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Celtic mythology is full of names that feel like they were carved into standing stones — names with weather in them, with hooves and harp strings and salt spray. They come from a world where rivers had goddesses, where smiths were magicians, and where a hero’s death could be predicted by the cry of a single raven. They are not safe, sweet, decorative names. They are names with weight.
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When referencing popularity, I am referring to baby name data from Social Security Administration database in the United States for 2025, which is the most current year of data available.
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: Irish
- Meaning: “Flowing one” or “river”
- Popularity: Rare
The mother-goddess from whom the whole pantheon descends; soft, ancient, and increasingly used as a standalone name in Ireland.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “The good god”
- Popularity: Rare
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
- Meaning: “Exalted one”
- Popularity: #2662
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
- Meaning: “Light” or “oath”
- Popularity: Rare
The many-skilled god of harvest and craftsmanship; the festival of Lughnasadh is named for him.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Cloud-maker” or possibly “fisher”
- Popularity: Rare
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
- Meaning: Linked to “speech” or “champion”
- Popularity: Rare
The god of eloquence credited with inventing the Ogham alphabet — a beautiful pick for a writer’s child.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “One strength” or “true vigor”
- Popularity: #9889
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: Irish
- Meaning: “White cow”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess of the River Boyne, who created the river by daring to walk around a forbidden well.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Of the Isle of Man”
- Popularity: Rare
The sea god who rode the waves in a self-steering chariot; rich, mysterious, full of salt.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Jealousy” or possibly “shining”
- Popularity: Rare
A sun-goddess transformed in turn into a pool of water, a worm, and a butterfly across the great romance Tochmarc Étaíne.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Smith”
- Popularity: Rare
The Tuatha Dé’s master blacksmith, who also brewed the ale of immortality at the gods’ Otherworld feast.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Swift power”
- Popularity: Rare
The god of healing who fashioned Nuada’s silver arm; one for the surgeon or doctor’s family.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Bushel” or “measure”
- Popularity: Rare
Dian Cécht’s prodigy son, who outshone his father and was tragically struck down for it.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Measure”
- Popularity: Rare
Miach’s sister, who knew the secret of every healing herb until her father scattered her cloak of leaves.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Honey-mouthed”
- Popularity: Rare
The Dagda’s son, gifted with persuasive speech and a tragic love affair.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Red crow”
- Popularity: Rare
The Dagda’s son and successor as king of the Tuatha Dé after their retreat into the sídhe.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Plain” or possibly “battle”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the trio of war-goddesses; she famously raced the king’s horses while heavily pregnant and won.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Phantom queen” or “great queen”
- Popularity: #3788
The shape-shifting goddess of battle and fate, who appears as a crow over dying warriors.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Frenzy” or “panic”
- Popularity: Rare
Another of the war-goddesses, whose battle-cry could kill a hundred men outright.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Crow”
- Popularity: Rare
The third of the battle-goddesses, often appearing in carrion-bird form before a slaughter.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Enduring” or “ancient”
- Popularity: #1525
Lugh’s father, slain by the sons of Tuireann in one of mythology’s great revenge sagas.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Thunder”
- Popularity: Rare
The father of the three brothers tasked with the impossible quests that paid the blood-fine for Cian’s death.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Skill”
- Popularity: Rare
The Tuatha Dé’s bronze-smith, one of the three craftsman-gods alongside Goibniu and Luchta.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Wright”
- Popularity: Rare
The wright-god who shaped the gods’ shields and spear-shafts.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Beautiful”
- Popularity: Rare
The half-Fomorian king whose stinginess and bad rule sparked the second Battle of Moytura.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Ireland”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess from whom Ireland takes her name; literally walking, breathing sovereignty.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Unploughed land”
- Popularity: Rare
One of Ériu’s two sisters, and a poetic old name for Ireland itself.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Sod” or “underneath”
- Popularity: Rare
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, from Proto-Celtic *Rīgantonā
- Meaning: “Great queen”
- Popularity: #1310
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: “Wisdom” or “deliberation”
- Popularity: Rare
Prince of Dyfed and Rhiannon’s husband; pronounced roughly “Pweel.”
