This post contains affiliate links.
Celtic mythology never got the tidy, one-book treatment that some pantheons did — it survived as centuries of separate Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Gaulish traditions, passed down by storytellers long before monks and Roman scribes ever got around to writing any of it down. That’s part of why the names hold up so well: nobody standardized them or filed off the rough edges, they just survived because people kept telling the stories. So if you’re after a name with real history behind it — and a little bit of wildness — you’re in the right place.
🔍 Curious how popular a name is?
Check any name's popularity trend since 1880 with our free Baby Name Popularity Checker.
Popularity below is calculated from Social Security Administration data through 2024, the most recent year on record.
Here’s what’s in store –
The Tuatha Dé Danann — Children of the Goddess Danu
Welsh Gods and the Mabinogion’s Cast
Heroes and Warriors of the Ulster Cycle
The Fianna and the Cycle of Finn
Sea Gods, River Goddesses, and Otherworldly Powers
Druids, Bards, and Wisdom-Keepers
Otherworld Lovers, Tragic Heroines, and Romantic Names
Scottish Celtic Names and the Folkloric Edge
What’s lovely is how much further this well goes than the handful of names that always show up on these lists. Brigid and Lugh are wonderful, of course. But there’s a whole Tuatha Dé Danann waiting behind them — a lineage of gods descended from the river-mother Danu, plus their cousins across the Irish Sea in Wales, in Scotland, and in the half-remembered Gaulish pantheon recorded by Roman scribes. Rhiannon has sisters. Manannán has sons. There is a sea-god whose name means “great knee” and a goddess whose laugh literally is the dawn.
I’ve spent more time than is probably reasonable digging through the Mabinogion, the Lebor Gabála Érenn, and a stack of Celtic linguistics PDFs to pull this list together. Every name is real, every meaning is sourced from actual mythology or attested etymology, and I’ve tried to flag the ones that have weathered the centuries best — meaning they’re still wearable for a baby born in 2026.
A small note before we dive in: Celtic pronunciation is its own adventure. I’ve included rough guides where a name is genuinely tricky, because nothing dampens the romance of “Caoimhe” faster than a stranger calling your daughter “Cow-imhee” at the pediatrician’s office.
The Tuatha Dé Danann — Children of the Goddess Danu
The Tuatha Dé Danann were Ireland’s pre-Christian gods, the “people of the goddess Danu.” They came to Ireland through the air in a mist, fought the Fomorians, and eventually retreated into the hollow hills to become the Aos Sí — the fairy folk. These are the foundational names of Irish myth.
- Origin: Old Irish (mythological name, reconstructed, root scholarly disputed)
- Pronunciation: DAH-noo · ˈdɑːnuː
- Meaning: “Flowing one” or “river”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The mother-goddess from whom the whole pantheon descends; soft, ancient, and increasingly used as a standalone name in Ireland.
- Origin: Old Irish, from Proto-Celtic
- Pronunciation: DAHG-duh · ˈdɑːɡdə
- Meaning: the good god (also analyzed as “the shining god, ” from Proto-Celtic roots for “shining/burning” + “god”)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The father-figure of the Tuatha Dé, who owned a cauldron of plenty and a club that could kill nine men with one end and revive them with the other.
- Origin: Irish (Gaelic, from Proto-Celtic)
- Pronunciation: BRIJ-id · ˈbrɪdʒɪd
- Meaning: high, exalted one
- Popularity: #2,662 and falling (#2,620 → #2,662, 2024)
Goddess of poetry, smithcraft, and healing — later Christianized into Saint Brigid, and the only name on this list with its own national holiday.
- Origin: Irish (Celtic, from Proto-Celtic *Lugus)
- Pronunciation: LOO · luː
- Meaning: disputed — popularly ‘light/shining’, though the root meaning of Proto-Celtic *Lugus isn’t settled
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The many-skilled god of harvest and craftsmanship; the festival of Lughnasadh is named for him.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: NOO-ah-duh · ˈnuːədə
- Meaning: cloud-maker
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The first king of the Tuatha Dé, who lost his arm in battle and had it replaced with a working one of silver.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish), cognate with Gaulish Ogmios
- Pronunciation: AHG-muh · ˈɒɡmə
- Meaning: Linked to “speech” or “champion”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The god of eloquence credited with inventing the Ogham alphabet — a beautiful pick for a writer’s child.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: ENG-gus · ˈɛŋ.ɡəs
- Meaning: one strength
- Popularity: #9,889 and falling (#8,936 → #9,889, 2024)
The young god of love who fell for a woman he’d only ever seen in a dream and searched the world until he found her.
- Origin: Old Irish (mythological)
- Pronunciation: BO-ahn · ˈboʊ.ɑːn
- Meaning: white cow (from Old Irish ‘bó, ‘ cow, + ‘find/fionn, ‘ white)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: MAN-uh-nahn · ˈmænənɑːn
- Meaning: of the Isle of Man
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (mythological heroine of Tochmarc Étaíne)
- Pronunciation: ay-TEEN · eɪˈtiːn
- Meaning: “Jealousy” or possibly “shining”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A sun-goddess transformed in turn into a pool of water, a worm, and a butterfly across the great romance Tochmarc Étaíne.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: GUV-nyoo · ˈɡəv.njuː
- Meaning: smith
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Tuatha Dé’s master blacksmith, who also brewed the ale of immortality at the gods’ Otherworld feast.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: DEE-an KAYKT · ˈdiːən ˈkeɪkt
- Meaning: “Swift power”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The god of healing who fashioned Nuada’s silver arm; one for the surgeon or doctor’s family.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: MEE-ukh · mʲiəx
- Meaning: bushel / measure
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Dian Cécht’s prodigy son, who outshone his father and was tragically struck down for it.
- Origin: Irish (mythological)
- Pronunciation: ER-mid · ˈɛərmɪd
- Meaning: “Measure”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Miach’s sister, who knew the secret of every healing herb until her father scattered her cloak of leaves.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KER-mit · ˈkɜːrmɪt
- Meaning: “Honey-mouthed”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Dagda’s son, gifted with persuasive speech and a tragic love affair.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: BOV DYERG
- Meaning: red crow
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Dagda’s son and successor as king of the Tuatha Dé after their retreat into the sídhe.
- Origin: Irish (Celtic)
- Pronunciation: MAH-khuh · ˈmɑːxə
- Meaning: plain, or open field
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of the trio of war-goddesses; she famously raced the king’s horses while heavily pregnant and won.
