Ciarán, Kieran, Ciar

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Sebastiane

Ciaran

Origin: Gaelic
Meaning: “black”
Gender: masculine
Pronunciation: KEER-an; KYAIR-en, KEER

Ciarán is a diminutive form of Ciar, which comes directly from the Gaelic word for black.

In Irish legend, Ciar mac Fergus was the son of Fergus mac Róich. He was legendary progenitor of the Ciarraid people who gave their name to County Kerry in Ireland.

The name is borne by two Irish saints who are considered 2 of the 12 Apostles of Ireland, Ciarán the Elder & Ciarán the Younger (5th-century C.E.).

St. Ciarán the Elder was believed to be a contemporary of St. Patrick and he is often lauded as the first native born Irish saint. According to legend, his mother Liadán swallowed a star while pregnant with him and was told by the Druid priests that it meant her child would grow up to be an important man. Scholars debated whether he preceded Patrick in converting to Christianity or even met him or if he was converted by St. Patrick himself and was considered one of his helpers; the latter hypothesis seems to be the most popular.

St. Ciarán the Younger was the founder of the monastery in Clonmacnoise, one of the most important Christian centres in Medieval Ireland.

Other forms include:

Kenerin (Breton)
Kerne (Breton)
Kerrier (Breton)
Kyran (Breton)
Piran (Cornish)
Queranus (Dutch, Latin, German)
Keiran (English)
Kieran (English, French, Scots)
Kieron (English)
Queran (English, French, German)
Chiarain (French)
Kiéran (French)
Cirán (Galician)
Kiaran (German, Polish)
Ciarano (Italian, chyah-RAH-no, Spanish, syah-RAH-no, thyah-RAH-no)
Chierano (Italian, kyeh-RAH-no)
Ciaranus, Kyaranus (Late Latin)
Cieran (Welsh)

In the British Isles, Ciarán was quite popular in the early 2000s. In Northern Ireland, he peaked at #28 in 2000, #58 in 2004 in Scotland and #127 in England & Wales in 1997. In Ireland, it was the same case, peaking at #28 in 2002 and fell off the charts in 2017. Its anglicized form of Kieran currently ranks in the following countries:

#380 (England & Wales, 2018)
#496 (USA, 2018)

Its feminine form is Ciara

Sources

Nora, Nour

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Sebastiane

1024px-Dawn._Buryatia,_Russia

This multicultural name has recently experienced a revival. In European countries, the name stems from any name ending in the -nora element, such as Honora & Eleanora. In Arabic, Nora is a variant transliteration of Nurah, which is a strictly feminine version of the unisex Arabic name, Nur (light). Nur is used as one of the 99 attributes of Allah, al-Nur (the light).

The name was used by Henrik Ibsen for his main character in his play, A Doll’s House (1878).

Outside of East Asia, there isn’t a counry where Nora is unhead of or is not in use. Nora has been in out of the U.S. Top 100 since 1880! She currently ranks in as the 30th Most Popular Female Name in the United States. Her rankings in other countries are as follows:

#2 (Norway, 2018)
#10 (Netherlands, 2018)
#11 (Hungary, 2018)
#14 (Switzerland, 2018)
#15 (Denmark, 2018)
#20 (Belgium, 2018)
#23 (Austria, 2018)
#26 (Catalonia, Spain, 2018)
#28 (Sweden, 2018)
#38 (Canada, BC, 2018)
#47 (Spain, 2018)
#64 (Norah, Netherlands, 2018)
#79 (Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2018)
#84 (Norah, Canada, BC, 2018)
#85 (Italy, 2018)
#119 (France, 2018)
#140 (Norah, United States, 2018)
#184 (Norah, France, 2018)
#197 (England & Wales, 2018)
#283 (Norah, England & Wales, 2018)

Its Dutch version of Noor also ranks high in several popularity charts. This name is also used by Muslim families as a variation of Nur. Her rankings in other countries are as follows:

#10 (Netherlands, 2018)
#25 (Belgium, 2018)
#279 (England & Wales, 2018)
#311 (France, 2018)

Noortje is another Dutch version which currently ranks in as the 203rd Most Popular Female Name in the Netherlands.