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Care” or “anxiety”
- Popularity: Rare
Their long-lost and finally recovered son, named for the worry his disappearance caused.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Blessed raven” or “white raven”
- Popularity: Rare
The heartbreakingly kind heroine of the Second Branch, whose marriage starts a war between Wales and Ireland.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Raven”
- Popularity: #11099
Branwen’s giant brother, whose severed head continued to give counsel for eighty years after his death.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Of the Isle of Man”
- Popularity: Rare
Bran’s brother and the Welsh cognate of Manannán; a craftsman-king of remarkable patience.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Light” or “bright one”
- Popularity: Rare
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
- Meaning: “Born of trees”
- Popularity: Rare
The trickster-magician of the Fourth Branch, who conjured a wife out of flowers for his nephew Lleu.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Silver wheel”
- Popularity: Rare
Lleu’s proud mother, associated with the moon and the constellation we call the Corona Borealis (Caer Arianrhod).
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Flower-face”
- Popularity: Rare
The woman Gwydion made from oak, broom, and meadowsweet blossoms; later turned into an owl as punishment.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Bear”
- Popularity: Rare
The wizard-king of Gwynedd, whose feet had to rest in a virgin’s lap whenever he wasn’t at war.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “River”
- Popularity: #1789
The Welsh cognate of Danu, mother of the divine “Children of Don.”
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Smith”
- Popularity: Rare
The Welsh Goibniu — a god of metalwork and accidental fratricide.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Ploughman” or “labourer”
- Popularity: Rare
The agricultural god whose theft of a deer started the mythic Battle of the Trees.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Meaning uncertain, possibly “blood-stain”
- Popularity: Rare
Pryderi’s loyal wife, who endured the empty enchanted land of Dyfed beside Manawydan.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Hostile” or “troublemaker”
- Popularity: Rare
Branwen’s volatile half-brother, who both starts and ultimately ends the Welsh-Irish war.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Peaceful”
- Popularity: Rare
Efnysien’s gentle twin — a name that asks for kindness.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “White footprint”
- Popularity: Rare
The giant’s daughter from Culhwch and Olwen, so radiant that white clovers sprang up wherever she walked.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Hiding place of the pig”
- Popularity: Rare
The hero who won Olwen by completing forty impossible tasks; pronounced roughly “Kil-hooch.”
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Fair poetry” or “blessed song”
- Popularity: Rare
The enchantress who brewed the cauldron of inspiration and inadvertently created the poet Taliesin.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Shining brow”
- Popularity: #10750
The greatest of the Welsh bards, reborn from Ceridwen’s belly after a long shape-shifting chase.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “White rock” or possibly “stag”
- Popularity: Rare
The kind nobleman who fished the infant Taliesin from a leather bag in the sea.
- Origin: Welsh, from *Mātronā
- Meaning: “Mother”
- Popularity: Rare
The Welsh mother-goddess, mother of Mabon.
- Origin: Welsh, from *Maponos
- Meaning: “Great son” or “divine youth”
- Popularity: Rare
The eternally young god, stolen from his mother at three nights old and freed by Arthur’s men.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Sea”
- Popularity: Rare
The sea-god father of Bran and Branwen; the inspiration for Shakespeare’s King Lear.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Chief beauty”
- Popularity: Rare
Llyr’s wife and the mother of his children.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Shining one”
- Popularity: Rare
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: Irish
- Meaning: “Hound of Culann”
- Popularity: Rare
The teenage demigod hero of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, who earned his name by killing a smith’s guard-dog and serving as the replacement.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “One who knows the way”
- Popularity: Rare
Cú Chulainn’s birth name; a softer, less battle-stained alternative.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Lover of hounds”
- Popularity: Rare
The often-treacherous king of Ulster; the source of the still-common name Connor.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Strong man” or “manly vigor”
- Popularity: #4453
The exiled ex-king of Ulster, famous for both his appetites and his honesty.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Battle-deceiver”
- Popularity: Rare
The druid whose dire prophecies framed the lives of half the cycle’s heroes.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Sorrows”
- Popularity: #9686
The doomed beauty whose love story is Ireland’s Tristan and Isolde — somber and gorgeous.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Nee-sha”
- Meaning: “Warrior”
- Popularity: Rare
Deirdre’s love, killed by Conchobar’s treachery — one of three brothers whose loyalty defines the tale.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “High”
- Popularity: Rare
One of Naoise’s brothers; quiet, brave, ultimately tragic.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Champion”
- Popularity: Rare
The third brother, killed alongside Naoise and Ardan.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Swift”
- Popularity: #15714
Cú Chulainn’s beloved, who out-witted him in conversation before agreeing to marry him.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Light-bringer”
- Popularity: Rare
A common heroic name across the cycles, including the warrior who finally killed Cú Chulainn.