- Origin: Irish (mythological)
- Pronunciation: MOR-ih-gun · ˈmɒrɪɡən
- Meaning: great queen
- Popularity: #3,788 and falling (#2,573 → #3,788, 2024)
The shape-shifting goddess of battle and fate, who appears as a crow over dying warriors.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: NEV-in · ˈnʲɛvən
- Meaning: frenzy, battle-fury
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Another of the war-goddesses, whose battle-cry could kill a hundred men outright.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish/Celtic)
- Pronunciation: BYVE · baɪv
- Meaning: scald crow — an Irish battle-and-death goddess who appeared as a hooded crow, with a root tied to ‘battle’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The third of the battle-goddesses, often appearing in carrion-bird form before a slaughter.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: KEE-an · ˈkiːən
- Meaning: long-lasting, enduring
- Popularity: #1,525 and falling (#1,439 → #1,525, 2024)
Lugh’s father, slain by the sons of Tuireann in one of mythology’s great revenge sagas.
- Origin: Irish (mythological, father of the three sons of Tuireann)
- Pronunciation: TIR-un · ˈtɪrən
- Meaning: “Thunder”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The father of the three brothers tasked with the impossible quests that paid the blood-fine for Cian’s death.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KRAYD-nyuh · ˈkreɪdnjə
- Meaning: “Skill”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Tuatha Dé’s bronze-smith, one of the three craftsman-gods alongside Goibniu and Luchta.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: LOOKH-tuh · ˈlʊxtə
- Meaning: wright
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: BRESS · bɹɛs
- Meaning: “Beautiful”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The half-Fomorian king whose stinginess and bad rule sparked the second Battle of Moytura.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: AY-ryoo · ˈeɪrjuː
- Meaning: Ireland — the goddess for whom the island is named
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish, mythological)
- Pronunciation: BAHN-buh · ˈbɑːn.bə
- Meaning: one of the three goddesses personifying Ireland; a proposed but disputed root meaning is ‘unploughed/untilled land’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of Ériu’s two sisters, and a poetic old name for Ireland itself.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: FOHD-lah · ˈfoʊdlə
- Meaning: land / sod
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The third sovereignty-sister; quiet, earthen, lovely.
Welsh Gods and the Mabinogion’s Cast
The Welsh tradition gives us the Four Branches of the Mabinogi — a set of medieval tales preserving older mythology, full of enchanted cauldrons, talking heads, and queens accused of monstrous things they never did. The names here are musical and a little strange in the best way.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: ree-AN-un · riˈænən
- Meaning: traditionally reconstructed as ‘great queen’ or ‘divine queen’, name of a major figure in Welsh mythology
- Popularity: #1,310 and falling (#1,157 → #1,310, 2024)
The radiant horse-goddess of the First Branch, falsely accused of eating her own child and forced to carry visitors on her back as penance.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: calm judgment, or wisdom
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Prince of Dyfed and Rhiannon’s husband; pronounced roughly “Pweel.”
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: prih-DEH-ree · prɪˈdɛri
- Meaning: care, or worry
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Their long-lost and finally recovered son, named for the worry his disappearance caused.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: BRAN-wen · ˈbrænwɛn
- Meaning: blessed or white raven
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The heartbreakingly kind heroine of the Second Branch, whose marriage starts a war between Wales and Ireland.
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: BRAN · bræn
- Meaning: raven
- Popularity: #11,099 and falling (#9,880 → #11,099, 2024)
Branwen’s giant brother, whose severed head continued to give counsel for eighty years after his death.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: mah-nuh-WID-an · mænəˈwɪdən
- Meaning: “Of the Isle of Man”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Bran’s brother and the Welsh cognate of Manannán; a craftsman-king of remarkable patience.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: HLAY · ɬeɪ
- Meaning: linked to light or brightness, and to the older Celtic god Lugus
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Welsh Lugh, raised by his uncle Gwydion and destined for an unusual death involving a goat, a bath, and a thatched roof.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: GWID-ee-on · ˈɡwɪdi.ɒn
- Meaning: “Born of trees”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The trickster-magician of the Fourth Branch, who conjured a wife out of flowers for his nephew Lleu.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: ahr-YAHN-rod · arˈjanr̥ɔd
- Meaning: silver wheel
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Lleu’s proud mother, associated with the moon and the constellation we call the Corona Borealis (Caer Arianrhod).
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: blod-EYE-weth · blɔdˈəiwɛð
- Meaning: flower face
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The woman Gwydion made from oak, broom, and meadowsweet blossoms; later turned into an owl as punishment.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: MAHTH · mɑːθ
- Meaning: bear (proposed Celtic root)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The wizard-king of Gwynedd, whose feet had to rest in a virgin’s lap whenever he wasn’t at war.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological, as Dôn); the element is cognate with the river-name root behind Proto-Celtic *dānu (“river”), also the root of “Danube”
- Pronunciation: DOHN · doʊn
- Meaning: river (via the river-name root shared with the Welsh mother-goddess Dôn)
- Popularity: #1,789 and falling (#1,758 → #1,789, 2024)
The Welsh cognate of Danu, mother of the divine “Children of Don.”
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: goh-VAN-on · ɡɔˈvanɔn
- Meaning: smith
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Welsh Goibniu — a god of metalwork and accidental fratricide.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: ah-MY-thon · æmˈaɪθɒn
- Meaning: ploughman, farmer
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The agricultural god whose theft of a deer started the mythic Battle of the Trees.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological, from the Mabinogion)
- Pronunciation: KIG-vah · kɪɡvɑː
- Meaning: Meaning uncertain, possibly “blood-stain”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Pryderi’s loyal wife, who endured the empty enchanted land of Dyfed beside Manawydan.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: ev-NUH-see-en
- Meaning: the unpeaceful/hostile one
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Branwen’s volatile half-brother, who both starts and ultimately ends the Welsh-Irish war.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: NISS-yen · ˈnɪsjɛn
- Meaning: peaceful
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Efnysien’s gentle twin — a name that asks for kindness.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: AHL-wen · ˈɑːlwɛn
- Meaning: white footprint
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Welsh (mythological name)
- Meaning: “Hiding place of the pig”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The hero who won Olwen by completing forty impossible tasks; pronounced roughly “Kil-hooch.”
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: keh-RID-wen · kɛˈrɪdwɛn
- Meaning: “Fair poetry” or “blessed song”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The enchantress who brewed the cauldron of inspiration and inadvertently created the poet Taliesin.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: TAL-ee-ES-in · ˌtæliˈɛsɪn
- Meaning: shining/radiant brow (tal ‘brow’ + iesin ‘radiant, shining’)
- Popularity: #10,750 and falling (#9,629 → #10,750, 2024)
The greatest of the Welsh bards, reborn from Ceridwen’s belly after a long shape-shifting chase.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: EL-fin · ˈɛlfɪn
- Meaning: “White rock” or possibly “stag”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The kind nobleman who fished the infant Taliesin from a leather bag in the sea.
