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There are hundreds of Irish names for boys that you can choose from for your little baby boy, and we’ve got a great list for you! Many of these names, especially the traditional ones, have great depth in their meaning and origins. Make picking out a name for your little one a fun experience!
List of Irish Baby Boy Names with Meanings
Here are three lists starting from the popular Irish boy names, to unusual names, and traditional names.
Most Popular Irish Baby Names for Boys
| Name | Meaning |
| Alfie | Alfie, short for Alfred, comes from the old English word ‘Elfred’. It is the words aelf (elf) and raed (counsel) compounded meaning ‘wise counsel’. |
| Alex | Alex is derived out of the name ‘Alexander’. The name means ‘defender of mankind’. |
| Alan | Alan is a popular Irish name. The name means ‘noble’ and has variants such as Allan and Allen. |
| Ben | Ben is short for Benjamin which has Hebrew origins. It means “son of the right hand”. |
| Brion | Brion is a variation of the name Brian. It is thought to mean ‘honorable’ and ‘strong’. |
| Colin | Colin is short for Nicholas, and it means ‘pup’. |
| Conor | Conor roughly means ‘lover of hounds’. It can also mean ‘high desire’. |
| Connelly | Connelly means ‘love, friendship’. |
| Darcy | The Name Darcy has French and Irish origins meaning ‘the dark one’ or ‘the fortress’. |
| Devin | Devin has Irish origins and means ‘poet’. However, it is not the same as Devon. |
| Duncan | While the name has its origins in Scotland, it has been extensively adopted by the Irish. In Gaelic, it means ‘dark warrior’. |
| Darby | Darby ‘free one’ in Gaelic. |
| Donal | Donal is the Irish derivative of Donald. It means ‘proud chief’ in Gaelic. |
| Darren | Darren means ‘little great one’. |
| Farrell | Farrell is an Irish name which means courageous. |
| Flynn | Flynn means ‘son of the red-haired one’ and has deep Irish origins. |
| Finn | Finn is the anglicized derivative of the Irish name Fionn which means ‘fair, white, clear’. |
| Grady | Grady is a popular boy name with Irish Origins meaning ‘noble’ and ‘illustrious’. |
| Garret | Garret in Gaelic means ‘spear strength’. |
| Hugh | The name Hugh has ancestry in Irish, English and German cultures and means ‘mind, intellect’. |
| Harry | Harry means ‘home ruler’ or ‘army commander’. |
| Hugo | Hugo has Irish, French and German origins, meaning ‘heart, mind, intellect, spirit’. |
| Ian | Ian is originally the Scottish form of John. It means ‘God is gracious’. |
| John | John is one of the oldest and most widespread names with Hebrew Origins. It also means ‘God is gracious’. |
| Jake | Jake has its origins in the biblical character Jacob. It means ‘seizing by the heel, supplanting’. |
| Jamie | Jamie is a nickname for James. It is also common as an independent name. It means ‘supplanter’. |
| Jordan | Jordan is an old name with Hebrew origins. It means ‘to flow down, descend’. |
| Jonathan | Jonathan is also a name with a Hebrew origin. It means ‘Yahweh/God has given’. |
| Kevin | Kevin means ‘handsome, kind, comely birth’. |
| Keith | Keith means ‘the wind’. |
| Karl | Karl has its origins in the German culture where it means ‘a man, peasant, freeman’. |
| Killian | Killian stands for ‘war, strife’. |
| Leo | While Leo is an old Latin name which means ‘lion’. |
| Michael | The name Michael has Hebrew origins. The name means ‘who is like God?’ |
| Murphy | Murphy is a highly popular Irish name that means ‘sea warrior’. |