- Origin: Irish, from Medb
- Meaning: “She who intoxicates”
- Popularity: #75
The fierce queen of Connacht whose envy of a single bull launched the great cattle raid.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Elf” or “sprite”
- Popularity: Rare
Maeve’s pragmatic husband, who survived being married to her — no small feat.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “White phantom” or “fair spirit”
- Popularity: Rare
Maeve’s beautiful daughter, used as a pawn in the cattle-raid and namesake of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar/Guinevere.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Man of the smoke”
- Popularity: Rare
Cú Chulainn’s foster-brother and best friend, whom he was forced to kill in a four-day single combat.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Strong wolf”
- Popularity: #3610
Conall Cernach, the avenging warrior who took Cú Chulainn’s head back after his death.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Calf”
- Popularity: Rare
Cú Chulainn’s loyal charioteer — a quiet hero in his own right.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Shadowy one”
- Popularity: Rare
The warrior-woman of Skye who trained Cú Chulainn in the arts of war.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Ee-fa”
- Meaning: “Beauty” or “radiance”
- Popularity: #2230
Scáthach’s rival warrior-queen and the mother of Cú Chulainn’s only son.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Chief”
- Popularity: Rare
The son raised in exile who returned and was killed by his father Cú Chulainn before either knew the truth.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Lasting one”
- Popularity: Rare
Another of the warrior-trainers of heroes — a name for an enduring child.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Calf-keeper”
- Popularity: Rare
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: Irish
- Meaning: “Fair” or “bright”
- Popularity: #4594
The great chieftain of the Fianna, who gained wisdom by burning his thumb on the Salmon of Knowledge.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Little deer”
- Popularity: Rare
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
- Meaning: “Deer lover”
- Popularity: #217
Oisín’s son and one of the Fianna’s mightiest warriors — a name now so global you almost forget its origin.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Without enemy”
- Popularity: Rare
The handsome Fianna warrior who eloped with Gráinne and was killed by a magical boar after a long pursuit.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Grace” or possibly “grain”
- Popularity: Rare
The high king’s daughter who fled her own wedding to elope with Diarmuid.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Neev”
- Meaning: “Bright” or “radiant”
- Popularity: #3148
The golden-haired princess of Tír na nÓg who took Oisín to live with her in the Otherworld.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Sive”
- Meaning: “Sweet” or “goodly”
- Popularity: Rare
Oisín’s mother, the woman cursed into deer-form by a vengeful druid.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Keel-tya”
- Meaning: “Slender”
- Popularity: Rare
Fionn’s swift-footed nephew, who could outrun a deer.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Blind” or “one-eyed”
- Popularity: Rare
Goll mac Morna, Fionn’s great rival and sometimes-ally, who killed Fionn’s father.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Champion”
- Popularity: Rare
Fionn’s father, slain at the Battle of Cnucha.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Raven”
- Popularity: #11099
One of Fionn’s two beloved hunting hounds, who was actually his enchanted cousin.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Survivor”
- Popularity: Rare
The second of Fionn’s hounds, similarly born from a transformed human relative.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Burning one”
- Popularity: Rare
The fire-breathing fairy who burned down the royal hall at Tara every year until Fionn killed him.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Brown” or “dark”
- Popularity: #12756
A god of the dead and the gathering-place for departing souls; spare and somber.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Grey lady”
- Popularity: Rare
A poet-nun whose love affair with the poet Cuirithir is one of early Irish literature’s saddest stories.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Plaintiff”
- Popularity: Rare
Liadan’s beloved; their parting is the stuff of medieval Irish poetry.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Fruitful” or “oak grove”
- Popularity: #3992
The owner of the bull whose theft started the Táin; also a common heroic name.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Battle king” or “raven”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Children of Lir, transformed into a swan for 900 years.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Ay”
- Meaning: “Fire”
- Popularity: Rare
Another of the Children of Lir, and a popular saint’s name throughout Ireland.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “White shoulder”
- Popularity: #16027
The eldest of the Children of Lir, who comforted her brothers through the centuries of their swan-exile.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Chief” or “intelligence”
- Popularity: #8104
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
- Meaning: “Sea”
- Popularity: Rare
The older sea-god, father of Manannán; the grieving father of the swan-children in the Fate of the Children of Lir.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Sea”
- Popularity: Rare
A Fomorian king-god of the sea, whose sword could speak.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Wise river”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess of the River Shannon, drowned for daring to seek forbidden wisdom at Connla’s Well.