- Origin: Welsh (from Brittonic *mātronā)
- Pronunciation: MOD-ron · ˈmɒdrɒn
- Meaning: mother goddess, from the Brittonic/Gaulish root for ‘mother’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Welsh (mythological, ultimately Brittonic)
- Pronunciation: MAB-on · ˈmæbɒn
- Meaning: son / divine son (from Brittonic Maponos)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The eternally young god, stolen from his mother at three nights old and freed by Arthur’s men.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological)
- Pronunciation: HLEER · ɬɪər
- Meaning: “Sea”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The sea-god father of Bran and Branwen; the inspiration for Shakespeare’s King Lear.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: pen-AR-din · pɛnˈardɪn
- Meaning: chief beauty
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Llyr’s wife and the mother of his children.
- Origin: Welsh (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: BEL-ee · ˈbɛli
- Meaning: “Shining one”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The ancestor-god of many royal Welsh lineages, possibly cognate with the Gaulish Belenos.
Heroes and Warriors of the Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle is Ireland’s Iliad — a sprawling tale of cattle raids, single combats, and impossibly young warriors. The names here have a clang to them. They sound the way bronze sounds when it hits bronze.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: koo HUL-in
- Meaning: hound of Culann
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (mythological name, possibly linked to the ancient British tribe recorded as the Setantii)
- Pronunciation: SHAY-tun-tuh
- Meaning: “One who knows the way”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Cú Chulainn’s birth name; a softer, less battle-stained alternative.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: KON-khuh-vahr · ˈkɒnxəvɑːr
- Meaning: lover of hounds
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The often-treacherous king of Ulster; the source of the still-common name Connor.
- Origin: Scottish/Irish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: FUR-gus · ˈfɜːrɡəs
- Meaning: chosen man
- Popularity: #4,453 and rising (#4,501 → #4,453, 2024)
The exiled ex-king of Ulster, famous for both his appetites and his honesty.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish, mythological)
- Pronunciation: KAH-vah · ˈkɑːvə
- Meaning: “Battle-deceiver”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The druid whose dire prophecies framed the lives of half the cycle’s heroes.
- Origin: Irish (Celtic)
- Pronunciation: DEER-druh · ˈdɪərdrə
- Meaning: “Sorrows”
- Popularity: #9,686 and falling (#6,478 → #9,686, 2024)
The doomed beauty whose love story is Ireland’s Tristan and Isolde — somber and gorgeous.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: NEE-shuh · ˈniːʃə
- Meaning: “Warrior”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Deirdre’s love, killed by Conchobar’s treachery — one of three brothers whose loyalty defines the tale.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: AHR-dahn · ˈɑːrdɑːn
- Meaning: high
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of Naoise’s brothers; quiet, brave, ultimately tragic.
- Origin: Irish (legendary name)
- Pronunciation: AN-luh · ˈænlʲə
- Meaning: “Champion”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The third brother, killed alongside Naoise and Ardan.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish, uncertain etymology)
- Pronunciation: EE-mer · ˈiː.mər
- Meaning: “Swift”
- Popularity: #15,714 as of 2006 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Cú Chulainn’s beloved, who out-witted him in conversation before agreeing to marry him.
- Origin: Old Irish (Primitive Irish)
- Pronunciation: LOO-ee · ˈluːi
- Meaning: servant of the god Lugus
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A common heroic name across the cycles, including the warrior who finally killed Cú Chulainn.
- Origin: Irish (Anglicized form of Medb/Meadhbh)
- Pronunciation: MAYV · ˈmeɪv
- Meaning: intoxicating / she who intoxicates
- Popularity: #75 and falling (#73 → #75, 2024)
The fierce queen of Connacht whose envy of a single bull launched the great cattle raid.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: AL-yil · ˈalʲəlʲ
- Meaning: elf, sprite
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Maeve’s pragmatic husband, who survived being married to her — no small feat.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: FIN-duh-var · ˈfʲɪn.də.βaɾʲ
- Meaning: fair phantom / white enchantress
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Maeve’s beautiful daughter, used as a pawn in the cattle-raid and namesake of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar/Guinevere.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: FER-dee-uh · ˈfɛərdiə
- Meaning: man of Diad
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Cú Chulainn’s foster-brother and best friend, whom he was forced to kill in a four-day single combat.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish/Celtic)
- Pronunciation: KUN-ul · ˈkʌnəl
- Meaning: strong hound (“hound/dog” + “prince, chief”)
- Popularity: #3,610 and rising (#3,804 → #3,610, 2024)
Conall Cernach, the avenging warrior who took Cú Chulainn’s head back after his death.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: LAYG · leɪɡ
- Meaning: calf
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Cú Chulainn’s loyal charioteer — a quiet hero in his own right.
- Origin: Irish (Gaelic)
- Pronunciation: SKAH-hahk · ˈskɑːhɑːx
- Meaning: the shadowy one
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The warrior-woman of Skye who trained Cú Chulainn in the arts of war.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: EE-fuh · ˈiːfə
- Meaning: beauty, radiance
- Popularity: #2,230 and falling (#2,124 → #2,230, 2024)
Scáthach’s rival warrior-queen and the mother of Cú Chulainn’s only son.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KAHN-luh · ˈkɒnlə
- Meaning: “Chief”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The son raised in exile who returned and was killed by his father Cú Chulainn before either knew the truth.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: BOO-uh-nən
- Meaning: “Lasting one”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Another of the warrior-trainers of heroes — a name for an enduring child.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: LEER-ee · ˈlɪəri
- Meaning: calf-keeper
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Lóegaire Búadach, the “victorious,” one of Ulster’s great triad of champions.
The Fianna and the Cycle of Finn
The Fenian Cycle follows Finn mac Cumhaill and his roving warrior-band, the Fianna — Robin Hood-ish outlaws who lived by hunting, poetry, and rigorous initiation tests. The mood is more rustic than the Ulster Cycle, full of forests and dogs.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: FYUN · fɪn
- Meaning: fair, white/bright, or handsome
- Popularity: #4,594 and falling (#3,646 → #4,594, 2024)
The great chieftain of the Fianna, who gained wisdom by burning his thumb on the Salmon of Knowledge.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: oh-SHEEN · oʊˈʃiːn
- Meaning: little deer, fawn
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Fionn’s poet-son, born of a woman cursed into the form of a doe; spent 300 years in the land of eternal youth.