| Mason | Mason means ‘one who works with stone’. |
| Martin | Martin comes from the Latin word ‘Martinus’. It means ‘of Mars or war-like’. |
| Matthew | Matthew is a highly popular name, which means ‘gift of God’. |
| Max | Max is a pet name for Maximilian, which means ‘the greatest’. |
| Neil | Neil is derived out of the Gaelic word Niall. Neil in Irish is thought to mean ‘a champion’ or ‘a cloud’. |
| Nathan | Nathan has Hebrew origins and means ‘gift’. |
| Noah | Noah comes from the Hebrew word ‘noach’ which means ‘rest, comfort’. |
| Ollie | Ollie is a loving short form of the name Oliver with French origins. It means ‘olive tree’. |
| Oscar | Oscar is a popular boy name with origins in French. It means ‘golden city’. |
| Owen | Owen is thought to be of Welsh meaning ‘lamb’ and also Gaelic meaning ‘youth’. |
| Paul | Paul has Latin origins, meaning ‘small’, ‘humble’. |
| Phillip | Phillip means ‘lover of horses’. |
| Shaun | Shaun is derived from Seán. It is also an Irish version of John meaning ‘God is gracious’. |
| Shane | Shane is the Anglicized Irish name Seaghan, which is another form of John. |
| Zach | Zach comes from the Greek word Zacharias meaning ‘rememberence of God’. |
Unique & Unusual Names
| Name | Meaning |
| Aidan | Aidan has its roots in the Irish word Aodhan, which means ‘little fiery one’. |
| Angus | Angus means ‘one strength’. |
| Barry | Barry is an old Irish name, meaning ‘fair haired’. |
| Brendan | This name means ‘prince’ or ‘king’. |
| Brody | Brody means ‘broad eye’ or ‘broad island’. |
| Blaine | Blaine means ‘slender’ or ‘angular’ in Irish. |
| Cormac | Cormac means ‘charioteer’ in old Gaelic. |
| Cian | Pronounced as “keen”, Cian is a very popular name that means ‘ancient’. |
| Colm | Colm in Gaelic means ‘dove’. |
| Cullen | The name has Gaelic origins and means ‘holly tree’. |
| Cathal | Cathal is an Irish Celtic name which means ‘powerful in battle’. |
| Carson | Carson has an Irish-Scottish origin and means ‘son of the marsh dwellers’. |
| Clancy | Clancy is a rare name that means ‘red-haired warrior’. |
| Ciarán | Derived out of the Irish name Kieran, this name is popular with Irish and the English. It means ‘little dark one’. |
| Declan | Having an Irish descent, Declan means ‘man of prayer’. |
| Dillon | Dillon means ‘loyal’. It is also spelled ‘Dylan’ outside Ireland. |
| Donovan | In Gaelic, this name means ‘dark’. |
| Diarmaid | This Irish name means ‘free from envy’. |
| Daithi | Daithi is the Irish version of the Hebrew name David. Pronounced as “Dah-hee”, it means ‘beloved’. |
| Gulliver | Gulliver is a popularly known name that means ‘glutton’. |
| Ivo | Ivo has ancestry in Irish and German cultures and the name means ‘yew wood, archer’. |
| Kai | Kai means ‘sea’. |
| Kellen | Kellen has both Irish and German ancestry and means ‘slender’. |
| Kayden | Kayden can ‘companion’ or ‘friend’. |
| Kian | Kian is a derivative of the name Cian from Celtic origins, which means ‘enduring’. |
| Killian | Killian is a pet form of the name ‘Ceallach’ with Irish origins. It means ‘war, strife’. |
| Kermit | Kermit in old Irish means ‘free man’. |
| Kerry | Kerry means ‘dark’ or ‘dark haired’. |
| Keenan | Keenan means ‘ancient’. |
| Lennon | Lennon has Irish origins and means ‘small cloak or cape’. It can even mean ‘little blackbird’. |
| Liam | Liam is an old Irish name that originates as a pet name for ‘Uilliam’. The name means ‘resolute protection’. |