Other forms of its European version include:

Nora Нора Νόρα (Bulgarian, Greek)
Noera (Dutch)
Noor (Dutch)
Noortje (Dutch)
Norah (Dutch, English, French)
Nonie (English)
Noreen (English, Irish)
Noora (Estonian, Finnish)
Nóra Но́ра (Faroese, Hungarian, Irish, Russian)
Nuura (Finnish, Scandinavian)
Nóirín (Gaelic)
Norina (Italian, Provençal, Romansch)
Norá (Sami)
Norea (Scandinavian)
Norena (Scandinavian)
Noria (Scandinavian)
Norita (Spanish, Scandinavian)

The Arabic Nur is traditionally a unisex name which is popularly used in many Islamic countries. Its Maghrebi form of Nour currently ranks in the following popularity charts for girls:

#40 (Belgium, 2018)
#48 (Catalonia, Spain, 2018)
#48 (France, 2018)
#76 (Spain, 2018)
#137 (Italy, 2018)
#197 (Netherlands, 2018)

Nur is currently the 87th Most Popular Female Name in Bosnia & Herzegovina (2018).

Other forms of the Arabic version include:

Noora, Nura (Arabic, strictly feminine)
Noura (Maghrebi Arabic, strictly feminine)
Núria (Catalan)
Nor (Malay, unisex)
Nuru (Swahili, strictly feminine)

Sources

Magnus

Posted on December 30, 2019 by Sebastiane

250px-Saint_Magnus_of_Füssen

The name is from the Latin cognomen meaning “great,” and by the 11th-century, was imported to Scandinavia as a synchronized name, likely being used as a latinized form of the Old Norse Magni (power; strength).

The name was especially common among Norwegian and Swedish royalty. King Magnus I is the first bearer of the name in the Norwegian line, who was said to be named for King Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus).

It was also borne by several saints, including St. Magnus of Füssen, a 6th-century saint who is credited for converting the Germanic tribes to Christianity in what is now Bavaria.

It has remained a staple in Scandinavia, it currently ranks in as the 15th Most Popular Male Name in Denmark (2018) & the 9th Most Popular Male Name in Norway (2018). His rankings in other countries are as follows:

#414 (England & Wales, 2018)
#781 (United States, 2018)

Other forms of the name include:

Mang (Alemmanish)
Mogens (Danish)
Magnuz (Danish, Swedish)
Mack (English)
Manu (Finnish)
Mauno/Maunu (Finnish)
Magne (French, Norwegian)
Mânuse (Greenlandic)
Mághnus, Manus (Irish-Gaelic)
Magnús (Icelandic)
Magno (Italian)
Magnuss (Latvian)
Magnar (Norwegian)
Maghons (Old Swedish)
Mávdnos (Sami)
Mankan (Swedish)
Måns (Swedish)

Magna is a feminine form and Magnúsína is an Icelandic feminine form.

Sources

Albert, Alberta

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Sebastiane

Albert is a Norman contracted form of Adalbert that was introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Though there is an Anglo-Saxon form of Æðelberht, it was completely usurped by its Norman version.

The name fell out of use in England by the end of the 13th-century but was revived in the 19th-century when Queen Victoria of England chose a German prince by the name of Albert to be her husband. Speaking of which, Albert was a much-loved name among German royalty.

Between 1880-1967, Albert remained in the Top 100 Most Popular Male Names. He peaked at #14 in 1910. As of 2018, he currently ranks in as the 452nd Most Popular Male Name.

Albert is currently quite popular in Europe. These are his rankings in the following countries:

#37 (Denmark, 2018)
#55 (England & Wales, 2018)
#84 (Norway, 2018)
#422 (Netherlands, 2018)

Albert is used in Albanian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Slovenian & Ukrainian.

Other forms include:

Alberzh (Breton)
Aalt (Dutch)
Aalbert (Dutch)
Aalbertus (Dutch)
Aelbrecht (Dutch)
Albercht (Dutch)
Alberd (Dutch)
Albertus (Dutch, Late Latin)
Appe (Dutch)
Brecht (Dutch)
Elbert (Dutch, German)
Ethelbert (English)
Alpertti (Finnish)
Albertin (French)
Aubert (French)
Aubertin (French)
Abbe, Abe (Frisian)
Ailbeart (Gaelic)
Alberte (Galician)
Albertos (Galician)
Alberti ალბერტი (Georgian)
Albrecht (German)
Albertinello (Italian)
Albertino (Italian)
Alberto (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
Alperto (Italian)
Ulberto, Ulperto (Italian)
Albaer (Limburgish)
Baer, Bèr (Limburgish)
Alberts (Latvian)
Albertas (Lithuanian)
Albertet (Occitanian)
Olbracht (Polish)

Its feminine for of Alberta was borne by Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), daughter of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert. The Canadian province was named in her honour.