- Origin: Irish, Old English
- Pronunciation: AHS-kur · ˈɑːskər
- Meaning: a blend of two separate old names: Gaelic ‘deer-friend’ and Old English/Norse ‘god’s spear’
- Popularity: #217 and falling (#216 → #217, 2024)
Oisín’s son and one of the Fianna’s mightiest warriors — a name now so global you almost forget its origin.
- Origin: Irish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: DEER-mid · ˈdɪərmɪd
- Meaning: free from envy
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The handsome Fianna warrior who eloped with Gráinne and was killed by a magical boar after a long pursuit.
- Origin: Irish (Old/Middle Irish, disputed)
- Pronunciation: GRAWN-yuh · ˈgrɑːnjə
- Meaning: disputed: ‘grain’ (agricultural goddess) or ‘horror/terror’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The high king’s daughter who fled her own wedding to elope with Diarmuid.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: NEEV · ˈniːv
- Meaning: bright, radiant
- Popularity: #3,148 and rising (#4,339 → #3,148, 2024)
The golden-haired princess of Tír na nÓg who took Oisín to live with her in the Otherworld.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: SYV · sˠəivˠ
- Meaning: sweet-natured, good
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Oisín’s mother, the woman cursed into deer-form by a vengeful druid.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KWEEL-tyuh · ˈkwiːlʲ.tʲə
- Meaning: “Slender”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Fionn’s swift-footed nephew, who could outrun a deer.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Meaning: one-eyed / blind
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Goll mac Morna, Fionn’s great rival and sometimes-ally, who killed Fionn’s father.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KOO-wul · ˈkuːwəl
- Meaning: “Champion”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Fionn’s father, slain at the Battle of Cnucha.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: SHKYOH-lahn · ˈʃcoːlɑːn
- Meaning: “Survivor”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The second of Fionn’s hounds, similarly born from a transformed human relative.
- Origin: Irish (uncertain etymology)
- Pronunciation: AL-yen · ˈæljən
- Meaning: “Burning one”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The fire-breathing fairy who burned down the royal hall at Tara every year until Fionn killed him.
- Origin: Irish (also an English/Scottish surname, variant of Dunn)
- Pronunciation: DON · dɒn
- Meaning: brown-haired; also used historically as a byname meaning ‘chief’ or ‘noble’
- Popularity: #12,756 and falling (#12,702 → #12,756, 2024)
A god of the dead and the gathering-place for departing souls; spare and somber.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: LEE-uh-dan · ˈliːədən
- Meaning: grey lady
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A poet-nun whose love affair with the poet Cuirithir is one of early Irish literature’s saddest stories.
- Origin: Irish (mythological/literary name)
- Meaning: “Plaintiff”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Liadan’s beloved; their parting is the stuff of medieval Irish poetry.
- Origin: Irish (traditional/mythological)
- Pronunciation: DAR-uh · ˈdɑːrə
- Meaning: fruitful, fertile
- Popularity: #3,992 and rising (#4,133 → #3,992, 2024)
The owner of the bull whose theft started the Táin; also a common heroic name.
- Origin: Old Irish (Proto-Celtic)
- Pronunciation: FEE-uh-kruh · ˈfiːəkrə
- Meaning: “Battle king” or “raven”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of the Children of Lir, transformed into a swan for 900 years.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: AY · eː
- Meaning: ‘fire’ in Old Irish
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Another of the Children of Lir, and a popular saint’s name throughout Ireland.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish compound)
- Pronunciation: fih-NOO-luh · fɪˈnuːlə
- Meaning: white shoulder (fionn ‘white/fair’ + guala ‘shoulder’)
- Popularity: #16,027 and falling (#12,563 → #16,027, 2024)
The eldest of the Children of Lir, who comforted her brothers through the centuries of their swan-exile.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: KAHN · kɒn
- Meaning: linked to Conall, from a Celtic root roughly meaning ‘high’ or ‘mighty’; popularly glossed as ‘chief’ or ‘wisdom’
- Popularity: #8,104 as of 1989 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The youngest Child of Lir, and the name of the legendary high king Conn of the Hundred Battles.
Sea Gods, River Goddesses, and Otherworldly Powers
The Celts saw divinity in moving water — every spring, every river, every wave had a name and a will. Many of these names still flow as rivers across Ireland and Britain.
- Origin: Irish (mythological)
- Pronunciation: LEER · lɪər
- Meaning: personification of the sea in Irish mythology, linked to the Old Irish word for ‘sea’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (mythological, a Fomorian king associated with the sea/otherworld)
- Pronunciation: TETH-ruh · ˈtɛθrə
- Meaning: “Sea”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A Fomorian king-god of the sea, whose sword could speak.
- Origin: Irish (mythological, the river-goddess for whom the River Shannon is named)
- Pronunciation: SHIN-an · ˈʃɪnən
- Meaning: “Wise river”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The goddess of the River Shannon, drowned for daring to seek forbidden wisdom at Connla’s Well.
- Origin: Celtic (British)
- Pronunciation: brih-GAN-tee-uh · brɪˈɡæntiə
- Meaning: high, elevated one; also a Celtic goddess of victory and sovereignty
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: British Celtic (Brittonic)
- Pronunciation: SOO-lis · ˈsuːlɪs
- Meaning: goddess of the healing hot springs at Bath (Aquae Sulis); the word’s root meaning is genuinely uncertain
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The presiding goddess of the hot springs at Bath, fused by the Romans with Minerva.
- Origin: Romano-British (Celtic goddess name)
- Pronunciation: koh-ven-TEE-nuh · ˌkoʊvɛnˈtiːnə
- Meaning: “Memory”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A goddess of wells and water known from a single beloved shrine in Northumberland.
- Origin: British (Romano-British river goddess of the River Wharfe, attested on a Roman altar)
- Pronunciation: ver-BAY-uh · vərˈbeɪə
- Meaning: “She of the cattle” or possibly “the winding one”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The goddess of the River Wharfe in Yorkshire.
- Origin: Gaulish (Celtic, possibly pre-Celtic)
- Pronunciation: seh-KWAH-nuh · sɛˈkwɑːnə
- Meaning: goddess of the River Seine; the name is essentially the ancient river-name itself, of disputed deeper root
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The healing goddess of the River Seine, worshiped at its source.
- Origin: Welsh/British (obscure, poorly attested)
- Meaning: “Fated one”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A river-goddess and goddess of fate, also called Aerfen.
- Origin: British Celtic (Romano-British)
- Pronunciation: NOH-denz · ˈnoʊdɛnz
- Meaning: catcher, hunter
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The British cognate of Nuada — Tolkien wrote a paper on him; that’s how good the name is.
