such as Bridget Flanagan or Kathleen Brosnan.