- Origin: Brythonic
- Meaning: “High one”
- Popularity: Rare
The high goddess of northern Britain and the namesake of Britain itself.
- Origin: British
- Meaning: “Eye” or “sun”
- Popularity: Rare
The presiding goddess of the hot springs at Bath, fused by the Romans with Minerva.
- Origin: British
- Meaning: “Memory”
- Popularity: Rare
A goddess of wells and water known from a single beloved shrine in Northumberland.
- Origin: British
- Meaning: “She of the cattle” or possibly “the winding one”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess of the River Wharfe in Yorkshire.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “The flowing one”
- Popularity: Rare
The healing goddess of the River Seine, worshiped at its source.
- Origin: Welsh/British
- Meaning: “Fated one”
- Popularity: Rare
A river-goddess and goddess of fate, also called Aerfen.
- Origin: British
- Meaning: “Catcher” or “fisher”
- Popularity: Rare
The British cognate of Nuada — Tolkien wrote a paper on him; that’s how good the name is.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Brightest one”
- Popularity: Rare
A fire-and-light goddess associated with the River Ribble in Britain.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Divine cow”
- Popularity: Rare
A cattle-and-fertility goddess often paired with the healing god Borvo.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “To boil” or “to bubble”
- Popularity: Rare
A god of healing hot springs.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Winding river”
- Popularity: Rare
A domestic goddess often shown with a raven and a tiny house on a pole.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Good striker”
- Popularity: Rare
Nantosuelta’s hammer-bearing husband, god of agriculture and the dead.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Great mare”
- Popularity: Rare
The horse-goddess loved enough by Roman cavalry that her cult spread across the entire empire.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Great provider”
- Popularity: Rare
A goddess of abundance, often paired with Mercury in Gallo-Roman shrines.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Horned one”
- Popularity: Rare
The antlered god of beasts and the wild, immortalized on the Gundestrup cauldron.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Thunderer”
- Popularity: Rare
The wheel-bearing thunder-god — bold, percussive, increasingly used.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Lord” or “master”
- Popularity: Rare
A solitary, harvest-related god depicted cutting branches with an axe.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: Meaning uncertain, perhaps “wooden one”
- Popularity: Rare
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: Irish
- Meaning: “Slave of the wheel”
- Popularity: Rare
A blind, immensely powerful druid said to ride a flying machine called the roth rámhach.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Earth-spear”
- Popularity: Rare
Mug Ruith’s druid-daughter, who gave her name to the Hill of Ward and the festival of Samhain.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Beauty” or “constancy”
- Popularity: Rare
The prophetess who warned Maeve “I see crimson, I see red” before the cattle-raid began.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Older spelling of Fionnuala
- Popularity: Rare
The full traditional spelling, beloved by name nerds.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Burning” or “spark”
- Popularity: Rare
The fairy queen of north Munster, who kept a magic harp and a tragic prophecy.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Klee-na”
- Meaning: “Shapely one”
- Popularity: Rare
The queen of the Munster banshees, with three magical birds who sang the sick to sleep.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Sorrow”
- Popularity: Rare
The legendary leader of the first inhabitants of Ireland — pre-Tuatha Dé, pre-everything.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Variant of Banba
- Popularity: Rare
Another spelling of one of Ireland’s three sovereignty-sisters.
- Origin: Gaulish
- Meaning: “Battle-crow”
- Popularity: Rare
The Gaulish cognate of Badb — older, harsher, ringingly metallic.