- Origin: Gaulish (theonym)
- Pronunciation: bel-ih-SAH-mah · bɛlɪˈsɑːmə
- Meaning: the brightest / most radiant one
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A fire-and-light goddess associated with the River Ribble in Britain.
- Origin: Gaulish (theonym)
- Pronunciation: dah-MOH-nah · dəˈmoʊnə
- Meaning: goddess associated with cattle/cows
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A cattle-and-fertility goddess often paired with the healing god Borvo.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Pronunciation: BOR-voh · ˈbɔːrvoʊ
- Meaning: boiling, bubbling (as in a hot spring)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A god of healing hot springs.
- Origin: Gaulish (Celtic)
- Pronunciation: nan-toh-SWEL-tuh · ˌnæntoʊˈswɛltə
- Meaning: Gaulish goddess of nature, earth, and the home; her name may literally mean ‘winding stream’ (from Gaulish nanto-, ‘valley/stream’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A domestic goddess often shown with a raven and a tiny house on a pole.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Pronunciation: soo-SEL-us · sʊˈkɛləs
- Meaning: a skilled or benevolent striker, from Gaulish roots for ‘good’ and ‘to strike’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Nantosuelta’s hammer-bearing husband, god of agriculture and the dead.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Pronunciation: eh-POH-nuh · ɛˈpoʊnə
- Meaning: from an old Celtic word for ‘horse’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The horse-goddess loved enough by Roman cavalry that her cult spread across the entire empire.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Pronunciation: roz-MER-tuh · rɒzˈmɜːrtə
- Meaning: great provider, or good provider
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A goddess of abundance, often paired with Mercury in Gallo-Roman shrines.
- Origin: Gaulish/Celtic
- Pronunciation: ker-NUN-os · kərˈnʌnəs
- Meaning: the horned one (from a Gaulish root related to ‘horn’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The antlered god of beasts and the wild, immortalized on the Gundestrup cauldron.
- Origin: Gaulish (Celtic)
- Pronunciation: TAR-uh-niss · ˈtærənɪs
- Meaning: thunder god
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The wheel-bearing thunder-god — bold, percussive, increasingly used.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Pronunciation: EE-sus · ˈiːsəs
- Meaning: “Lord” or “master”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A solitary, harvest-related god depicted cutting branches with an axe.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Pronunciation: LEE-nuhs · ˈliːnəs
- Meaning: Meaning uncertain, perhaps “wooden one”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A Treveran healing god of unusual local importance.
Druids, Bards, and Wisdom-Keepers
The Celts revered the people who knew things — the herbalists, the memorizers of genealogies, the readers of birds. These names belong to that lineage.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Meaning: servant of running
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A blind, immensely powerful druid said to ride a flying machine called the roth rámhach.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: TLAHKT-gah · ˈtlæktɡə
- Meaning: earth-spear
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: FAY-delm · ˈfeɪdɪlm
- Meaning: “Beauty” or “constancy”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The prophetess who warned Maeve “I see crimson, I see red” before the cattle-raid began.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: fin-NOO-lah · ˈfʲɪn.əˌɣuə.lə
- Meaning: fair-shouldered
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The full traditional spelling, beloved by name nerds.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: EE-vel · ˈiːvəl
- Meaning: spark, glowing ember
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The fairy queen of north Munster, who kept a magic harp and a tragic prophecy.
- Origin: Irish (Gaelic, mythological)
- Pronunciation: KLEE-nə · kliːnə
- Meaning: conventionally glossed as ‘shapely’ or ‘lovely’, though the exact linguistic derivation of this legendary name isn’t firmly established
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The queen of the Munster banshees, with three magical birds who sang the sick to sleep.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KESS-er · ˈkɛsər
- Meaning: “Sorrow”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The legendary leader of the first inhabitants of Ireland — pre-Tuatha Dé, pre-everything.
- Origin: Irish (mythological, uncertain etymology)
- Pronunciation: BAN-vuh · ˈbanˠəvˠə
- Meaning: Variant of Banba
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Another spelling of one of Ireland’s three sovereignty-sisters.
- Origin: Gaulish (theonym)
- Pronunciation: kah-too-BOD-wah · kɑːtuːˈbɒdwɑː
- Meaning: “Battle-crow”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Gaulish cognate of Badb — older, harsher, ringingly metallic.
- Origin: British (Celtic)
- Pronunciation: an-DRAS-tee · ænˈdræstiː
- Meaning: the invincible one, the unconquered
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The war-goddess invoked by Queen Boudica before her revolt against the Romans.
– **Branwen’s-equivalent figures in the bardic tradition deserve their place — see also: Olwen, Ceridwen above.**
- Origin: Welsh (from a place name)
- Pronunciation: MUR-thin · ˈmərðɪn
- Meaning: tied to the place name Carmarthen, whose root meant ‘sea fort’
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
‘Sea fortress’ is really the meaning of the place name Carmarthen — the personal name was built from that place name, not an independent word that happens to mean ‘sea fortress.’
- Origin: Arthurian legend (disputed, possibly Celtic)
- Pronunciation: NIM-way · ˈnɪmweɪ
- Meaning: Possibly “memory”
- Popularity: #16,954 and falling (#13,082 → #16,954, 2024)
The Lady of the Lake who imprisoned Merlin in a tree or cave, depending on the telling.
- Origin: Latin (via Old French, variant of Vivian)
- Pronunciation: VIV-ee-en · ˈvɪviɛn
- Meaning: living, full of life
- Popularity: #184 and rising (#235 → #184, 2024)
The form preserved in the French romances; soft and water-touched.
– **Taliesin** is repeated for emphasis under bards — already listed.
Otherworld Lovers, Tragic Heroines, and Romantic Names
A great many Celtic names belong to women and men remembered for one perfect, doomed love story. They wear well on a child because they carry tenderness as well as fate.
- Origin: Celtic or Germanic (disputed)
- Meaning: uncertain — possibly ‘ice’ + ‘battle’ from Germanic roots, or ‘she who is gazed upon’ from a Celtic/Brythonic root
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Irish princess of Tristan and Iseult, drinking a love potion that wasn’t meant for her.
- Origin: Celtic (Pictish/Brythonic, via Arthurian legend)
- Pronunciation: TRIS-tun · ˈtrɪstən
- Meaning: tumult, riot
- Popularity: #267 and falling (#253 → #267, 2024)
The Cornish knight who loved Iseult; one of the most romantic names in any tradition.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: EH-sulth · ˈɛsəɬt
- Meaning: Original Welsh form of Iseult
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Older, knottier, beautifully Welsh.
– **Gráinne** — Already listed under the Fianna — the original elopement story.
