Irish girls names

Traditional Irish girls names A-D

With each of the Irish girls names below I've given an approximate pronunciation. However, knowing a few basics about the Irish language may help you to understand some of the more outrageous spellings and to unravel the pronunciation for yourself.

Dearbhorgaill: a beautiful name for a beautiful child.

There are certainly some letter combinations that are alien to English. Just look at the delightful name Dearbhorgaill. It's a great example of a name that is guaranteed to stump the native English-speaker.

More Pronunciation Tips:

Mh, like bh, is usually v, sometimes w.

Dh, fh and gh are usually silent (take a look at Brighid below)

Sh and th are pronounced h or silent (see Cobhaith below).

Ch is gutteral, as in Bach.

C is always hard as in cat (not cigar).

S is pronounced sh before an e or i.

The accent above some vowels is called a fada, which means 'long'. It's a clue!

Just the sight of the bh is enough to confuse. Well, if you know that bh and mh are usually pronounced 'v', you'd be off to a flying start.

The first syllable, however, is not 'dear' as in 'Dear John', but 'dar'. This is because 'e', which is usually pronounced as in 'bet', is silent when it appears before an 'a'. So the first six letters, make up 'darv'.

The second syllable appears simple enough but don't overdo that 'o'. It should be pronounced lke the 'u' in 'put', giving you more of a soft 'er' sound than an 'or' sound.

Moving to the end of the final syllable, and it is the turn of the 'a' to be silent to give you 'gill'. Putting the emphasis on the first syllable and running the three elements together , you have Darv-er-gill.

You may notice in this list of Irish girls names that old names spelt with a K in English are spelt with a C in Irish. This is because there is no letter K in the Irish alphabet.

Irish Name	Pronunciation	English equivalent	Meaning or Origin
Ailbhe	Al-veh	xxxx	A unisex name dating back to the 11th century, one of the best-known bearers was the daughter of the fairy king, Midir.
Aileen	ay-leen	Eileen	Means little noble one.
Áine	Awn-ya	Anna	A very common Irish baby girl name from 1300-1500. It's been revived as a solidly popular name since the 1990s.
Aobhinn	Ee-vin	xxxx	The name of a number of princesses in the Middle Ages, it means beautiful sheen. Returning to popularity in modern times, it entered the top 100 for the first time in 2006.
Aoife	Eefa	Eva/Ava	In legend, the evil second wife of King Lir, who was turned into a crow as punishment for her jealousy. One of the most traditional Irish names, it means beautiful or radiant, and it topped the baby girl's list in 2000.
Betha	Bay-thah	xxxx	Means life (as in Uisce Beatha = water of life = whiskey).
Briana	Bree-an-ah	xxxx	The female version of the all-time popular name of Brian.
Brighid	Breed	xxxx	From the Irish brigh, meaning high or powerful, this was the name of the most important Celtic goddess.
Brigid/Brigit	Bridge-id/it	Bridget	A common Irish girls name in modern times with many pet forms including Biddy, Bridie, Dina and Delia. It dates back only to medieval times.
Caitlín	Kate-lynn	Katherine	A pet form of Catríona
Caoimhe	Kwee-vah/Kee-va	xxxx	Means beauiful, gentle or graceful. One of the top 20 baby names since 2001.
Cara	Car-ah	Kara	Means friend in Irish.
Catríona	Coh-tree-nah	Katherine/Kathleen	An alternative Irish version of Katherine
Ciara	Kee-rah	Keira	Meaning dark, this is the feminine form of Ciarán. For the first time in ten years, it fell just outside the top 10 most popular Irish girls names in 2007.
Cobhlaith	Kov-lah	xxxx	One of the oldest Irish girls names, of uncertain meaning, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries.
Dáire	Dah-rah	Dara	A unisex name meaning fruitful, it occurs regularly in Irish legends.
Damhnait	Dav-nit	Dympna	Meaning little deer, among its most famous holders was the wife of a king of Munster, Áed Bennán.
Dearbhail	Dar-vil	Dervla	Known as far back as the 7th century, the name may have meant 'daughter of Fál' (Fál being the legendary name for Ireland.)
Dearbhorgaill	Dar-vor-gil	xxxx	Means daughter of Forgall, a god. A well-known bearer of the name was the wife of Tigernán Ó Ruairc, king of Breifne, who eloped with Dermot, king of Leinster.
Deirdre	Deer-dree	Dierdre	Of uncertain origin, this is the name of one of the most tragic heroines of Irish legend: Dierdre of the Sorrows.
Duibheasa	Duh-vee-sah	xxxx	A fairly common name in the early medieval period, it means dark lady of the waterfall.
Duibhghiolla	Duh-vil-ah	xxxx	A wife of high king Donnchad mac Flaind bore this name in the 10th century. It means dark lady of Lemain.