Alberta is used in Albanian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish & Ukrainian.

Alberte is currently the 12th Most Popular Female Name in Denmark. Alberte (ahl-BARE-teh) is also used in French, but pronounced differently from its Danish counterpart (AHL-BAIRT). Other feminine forms include:

Alberthe, Albertha (Danish, Swedish)
Albertina (Dutch, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
Brechtje (Dutch)
Bertina (English, Hungarian, Italian)
Albertine (French, German, Danish, Norwegian)
Auberte (French)
Aubertine (French)
Bertine (French)
Abelke (Frisian)
Albertin (Hungarian)

Sources

Bree, Brígh

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Sebastiane

Bree can have several different origins and meanings, but is ultimately an anglicized form of the Gaelic female name, Brígh, which is a Gaelic word that can have several meanings, including: “essence, gist, matter, pith, purport, substance; meaning, sense, significance; point (of an argument); energy, force; and or “juice.”

Bree (pronounced BRAY) is also the name of a city in Belgium. In this case, the name is believed to derive from either the Medieval Dutch bred (wooden settlement) or the Dutch broek (brook, marsh). Bree appears as the name of places throughout the Dutch-speaking world, including Maasbree in the Netherlands and the Breede River in South Africa.

Brée (also pronounced BRAY) is also the name of a commune in France. In this case, its etymology is unknown.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bree is the name of a village in Middle Earth, which is believed to be inspired by the village of Brill in Buckinghamshire in England and also a play on the Celtic element bre (hill).

In C.S. Lewis’ Narnia chronicles, the name features prominently in A Horse and His Boy, in which Bree is the name of a talking horse.

In recent years, the name has made an appearance in The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyers, as the name of a minor peripheral Vampire character who was featured in her own novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (2010).

Bree is also the name of one of the main characters in the American TV series, Desparate Housewives. Another notable bearer is American actress and model, Bree Olson (b. 1986).

In the United States, Bree appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 2006 and 2012 and peaked at #868 in 2010.

Sources

Ciara

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Sebastiane

Origin: Irish Gaelic
Meaning: “black”
Gender: Feminine
(KEER-ah)

The name is from the Irish Gaelic ciar (black) and is borne by a 7th-century Irish saint, a contemporary of St. Brendan’s. According to legend, she founded a nunnery. In the Latin texts, her name was often latinized as Chera, Chier, Ciara, Cyra, Keira, Kiara, Kiera, Cier, and Ciar, but most popularly Cera.

It is interesting to note that the Kiara form has appeared in most Slavic derived Roman Catholic calendars for centuries, but only recently became more popular in Slovenia and Croatia, where it is claimed the name is a corruption of the Italian Chiara, or is it?

The usage of Ciara, pronounced (see-AR-ah), was most likely inspired by the 1973 perfum of the same name, which was named for the initials of Charles Revson. In the United States, the former became popular in the African American community, while the Gaelic form pronounced (KEER-ah) is not unheard of in Irish-American communities. A notable bearer is American R&B singer, Ciara Princess Harris (b. 1983).

Ciara (CHAH-rah) is also a Polish surname, which comes from the Polish dialectial ciarać (się) “to roll.”

Currently, Ciara is the 39th most popular female name in Ireland (2016) and the 406th most popular in England and Wales.

In the United States, Ciara was in the U.S. Top 1000 between 2000-2016, and peaked at #282 in 2000.

Sources

Finnian

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Sebastiane

St. Finian.jpg Origin: Irish, Gaelic
Meaning: “white”
Gender: masculine
(FIN-nee-en)

Finnian is an anglicized form of the Gaelic, Fionán or Fionnán, which is derived from the Celtic element, fionn (white).