The triple-reborn lover of the god Midir.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: MIH-deer · ˈmɪdiːr
- Meaning: “Judge”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Tuatha Dé prince who searched for Étain across her many incarnations.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: KEH-len · ˈkɛlən
- Meaning: “Crooked tooth”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Fomorian prophetess who foresaw the fall of her own people.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: AL-vuh · ˈælvə
- Meaning: white
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A name shared by Fionn’s daughter and a famous female warrior.
- Origin: Irish (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: BEK-oo-muh · ˈbɛkʊmə
- Meaning: “Sweetly shaped”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
An Otherworld woman whose exile from Tír Tairngire became the cause of famine in Ireland.
- Origin: Irish (mythological, uncertain etymology)
- Pronunciation: FAHND · fɑːnd
- Meaning: “Tear” or “pearl of beauty”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Manannán’s wife and briefly Cú Chulainn’s Otherworldly lover.
- Origin: Welsh/Irish (place-name)
- Pronunciation: KYRE
- Meaning: fortified city, fort
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The swan-maiden Aengus saw in his dreams and finally won by becoming a swan himself.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: EN-ya · ˈɛnjə
- Meaning: kernel, grain
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The name of countless heroines and saints, including Lugh’s mother.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: SEER-shah · ˈsɪərʃə
- Meaning: freedom
- Popularity: #1,036 and falling (#959 → #1,036, 2024)
A modern coinage rooted in Celtic linguistic feeling — included because it’s everywhere now and deserves context.
Scottish Celtic Names and the Folkloric Edge
Scotland’s Celtic tradition runs through Gaelic-speaking Highlanders, Pictish ancestors, and a folkloric world stiff with kelpies and selkies. These names hold sea-mist in them.
- Origin: disputed — Scottish folklore figure vs. Portuguese-derived place name
- Pronunciation: BAY-ruh · ˈbeɪrə
- Meaning: “Sharp”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Cailleach Bheur, queen of winter — formidable, primal, increasingly chosen.
- Origin: Scottish/Irish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: KAL-yəkh
- Meaning: old woman/hag — a divine hag figure in Gaelic mythology
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The shape-shifting hag-goddess who made the mountains by dropping stones from her apron; better as a middle name perhaps.
- Origin: Old Norse (mythological)
- Pronunciation: SKAH-dee · ˈskɑːdi
- Meaning: possibly ‘harm/damage’ (cognate with ‘scathe’); etymology debated
- Popularity: #4,635 and rising (#5,925 → #4,635, 2024)
Already listed under heroes.
- Pronunciation: BREE · bɹiː
- Meaning: “High”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
– **Iona** — Likely Hebrew “dove” reinterpreted as Old Norse “island,” but indelibly associated with the Hebridean isle that became the cradle of Celtic Christianity.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (from Hebrew via Mary)
- Pronunciation: VAH-ree · ˈvɑːri
- Meaning: vocative Gaelic form of Mary; Mary’s own root is debated (proposed senses include ‘bitter, ‘ ‘beloved, ‘ or ‘wished-for child’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Scottish Gaelic form of Mary, with deep Celtic resonance.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Eleanor)
- Pronunciation: AY-lee · ˈeɪli
- Meaning: “Sun”
- Popularity: #9,062 and falling (#6,735 → #9,062, 2024)
A radiant Highland name, increasingly heard outside Scotland.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: MOR-ag · ˈmɔːræɡ
- Meaning: great one (diminutive of Mor, ‘great’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Loch Morar monster’s namesake and a beloved Highland classic.
- Origin: Scottish (Gaelic ‘innis’, island, place name transferred to given-name/surname use)
- Pronunciation: IN-iss · ˈɪnɪs
- Meaning: island
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Unisex, soft, and salt-edged.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: LOK-lun · ˈlɑːklən
- Meaning: land of the lochs (Scandinavia); a Norse settler
- Popularity: #691 and rising (#771 → #691, 2024)
The traditional Gaelic name for a Norseman; sturdy and beloved.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of James)
- Pronunciation: HAY-mish · ˈheɪmɪʃ
- Meaning: supplanter (traditional gloss); ultimately from Hebrew Jacob via James
- Popularity: #5,982 and rising (#6,660 → #5,982, 2024)
The English form of the Gaelic Sheumais; warm, kilted, classic.
- Origin: Scottish/Irish (surname: McKenna / Ó Cionaodha)
- Pronunciation: KEN-ah · ˈkɛnə
- Meaning: descendant of Cionaodh, the Gaelic name behind ‘Kenneth’
- Popularity: #725 and rising (#751 → #725, 2024)
Kenna is better documented as a surname (McKenna/Ó Cionaodha) only indirectly linked to Kenneth’s Gaelic root — not a direct equivalent meaning ‘handsome’.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (from Old Irish)
- Pronunciation: YEKH-un
- Meaning: horse lord
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Gaelic original of Hector — earthy and bracing.
- Origin: Scottish (20th-century coinage)
- Pronunciation: SENG-gah · ˈsɛŋgə
- Meaning: “Slender” or possibly Agnes-reversed
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A genuinely unusual Highland name.
Pictish and Old Brythonic Names
The Picts left almost no written language but their kings’ names survived in the Pictish king-lists — strange, stony, and unlike anything else in Europe.
- Origin: Pictish (royal name)
- Pronunciation: DREST · drɛst
- Meaning: “Tumult” or “noise”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A name borne by several Pictish kings; spare and elemental.
- Origin: Pictish (royal name)
- Pronunciation: BRID-ee · ˈbɹɪdi
- Meaning: Likely “judgment” or “noble”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The greatest Pictish king-name, worn by the ruler who defeated the Anglo-Saxons at Dun Nechtain.
- Origin: Pictish (royal name, borne by several Pictish kings)
- Pronunciation: TAL-ork · ˈtælɔːrk
- Meaning: “Bright brow”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Possibly cognate with the Welsh Taliesin.
- Origin: Pictish/Old Irish (Celtic)
- Pronunciation: NEK-tuhn · ˈnɛktən
- Meaning: “Pure” or “wet”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A name shared between Pictish kings and an Irish water-god.
- Origin: Pictish
- Meaning: Meaning uncertain
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A king-name with the appeal of pure mystery.
- Origin: Pictish (form of Gaelic Óengus/Angus)
- Pronunciation: OHN-wist · ˈoːnʊɪst
- Meaning: one strength / unique vigor
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The cognate of Angus, ruler of a Pictish kingdom at its peak.
- Origin: Welsh (Brittonic)
- Pronunciation: MILE-goon · ˈmaɪlɡʊn
- Meaning: hound prince, prince of hounds
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A 6th-century Welsh king and a name in the Mabinogion’s bardic contests.