| Lucan | Lucan is an Irish derivative of the name ‘Luke’, which means ‘man from Lucania’. |
| Maguire | Maguire is a relatively popular Irish surname which means ‘son of the beige one’. It is also being used as a first name. |
| McCoy | McCoy is a an old Irish name which means ‘fire’. |
| Marcus | Marcus is thought to mean ‘dedicated to Mars’, or ‘warlike’. |
| Nolan | Nolan is old Irish for ‘champion’. |
| Nevin | Nevin means ‘holy’. |
| Niall | Niall is an Irish boy name which means ‘Cloud’. It is similar to the word Neil but is pronounced as “nye-al”. |
| Odhrán | Odhrán means ‘little pale green one’. |
| Phelan | Pronounced as “Fay-lan”, this Irish name means ‘wolf’. |
| Padraigh | Padraigh is an old Irish boy name which means ‘patrician, noble’. |
| Piran | Piran is an ancient Irish word which means ‘prayer’. |
| Quinn | Quinn is an Irish name which can mean ‘intelligence’, ‘chief leader’ or ‘descendant of Conn’. |
| Riley | This Irish name means ‘courageous’. |
| Rory | Rory is a strictly Irish name derived from Ruairi, meaning ‘rust-colored, red’. |
| Sullivan | This Irish name means ‘black eyed one’. |
| Tristan | Tristan means ‘tumult, riot’. |
| Torin | Torin is an old Irish boy name which means ‘chief’. |
| Tadhg | Pronounced as “tiger”, this Irish name means ‘Poet’. |
| Tyrone | Tyrone is an Irish boy name meaning ‘land of Eoghan’. |
Old and Traditional Irish Names
| Name | Meaning |
| Aaron | Having Hebrew origins, Aaron is derived out of Aharon which means ‘the exalted one’. |
| Adam | Adam is one of the oldest names around derived out of ‘Adama’ which means ‘red earth’. |
| Bradan | Pronounced as “bray-dawn”, the name Bradan means ‘salmon’. In old Irish, it signifies ‘wisdom’. |
| Brin | The word ‘bri’ means hill. Therefore the name Brin in context means ‘high/noble and strong’. It is pronounced as “breen”. |
| Carbry | Carbry is another old Irish name which also means ‘charioteer’. |
| Cashel | Pronounced as “Cash-ill”, the name means ‘castle, stone fort’ in Irish. |
| Callahan | Callahan is an old Irish name which means ‘bright headed’. |
| Darragh | Pronounced as “darra”, Darragh can be translated into ‘fruitful’ and ‘fertile’ or ‘dark oak’ or ‘oak tree’. |
| Declan | Declan is pronounced as “day-glawn” and means ‘son of prayer’. |
| Eamon | Eamon is an old Irish name that means ‘keeper of riches’. It is pronounced as “aim-on” and has derivatives in Edmund and Edward. |
| Eoin | Pronounced as “oh-in”, the name is often understood as ‘well born’. Eo also means Yew, and the name is also translated as ‘Land of the Yew’. |
| Fergus | Fergus is an old Irish name, meaning ‘strong man’. |
| Fintan | Fintan can be divided into two. Fin means ‘white’ and ‘tan’ means ‘fire’, so the name can be translated to ‘white fire/heat’. |
| Lochlann | Lochlann is an old word which means ‘place of the lakes’. |
| Niall | Pronounced as “nile”, the name is associated with royalty as it was common with kings. It is thought to mean ‘passionate’. |
| Odhran | Odhran which is pronounced as “oh-dran” means ‘dark-haired’. |
| Oisin | Oisin, pronounced as “usheen”, means ‘young deer’ or ‘fawn’. |
| Ronan | Ronan means ‘little seal’. |
| Ros | Ros has old Irish origins and means ‘prominent’. |
| Ultan | Pronounced as ‘ult-un’, it means ‘Ulsterman’, one of the provinces or Ireland at the northern tip. |
May this list of lovely Irish names provide an interesting and exciting experience of naming your new bundle of joy!
