180 Beautiful Irish Girl Names for the Luckiest Babies

While names like Colleen and Eileen were once the dominant Irish names in the United States, if you look at the Social Security Administration's list of most popular girl names in the United States today, you'll see a much different story.

"The generation of women with names like Erin, Caitlin, Shannon and Kelly are now expecting their own babies, and many are turning to the latest set of fashionable Irish girl names for their daughters," says Sophie Kihm, the editor-in-chief of the baby-name site Nameberry. "Maeve is the stand-out Irish girl name. It’s a top girl name on Nameberry and rising quickly up the national charts. Look for it in the Top 100 soon!"

Choosing unisex or gender-neutral names is also a trend, Kihm adds, especially when it comes to last names as first names. "Fallon, Lennon, Collins, Darcy, Rory and Sloane are currently red-hot," she says. "Some Irish names with traditional spellings are getting a boost from pop culture, notably Saoirse, as in Saoirse Ronan, or Siobhan from Succession."

If you're looking for more examples, try one of these top Irish baby girl names on for size.

So, which names are actually trending over in Ireland? The Central Statistics Office (CSO) keeps track, and these are the current most popular names for girls. Granted, they may not be all of Irish origin, but they are Ireland's top baby names.

1. Grace, "goodness" or "blessing"
2. Fiadh, "wild"
3. Emily, "rival"
4. Sophie, "wisdom"
5. Lily, flower name
6. Ellie, diminutive of Eleanor, which means "bright shining one"
7. Mia, "mine"
8. Amelia, "work"
9. Éabha, "life"
10. Ella, "all"
11. Isla, "island"
12. Hannah, "grace"
13. Sophia, "wisdom"
14. Lucy, "light"
15. Ava, "life"
16. Sadie, "princess"
17. Olivia, "olive tree"
18. Freya, "a noble woman"
19. Emma, "universal"
20. Chloe, "young green shoot"
21. Robyn, "bright fame"
22. Molly, "bitter"
23. Anna, "grace"
24. Croía, "heart"
25. Evie, diminutive of Eve, "life"
26. Caoimhe, "beautiful"
27. Saoirse, "liberty"
28. Cara, "dear"
29. Sofia, "wisdom"
30. Millie, "gentle strength"
31. Aoife, "beautiful"
    
32. Isabelle, "pledged to God"
33. Bonnie, "beautiful"
34. Maya, "illusion"
35. Ada, "noble"
36. Róisín, "little rose"
37. Ruby, gemstone name
38. Kate, diminutive of Katherine, "pure"
39. Alice, "noble"
40. Holly, plant name
41. Erin, "Ireland"
42. Sadhbh, "sweet"
43. Leah, "weary"
44. Isabella, "pledged to God"
45. Ailbhe, "noble"
46. Méabh, "intoxicating"
47. Zoe, "life"
48. Annie, diminutive of Ann, "grace"
49. Ivy, plant name
50. Willow, tree name

It's interesting to see how this deviates from the most popular baby girl names in the United States. The top names in the U.S. — Olivia and Emma — are on the list, sure. But in addition, in some of the top spots, you have Fiadh (pronounced FEE-ah, similar to Thea), Éabha (prnounced like Ava) and Emily (which has been losing favor here since the year 2007, when it was No. 1 in the United States). This list is a good mix of popular, trendy and totally unusual.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), which keeps track of baby names, these are the most popular girl names of Irish origin, listed in the order of their popularity.

1. Harper
2. Nora
3. Riley
4. Kennedy
5. Maeve
6. Quinn
7. Hailey
8. Rylee
9. Sloane
10. Reagan

Even though they're the most popular names of Irish origin, you're not going to see all of them on every lunchbox and cubby. Harper is only No. 11 on the list of most-used names of last year, and Reagan is way down at No. 168. But Riley and Rylee (along with Ryleigh down at 260) are currently taking up a few spots on the SSA list and is certainly a name to watch.

Looking for more baby girl name inspiration? Check out other Good Housekeeping lists: Disney Baby Names | French Baby Names | Hispanic Girl Names | Indian/Hindu Girl Names | Irish Girl Names | Italian Baby Names | Japanese Baby Names | Long Girl Names | Nature Baby Names | Short Girl Names | Baby Boy Names | Unisex/Gender Neutral Names

The SSA also keeps track of the names that are growing in popularity, so these names, which are just bubbling under, might overtake the Harpers and the Noras, listed in order from the biggest jumps in popularity to the smallest.