- Origin: Welsh (Brittonic)
- Pronunciation: OH-wine · ˈoʊaɪn
- Meaning: traditionally glossed ‘well-born,’ via a historical link to the Greek-derived name Eugene; a ‘warrior’ sense isn’t well attested
- Popularity: #13,536 as of 2020 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A name shared by saints, princes, and Arthurian knights.
- Origin: Welsh (from Latin Gerontius)
- Pronunciation: GEH-rynt · ˈɡɛraɪnt
- Meaning: old man
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Welsh hero whose tale survives in both the Mabinogion and Tennyson’s idylls.
- Origin: Welsh (Brythonic)
- Pronunciation: YOOR-ee-ən
- Meaning: Privileged birth
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The 6th-century king of Rheged whose deeds were sung by Taliesin himself.
- Origin: Welsh (Brittonic)
- Pronunciation: kad-WAHL-on · kædˈwɒlən
- Meaning: battle ruler / battle prince
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A fearsome 7th-century king of Gwynedd.
- Origin: Welsh (Proto-Celtic)
- Pronunciation: kad-WAH-lah-dur · kædˈwɑːlɑːdr̩
- Meaning: battle leader
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
His son, later venerated as a saint and prophesied to return like Arthur.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: gwen-HLEE-an · ɡwɛnˈɬiːan
- Meaning: white/fair linen (or cloth)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The 12th-century warrior-princess of Deheubarth, who died leading her own army.
- Origin: Welsh (Arthurian legend)
- Pronunciation: BED-weer · ˈbɛdwɪr
- Meaning: sometimes explained as ‘birch’ plus a heroic element, though this isn’t certain
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The original Welsh form of Sir Bedivere, the knight who returned Excalibur to the lake.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: KAY · keɪ
- Meaning: “Path” or “stronghold”
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The original Welsh form of Sir Kay — Arthur’s brusque but loyal foster-brother.
Quieter, Wearable Picks for Everyday Use
Some mythological names are gorgeous but ask a lot. These are the soft ones — the names that won’t require an explanation every time but still carry the old magic underneath.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: AWN-yuh · ˈɑːnjə
- Meaning: radiance or brightness
- Popularity: #3,112 and falling (#2,888 → #3,112, 2024)
The summer sun-goddess of Munster; popular for a reason.
– **Maeve** — Already listed but worth repeating — fully modern, fully Celtic.
- Origin: diminutive (short form of Eleanor, of disputed origin, rarely of Honora, Latin)
- Pronunciation: NOR-ah · ˈnɔːrə
- Meaning: From Irish saints, often linked back to “honor”
- Popularity: #22 and rising (#24 → #22, 2024)
Sweet, classic, with mythic-adjacent roots.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: fee-OH-nah · fiˈoʊnə
- Meaning: fair, white
- Popularity: #406 and falling (#400 → #406, 2024)
Coined by James Macpherson and made canonical by literature.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: shin-AYD · ʃɪˈneɪd
- Meaning: God is gracious
- Popularity: #8,331 and rising (#10,203 → #8,331, 2024)
The Irish form of Jane, often used in literary-mythic family naming.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic / Irish
- Pronunciation: SOR-uh-kha · ˈsɜːrkə
- Meaning: bright, radiant
- Popularity: #13,286 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Light-filled and ancient.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: KEE-vuh · ˈkiːvə
- Meaning: gentle, beautiful, precious
- Popularity: #8,519 and rising (#12,384 → #8,519, 2024)
Increasingly chosen outside Ireland for its softness.
- Origin: Irish/Scottish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: NY-ul · ˈnaɪəl
- Meaning: of uncertain original meaning; often glossed as ‘champion’ or ‘cloud’
- Popularity: #1,582 and rising (#1,813 → #1,582, 2024)
This is often presented as definitive, but Wiktionary describes the original meaning as genuinely uncertain, with ‘cloud’ an equally plausible alternative.
- Origin: Irish (form of John, via Latin/Greek/Hebrew)
- Pronunciation: OH-in · ˈoʊɪn
- Meaning: God is gracious
- Popularity: #3,399 and falling (#2,551 → #3,399, 2024)
The Irish form of John, with Celtic king-name energy.
- Origin: Irish (contested)
- Pronunciation: KIL-ee-an · ˈkɪliən
- Meaning: of disputed origin: possibly ‘strife/war’ or ‘church’ (Old Irish ceallach/ceall), or separately from Latin Caecilianus
- Popularity: #463 and rising (#594 → #463, 2024)
Now globally famous thanks to Cillian Murphy, still rooted in saint and mythic stories.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: DEK-lun · ˈdɛklən
- Meaning: traditionally glossed as “full of goodness” (an alternate theory holds “man of prayer”)
- Popularity: #131 and rising (#132 → #131, 2024)
One of Ireland’s most ancient saints, with a name that wears beautifully.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: ROH-en · ˈroʊən
- Meaning: little red one
- Popularity: #71 and rising (#76 → #71, 2024)
The rowan was sacred to the Celts as protection against fairy mischief.
– **Wren** — A poetic English name with deep Celtic resonance — the wren was the “king of birds” in Celtic folklore.
– **Sage** — Not Celtic in origin but mythically apt for a child of a wisdom-loving family.
- Origin: English (from the bird name)
- Pronunciation: LIN-it · ˈlɪnɪt
- Meaning: a small songbird (the linnet)
- Popularity: #19,315 as of 2007 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Linnet was a Welsh princess in Arthurian romance.
- Origin: Welsh (20th-century coinage); also Irish (surname/Tadhg-diminutive)
- Pronunciation: TEE-gan · ˈtiːgən
- Meaning: darling, pet
- Popularity: #2,060 and falling (#1,833 → #2,060, 2024)
Pretty, brief, perfectly wearable.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: ah-NAY-rin
- Meaning: possibly ‘honorable,’ from a Welsh form of the Latin name Honorius
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of the two earliest known Welsh poets; bardic without being heavy.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: KAD-el · ˈkædɛl
- Meaning: battle (Welsh cad ‘battle’ + diminutive -ell)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A king-name of medieval Wales; strong and short.
- Origin: Welsh / Arabic (dual origin)
- Pronunciation: ID-ris · ˈɪdrɪs
- Meaning: Welsh: traditionally glossed ‘ardent/fiery lord’; Arabic: tied to a root meaning ‘to study’, associated with the prophet Idris (identified with Enoch)
- Popularity: #739 and rising (#790 → #739, 2024)
The giant astronomer of Cader Idris mountain; also a name shared with the Quran.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: YOL-oh · ˈjɔlɔ
- Meaning: a pet form of Iorwerth (traditionally rendered ‘worthy/handsome lord’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Warm and pleasingly unusual.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: EYE-ruh · ˈaɪrə
- Meaning: snow
- Popularity: #2,385 and rising (#2,593 → #2,385, 2024)
Crisp, white, lovely.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: KAR-iss · ˈkærɪs
- Meaning: love
- Popularity: #4,669 and rising (#5,587 → #4,669, 2024)
Modern but Welsh-rooted, and increasingly heard internationally.
