Fascination Irish Names

I have noticed that quite a lot of people are fascinated by Irish names (me included). Take my pen name, for example: Saoirse O'Mara.

The Irish word "saoirse" means "freedom", whereas the last name "Mara", or "O'Mara", is derived from the Irish word for "merry". When I looked for a pen name, I made short lists of my favourite first and last names found in a list of Irish names, noted down their pronunciation and meaning too, and then googled the combinations. From the combinations which didn't come up with any Google results, Saoirse O'Mara was my favourite. It looks really nice written down, I like the pronunciation (SEERsha O'Mara), and I absolutely love its meaning: merry freedom.

Many popular English names have Irish (Gaelic) equivalents (for example James = Séamus, Patrick = Pádraig, Kevin = Caoimhín, Owen = Eoghan (male) or Sarah = Sorcha, Mary = Máire, Jane = Sinéad, Catherine = Caitlín (female)). However, many Irish names are derived from Latin, Arabic and other influences due to Ireland's history. Take Pádraig, for example. Pádraig, or Patrick, is of Latin origin and comes from the Latin name Patricius, which means "nobleman". Saint Patrick, the bishop who brought Celtic Ireland the Christian beliefs, adopted that name after he had been captured and brought up far from home.

If you want to look up various Irish first names and their etymology and meaning, Behind the Name is a good place to start. Namenerds is a true treasure chest for everyone interested in Irish names, as the website has several lists for Irish first names, names by meaning, Irish translations of English names and so on. If you plan to give your baby an Irish name, you can find lots of Irish baby names, their origins and meanings on Baby Names of Ireland.