- Origin: British
- Meaning: “Invincible”
- Popularity: Rare
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
- Meaning: “Sea fortress”
- Popularity: Rare
The original Welsh form of Merlin — older, stranger, more shamanic than the Arthurian wizard.
- Origin: Welsh/Arthurian
- Meaning: Possibly “memory”
- Popularity: #16954
The Lady of the Lake who imprisoned Merlin in a tree or cave, depending on the telling.
- Origin: French/Celtic
- Meaning: Variant of Nimue
- Popularity: #184
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: Welsh/Cornish
- Meaning: “Fair one”
- Popularity: Rare
The Irish princess of Tristan and Iseult, drinking a love potion that wasn’t meant for her.
- Origin: Pictish/Cornish
- Meaning: “Tumult” or “sorrow”
- Popularity: #267
The Cornish knight who loved Iseult; one of the most romantic names in any tradition.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Original Welsh form of Iseult
- Popularity: Rare
Older, knottier, beautifully Welsh.
– **Gráinne** — Already listed under the Fianna — the original elopement story.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Étain
- Popularity: Rare
The triple-reborn lover of the god Midir.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Judge”
- Popularity: Rare
The Tuatha Dé prince who searched for Étain across her many incarnations.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Variant of Clíodhna
- Popularity: Rare
A simpler spelling of the same Munster fairy queen.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Crooked tooth”
- Popularity: Rare
The Fomorian prophetess who foresaw the fall of her own people.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Al-va”
- Meaning: “White” or possibly “noble”
- Popularity: Rare
A name shared by Fionn’s daughter and a famous female warrior.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Sweetly shaped”
- Popularity: Rare
An Otherworld woman whose exile from Tír Tairngire became the cause of famine in Ireland.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Tear” or “pearl of beauty”
- Popularity: Rare
Manannán’s wife and briefly Cú Chulainn’s Otherworldly lover.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Loved one” or “fortress”
- Popularity: Rare
The swan-maiden Aengus saw in his dreams and finally won by becoming a swan himself.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Kernel” or “grain”
- Popularity: Rare
The name of countless heroines and saints, including Lugh’s mother.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Seer-sha”
- Meaning: “Freedom”
- Popularity: #1036
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: Scottish
- Meaning: “Sharp”
- Popularity: Rare
The Cailleach Bheur, queen of winter — formidable, primal, increasingly chosen.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Old woman” or “hag”
- Popularity: Rare
The shape-shifting hag-goddess who made the mountains by dropping stones from her apron; better as a middle name perhaps.
- Origin: Irish/Gaelic
- Meaning: While Norse, often spelled Scáthach in Scottish-Celtic crossover regions
- Popularity: #4635
Already listed under heroes.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “High”
- Popularity: Rare
Brigh Brigaid, a famous female judge in Old Irish law; soft and ancient.
– **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, pronounced “Vah-ree”
- Meaning: “Beloved”
- Popularity: Rare
The Scottish Gaelic form of Mary, with deep Celtic resonance.
- Origin: Scottish, pronounced “Ay-lee”
- Meaning: “Sun”
- Popularity: #9062
A radiant Highland name, increasingly heard outside Scotland.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Great one”
- Popularity: Rare
The Loch Morar monster’s namesake and a beloved Highland classic.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Island”
- Popularity: Rare
Unisex, soft, and salt-edged.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Land of the lochs”
- Popularity: #691
The traditional Gaelic name for a Norseman; sturdy and beloved.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Supplanter”
- Popularity: #5982
The English form of the Gaelic Sheumais; warm, kilted, classic.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Born of fire” or “handsome”
- Popularity: #725
The feminine of Kenneth and a much fresher pick.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Brown horse”
- Popularity: Rare
The Gaelic original of Hector — earthy and bracing.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Slender” or possibly Agnes-reversed
- Popularity: Rare
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
- Meaning: “Tumult” or “noise”
- Popularity: Rare
A name borne by several Pictish kings; spare and elemental.
- Origin: Pictish
- Meaning: Likely “judgment” or “noble”
- Popularity: Rare
The greatest Pictish king-name, worn by the ruler who defeated the Anglo-Saxons at Dun Nechtain.
- Origin: Pictish
- Meaning: “Bright brow”
- Popularity: Rare
Possibly cognate with the Welsh Taliesin.