- Origin: Welsh (form of Mabel)
- Pronunciation: MAB-lee · ˈmæbli
- Meaning: lovable
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
The Welsh form of Mabel.
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: BRIN · ˈbrɪn
- Meaning: hill or mound
- Popularity: #2,098 and falling (#2,078 → #2,098, 2024)
Compact, evergreen, unisex.
- Origin: Welsh (variant of Glenys)
- Pronunciation: GLIN-is · ˈɡlɪnɪs
- Meaning: pure / holy
- Popularity: #18,487 as of 2008 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Has a vintage softness rarely matched by modern coinages.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: bird
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
How These Names Are Trending
19 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 24 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
19 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 24 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
19 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 24 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
19 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 24 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
19 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 24 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
19 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 24 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
Free-spirited and uncommon.
How to Choose a Name From This List
Pronunciation is the practical hurdle most parents underestimate with Celtic names. Live with your top choices for a week. Say them at the grocery store. Have your partner say them. Picture a kindergarten teacher saying them. Some names — Aoife, Niamh, Caoimhe, Sadhbh — are well worth the small ongoing labor of correcting people. Others, you may decide, ask too much in a non-Celtic-speaking household.
Honor what the name actually means. Some of these names carry heavy stories — Deirdre means “sorrows,” Branwen ends in real heartbreak, Macha’s plain is a place where a goddess collapsed in childbirth. None of that makes them bad choices — meanings shift across centuries and a name is what a child fills it with — but go in knowing the weight.
Consider the family middle-name slot. If you love Manannán but can’t picture your child carrying it through a Texas elementary school, the middle name is a beautiful place to honor a heavy mythological choice. Plenty of children carry their wildest name there.
Pair sound with surname. The percussive endings of many Irish names (Connla, Diarmuid, Cú Chulainn) need a softer surname to breathe. Welsh names with rolled L’s and Y’s want clearer first or middle pairings. Read the whole name aloud — not just the first.
Finally, trust your gut. Mythological names tend to choose the parent more than the other way around. If one keeps surfacing in your mind, it has probably already picked you.
Name Art for Your Favorite
Love a name from this list? MinimalistMama offers custom Name Art prints — personalized, minimalist nursery art with the name you choose, designed to match your aesthetic. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Celtic mythology names appropriate for non-Irish or non-Welsh families?
Yes — these names belong to a living mythological tradition, not a closed cultural circle. The Irish, Welsh, and Scottish naming traditions have been adopted globally for centuries, and most native speakers are delighted when their heritage names travel well. Take time to learn the correct pronunciation and meaning, and treat the name with care, and you’re honoring the tradition rather than appropriating it.
How do I pronounce names like Aoife, Niamh, or Caoimhe?
Irish spelling uses combinations that don’t map onto English phonetics. Aoife is “Ee-fa,” Niamh is “Neev,” Caoimhe is “Kee-va,” Sadhbh is “Sive,” Saoirse is “Seer-sha,” and Naoise is “Nee-sha.” The general rule: when you see “bh,” “mh,” or “dh” together, they usually make a “v” or silent “h” sound. When in doubt, search the name on Forvo or YouTube to hear native speakers.
What’s the difference between Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Gaulish names?
All four come from the broader Celtic language family but have evolved separately for over 2,000 years. Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish Gaelic share a recent common ancestor and look similar. Welsh, Cornish, and Breton form a separate branch (Brythonic) and use different sounds and spellings. Gaulish was the Celtic language of ancient France, recorded mostly through Roman and inscriptional sources — most Gaulish names come down to us as god-names rather than personal names.
Which Celtic mythology names are easiest for English speakers to wear day-to-day?
Maeve, Rowan, Aine, Fiona, Bryn, Tegan, Carys, Owen (Eoin), Niall, Declan, Cillian, Iona, Eira, and Wren all carry mythological resonance without requiring constant pronunciation help. Brigid, Rhiannon, and Olwen are also widely recognized. Save names like Cú Chulainn, Gwydion, or Manannán for middle-name positions if pronunciation challenges feel daunting.
Are there Celtic mythology names that work for boys, girls, and nonbinary children?
Yes — names like Rowan, Bran, Wren, Innes, Bryn, Sage, Linnet, Caer, and Donn have flexible usage across the tradition. Many Celtic god-names were not strictly gendered in original usage, and the modern Irish naming tradition has always been more relaxed about boy/girl divisions than English-language naming has been.
Is it disrespectful to use a name belonging to a Celtic god or goddess?
Not at all. Celtic naming tradition itself drew heavily from the gods — Brigid, Lugh, Aine, and others were used as personal names continuously through the Christian era and into today. Modern Druidic and Celtic Reconstructionist communities also use these names, and naming a child after a divine figure is widely considered an honor, both in tradition and in practice.
Where can I read the original Celtic myths these names come from?
Start with Lady Gregory’s Gods and Fighting Men (Irish), Charlotte Guest or Sioned Davies’ translations of the Mabinogion (Welsh), and Thomas Kinsella’s translation of The Táin. For Gaulish material, Miranda Aldhouse-Green’s books are excellent and accessible. For a single-volume overview, Peter Berresford Ellis’ Dictionary of Celtic Mythology is a fantastic reference to keep on the shelf.
📊 Curious how popular a name actually is? Look it up in our Baby Name Popularity Checker — pulls live SSA data to show ranking trends.
Final Thoughts
The wonderful thing about Celtic mythology is how generous it is with names — there are more here than any single family could ever use, and we’ve only skimmed the surface. Whether you choose something globally familiar like Maeve or Owen, or you commit to the full Sadhbh-with-the-Gaelic-spelling experience, you’re giving your child a name that connects them to a tradition of poetry, fierceness, and reverence for the natural world that’s been quietly thriving for three thousand years. May the right one find you.
Read next;
🌷 85 Cute Unisex Baby Names Going *Viral* in 2026
⚡ 109+ *Best* Greek Mythology Baby Names (Gods, Goddesses & Heroes)
🌷 115+ Baby Names That Mean Gift From God
📱 The Baby Names app is here
Swipe names, match with your partner the moment you both say yes, and claim a free Name Art print of your winner. Free to download. See all our apps →
✨ Love these names? Create free printable nursery art for any name →