The name is borne by 2 early Irish saints:

St. Finnian of Clonard, an Irish saint who is considered one of the founders of Irish monasticism and tutor of many his contemporary saints (470-549).
St. Finnian of Moville, another Irish monastic who brought back St. Jerome’s Vulgate from Rome to Ireland, started a monastary and eventually became the tutor of St. Columba (495-589).

Other forms of the name include:

Finnien (French)
Finnan/Finnén (Irish)
Fionán/Fionnán (Irish)
Vennianus (Latin)
Vinniaus (Latin)
Finian (Polish, appears on the Polish name-day calendar, but is seldom used)
Ffinan (Welsh)

A short form is Finn or Finny.

Sources

Colman, Colmán, Coleman

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Sebastiane

St. Colman.jpg Origin: Gaelic
Meaning: “dove”
Gender: masculine
Ir. (kole-MAHN); Eng. (KOLE-men)

The name comes directly from the Gaelic word colmán (dove). The name was borne by numerous early Irish saints and several Irish kings.

Colman has never appeared in the U.S Top 1000, but its English offshoot, Coleman, has. Coleman has been in the U.S. Top 1000 Most Popular Male Names since 1900. It peaked in 1903, coming in as 360th most popular male name. In 2016, it was the 963rd most popular male name.

Other forms of the name include:

Coleman (English)
Colman (French/English/Hungarian)
Colmano (Italian/Spanish)
Colomà (Catalan)
Coloman/Koloman (Dutch/German)
Colomano (Italian)
Kolman/Koloman (Polish)
Kolonat (German)

Sources

January Names

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Sebastiane

January I thought at the beginning of each month, I would post a list of names associated with the that particular month. Below is a list of names I have previously written about associated with January

Agnes: January 21st is the feast of St. Agnes and according to folklore, on January 20th, which John Keats’ was inspired to write a poem about, unmarried girls are supposed to see a future glimpse of their husband in their dreams the night before, provided they do not eat that day.

Frost: January is often associated with cold temperatures and frosty weather. Here are some name associated with frost

Sarma, Sarmite: These 2 Latvian lovelies come directly from the Latvian word for hoarfrost. The latter is pronounced sar-MEE-teh.

Kirsi: This Finnish female name is associated with the cherry fruit but also means “frost” in Finnish.

Other names that mean “frost” or words for frost from other languages include:

Male

Antizgar (Basque)
Dér (Hungarian)
Hall (Estonian)
Reif (German)
Rijp (Dutch)
Rio (Manx)
Šerkšnas (Lithuanian)
Sioc (Gaelic)
Szron (Polish, SHRONE)
Barrug (Welsh)

Female

Blancada (Occitanian)
Brina (Italian)
Bryma (Albanian)
Chelata (Aragonese)
Geada (Portuguese)
Gelada (Catalan)
Eláda (Guarani)
Escarcha (Spanish)
Jinovatka (Czech)
Pruina (Latin)
Salna (Latvian)
Slana (Slovenian)

Snow: Also one of the snowiest months of the year, some names that mean “snow.”

Berfîn (Kurdish)
Bora (Albanian)
Edur (Basque)
Eira, Eirwen, Gwyneira (Welsh)
Lumi (Estonian/Finnish)
Neige (French)
Nieves (Spanish)
Patil (Turkish)
Sniedze (Lithuanian)

Other names meaning snow that I have yet to write about include

Male

Erc’h (Breton)
Jur (Chuvash)
Kar (Turkish)
Lov (Erzya)
Nix (Latin)
Yas (Navajo)

Female

Dëbora (Albanian)
Fiòca (Piedmontese)
Kavi (Faroese)
Neige (French)
Neva (Neapolitan)
Neve (Galician/Italian)
Parsla (Latvian)

Ice, the following are names that mean “ice”

Male

Buz (Turkish)
Izotz (Basque)
Jég (Hungarian)
Led (Czech, Serbo-Croatian)
Păr (Chuvash)
Siku (Inupiak)
Ledas (Lithuanian)
Ledus (Latvian)
Tin (Navajo)
Xeo (Galician)
Ysbran

Female

Cetl (Nahuatl)
Iâ (Welsh)
Ma’ome (Cheyenne)

Epiphany: January 6th officially marks the end of the Christmas season, when the Magi finally were able to locate the Christ child and bestow gifts upon him.