1. Elowyn
2. Tallulah
   
3. Murphy
   
4. Keily
5. Rowan
   
6. Rory
   
7. Fallon
8. Mckinley
   
9. Delaney
10. Collins

Elowyn shot up a whopping 187 places in rank this year, and Tallulah isn't further behind, rising 182 places in rank. And Kihm wasn't kidding when she said last-names-as-first-names are huge in this area, as you can see with Fallon, Mckinley, Delaney and Collins. And two other fast-climbers, Clover, which rose 82 places in rank, and Emerald, which jumped 23, aren't of Irish origin, but they do have that Irish connection.

Emerald Fennell is an English writer, director and actress known for directing Saltburn.

Irish Central has come up with its own list of names, and if you're looking for something unique and original, they've got you covered. None of these names selected from their list made the SSA's top 1,000.

1. Aine (awn-ye)
2. Aoibheann (ay-veen)
3. Aoibhinn (ee-van)
4. Aisling (ash-ling)
5. Blathnaid (blaw-nid)
6. Bronagh (brona)
7. Cadhla (ky-lah)
8. Caragh (kara)
9. Ciara (kee-ra)
10. Clíodhna (clee-na)
11. Clodagh (cloda)
12. Dearbhla (durv-la)
    
13. Eimear (ee-mur)
14. Éireann (erin)
15. Eithne (enya)
16. Emer (eemer)
17. Fionnuala (fi-noola)
    
18. Grainne (grawn-ye)
19. Niamh (neev)
20. Laoise (lee-sha)
    
21. Mairead (mi-rade)
    
22. Muireann (mweer-in)
23. Nessa (nessa)
24. Nuala (noo-lah)
25. Orla (or-la)
26. Órlaith (or-la)
27. Oonagh (una)
28. Riona (ree-ona)
29. Sile (shee-la)
30. Sorcha (sur-ka)

If you choose one of these, they'll probably be the only one in the class with their name. Whether their teachers will be able to pronounce it on the first try is another question.

Naming kids after gods, goddesses and other mythological figures is a trend that spans cultures, from the Norse Freya to the Greek Artemis. Irish legends are no exception, and these could be up for consideration:

1. Bláthnat (means "little flower" and a character in early Irish literature)
2. Boann (goddess of the River Boyne)
3. Brígh (another form of Brigid, daughter of the god Dagda)
4. Brigid/Brigit (goddess of wisdom, poetry, healing and protection)
5. Clíodhna (queen of banshees, goddess of love and beauty)
6. Ériu (goddess of abundance who gave her name to Ireland)
7. Morrígan (goddess of war and death)
8. Ríoghnach (means "queenly," also the name of a wife of a legendary king of Ireland)
9. Saraid (daughter of a legendary king of Ireland)
10. Sionann (goddess of the river)

On the stage or screen, these Irish names shine.

1. Caitríona (actress Caitríona Balfe)
2. Deirdre (actress Deirdre Mullins)
3. Enya (singer Enya)
4. Fionnula (actress Fionnula Flanagan)
5. Kiera (Derry Girls actress Kathy Kiera Clarke)
6. Kerry (actress Kerry Condon)
7. Maureen (actress Maureen O'Hara)
8. Sinéad (singer Sinéad O'Connor)
9. Sharon (actress Sharon Horgan)
10. Tara (singer Tara McNeill)

Jamie Dornan (left) and Caitríona Balfe (right) starred in the movie Belfast together. Jamie is another name to consider, though technically its origin is Hebrew.

Those who want to keep it sweet can try one of these adorable names.

1. Alannah
2. Bridie
   
3. Clíona
   
4. Léan
   
5. Myrna
   
6. Nollaig
   
7. Róise
   
8. Rosaleen
   
9. Shayla
10. Úna

If you're still looking for inspiration, here are a few more names to consider.

1. Alaina
   
2. Ayleen
   
3. Bébhinn
   
4. Bedelia
   
5. Bellamy
6. Breanna
7. Bree
8. Bride
9. Bridget
10. Caitlin
11. Caoilinn
    
12. Casey
    
13. Cassidy
14. Colleen
    
15. Darby
    
16. Deirdre
17. Doireann
18. Eilish
19. Fedelma
20. Fia
21. Finley
22. Gobnait
23. Imogen
24. Líadan
25. Mavourneen
26. Mckenna
27. Mckenzie
28. Kaitlyn
    
29. Kaylie
30. Kiara
31. Keira
32. Kelly
    
33. Kayleigh
34. Líadain
    
35. Lennon
36. Moira
37. Muriel
38. Nóinín
    
39. Pádraigín
    
40. Rathnait
41. Róis
    
42. Rowyn
43. Shannon
    
44. Shauna
45. Shea
46. Sheila
47. Síofra
48. Síomha
    
49. Siún
50. Taryn

Marisa LaScala

Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.