- Origin: Pictish/Irish
- Meaning: “Pure” or “wet”
- Popularity: Rare
A name shared between Pictish kings and an Irish water-god.
- Origin: Pictish
- Meaning: Meaning uncertain
- Popularity: Rare
A king-name with the appeal of pure mystery.
- Origin: Pictish
- Meaning: “One choice”
- Popularity: Rare
The cognate of Angus, ruler of a Pictish kingdom at its peak.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Princely hound”
- Popularity: Rare
A 6th-century Welsh king and a name in the Mabinogion’s bardic contests.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Born of the yew” or “youth”
- Popularity: #13536
A name shared by saints, princes, and Arthurian knights.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Old”
- Popularity: Rare
The Welsh hero whose tale survives in both the Mabinogion and Tennyson’s idylls.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Privileged birth”
- Popularity: Rare
The 6th-century king of Rheged whose deeds were sung by Taliesin himself.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Battle-ruler”
- Popularity: Rare
A fearsome 7th-century king of Gwynedd.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Battle-leader”
- Popularity: Rare
His son, later venerated as a saint and prophesied to return like Arthur.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “White flood”
- Popularity: Rare
The 12th-century warrior-princess of Deheubarth, who died leading her own army.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Birch hero”
- Popularity: Rare
The original Welsh form of Sir Bedivere, the knight who returned Excalibur to the lake.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Path” or “stronghold”
- Popularity: Rare
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, pronounced “Awn-ya”
- Meaning: “Brightness” or “radiance”
- Popularity: #3112
The summer sun-goddess of Munster; popular for a reason.
– **Maeve** — Already listed but worth repeating — fully modern, fully Celtic.
- Origin: Irish/Latin
- Meaning: From Irish saints, often linked back to “honor”
- Popularity: #22
Sweet, classic, with mythic-adjacent roots.
- Origin: Scottish, coined from Gaelic fionn
- Meaning: “Fair”
- Popularity: #406
Coined by James Macpherson and made canonical by literature.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “God is gracious”
- Popularity: #8331
The Irish form of Jane, often used in literary-mythic family naming.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Sor-ka”
- Meaning: “Brightness”
- Popularity: #13286
Light-filled and ancient.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Kee-va”
- Meaning: “Gentle” or “beautiful”
- Popularity: #8519
Increasingly chosen outside Ireland for its softness.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Champion” or “cloud”
- Popularity: #1582
The semi-legendary high king Niall of the Nine Hostages; quiet but mighty.
- Origin: Irish, pronounced “Owen”
- Meaning: “God is gracious”
- Popularity: #3399
The Irish form of John, with Celtic king-name energy.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Church” or “little warrior”
- Popularity: #463
Now globally famous thanks to Cillian Murphy, still rooted in saint and mythic stories.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Full of goodness”
- Popularity: #131
One of Ireland’s most ancient saints, with a name that wears beautifully.
- Origin: Irish/Scottish
- Meaning: “Little red one” or referring to the rowan tree
- Popularity: #71
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 with Celtic association
- Meaning: “Flax” or referring to the small finch
- Popularity: #19315
Linnet was a Welsh princess in Arthurian romance.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Fair” or “lovely”
- Popularity: #2060
Pretty, brief, perfectly wearable.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Honorable”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the two earliest known Welsh poets; bardic without being heavy.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Battle”
- Popularity: Rare
A king-name of medieval Wales; strong and short.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Ardent lord”
- Popularity: #739
The giant astronomer of Cader Idris mountain; also a name shared with the Quran.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Diminutive of Iorwerth, “handsome lord”
- Popularity: Rare
Warm and pleasingly unusual.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Snow”
- Popularity: #2385
Crisp, white, lovely.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Love”
- Popularity: #4669
Modern but Welsh-rooted, and increasingly heard internationally.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Lovable”
- Popularity: Rare
The Welsh form of Mabel.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Hill”
- Popularity: #2098
Compact, evergreen, unisex.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Little valley”
- Popularity: #18487
Has a vintage softness rarely matched by modern coinages.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Bird”
- Popularity: Rare
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.
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.
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✨ Love these names? Create free printable nursery art for any name →