Garnet is the birthstone of January. Below is a list of words from other languages that mean “garnet” and would make awesome names

Gernete (Anglo-Norman)
Granate (Asturian/Basque/Spanish)
Grenat (French)
Gairnéad (Gaelic)
Granato (Italian)
Granatas (Lithuanian)
Granada (Portuguese)

Likewise, Carnation is the birthflower, its Latin name is Dianthus, which was a name before it was a flower. Below is a list of words from other languages that mean “carnation” and would make awesome names. Also mixed in are some names with the meaning of “carnation” or just have carnation associations

Diantha
Clavel (Asturian/Spanish)
Krabelin (Basque)
Clavellina (Catalan)
Havenellike (Danish)
Caraveleira (Galician)
Landnelke (German)
Nellika (Icelandic)
Caxtillān (Nahuatl)
Penigan (Welsh)

And for boys, other than Dianthus, there is the Italian Garafano

The Chinese plum is the flower emblam for Spring, in Chinese it is called Meihua and its Japanese name is Ume. In Korean it is called Maesil and Vietnamese it is called Mai.

In Japan, the flower emblem for January is the Camellia.

Another January birthflower is the snowdrop

Çeçpĕl (Chuvash)
Sněženka (Czech)
Perce-Neige (French)
Endzela (Georgian)
Bucaneve (Italian)
Snieguole (Lithuanian)
Śnieżyczka (Polish)
Sněgulka (Sorbian)
Kardelen (Turkish)
Eirlys (Welsh)

The Zodiac signs associated with January are Capricorn and Aquarius. Capricorn means goat and Aquarius waterbearer. Some names that mean both

The ruling planet of Capricorn and Aquarius is Saturn, so Saturnina or Saturnin/Saturnino are also names to consider.

Finally, here are names that mean “January,” some come directly from words, others are a translation of the Latin male name Januarius.

Male

Chinero (Aragonese)
Xineru (Asturian)
Urtarril (Basque)
Genver (Breton/Cornish)
Gener (Catalan)
Kărlach (Chuvash)
Ghjennaghju (Corsican)
Leden (Czech)
Znêr (Emiliano-Romagnolo)
Janvier (French)
Zenâr (Friulian)
Xaneiro (Galician)
Gennaro (Italian)
Jenero (Ladino)
Januarius (Latin)
Sausis (Latvian)
Jannar (Maltese)
Genièr (Occitanian)
Yenner (Pennsylviana German)
Janeiro (Portuguese)
Bennàlzu (Sardinian)
Enero (Spanish)
Ocak (Turkish)
Lonawr (Welsh)

Female

Jenna (Bavarian)
January (English)
Tammikuu (Finnish)
Janvière (French)
Gennara (Italian)
Januaria (Latin)
Zennâ (Ligurian)

New Year, New Names

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Sebastiane

new-year-2018-eve-greeting To help usher in the New Year, here are some baby names that mean “new” or have some sort of association with the New Year.

Male

Arata “new; fresh” (Japanese)
Athanaric “year of power” (Old German)
Gēar “year” (Anglo-Saxon)
Navin “new” (Sanskrit)
Neo “new” (Greek)
Primo “first” (Italian)
Ro’y “year” (Guarani)
Silvester/Sylvester, used as the term for New Year’s Day in many European countries as this was the feast of St. Sylvester

Female

Dagny “new day” (Old Norse)
Estraine “new year” (Anglo-Norman)
Gabonzahar “New Year’s Eve (Basque)
Mara “year” (Aymara)
Nova “new” (Latin)
Novella “little new one” (Latin)
Oighrigh “new speckled one” (Gaelic) pronounced OY-rik
Prima “first” (Italian)
Nochevieja “New Year’s Eve” (Spanish)
Noitevella “New Year’s Eve” (Galician)
Renef “New year” (Anglo-Norman)
Réveillon “New Year’s Eve” (French)
Silvestra/Sylvestra, used as the term for New Year’s Day in many European countries as this was the feast of St. Sylvester

Legitimate Baby Names

names that are not made up and have had a history

Category Archives: Gaelic Names

Ciarán, Kieran, Ciar

Nora, Nour

Magnus

Albert, Alberta

Bree, Brígh

Ciara

Finnian

Colman, Colmán, Coleman

January Names

New Year, New Names