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Welcome to Spike & Jamie's Irish Recipe
Collection. Wonderful recipes from the Emerald Isle. Recipes for St.
Patrick's Day and everyday!!
Irish Names Irish Female Names & their
meanings Irish Male Names & their meanings On
this page: Why do so many Irish names begin with "O'?" TOP 20 IRISH FEMALE
NAMES TOP 20 IRISH MALE NAMES
Irish Names for Grandparents Irish Names for Parents Why do so many Irish names begin with "O'?"
It reflects a practice found in many cultures: the use of the "patronymic." Last names
originated in the Middle Ages when men, who embodied the continuity of the family,
started to be identified by their relationship to their immediate ancestors. The son of
David, for example, might take the name Davidson. TOP 20 IRISH FEMALE NAMES: Aine TOP 33 IRISH MALE NAMES: Aidan
In English:
Top
of Page
The Scots used "Mac," which meant "the son of," for this purpose. And so with the Irish
and the "O'," except here it meant "the grandson of, " possibly because one of the first to
use it, Teigue, grandson of Brian, High-King of the Irish in the 11th century, started to call
himself Ua Briain (Gaelic for O'Brian) after his famous grandfather.
Aisling
Caitlin
Caoimhe
Cliona
Clodagh
Eimear
Emer
Erin
Fiona
Grainne
Kelly
Maeve
Mairead
Orla
Saoirse
Sinead
Siobhan
Sorcha
Tara
Barry
Brendan
Brian
Callum
Ciaran
Cillian
Colm
Connor
Daragh
Darragh
Declan
Dillon
Donal
Emmet
Eoghan
Fionn
Gavin
Gerard
Kevin
Kieran
Killian
Kyle
Liam
Niall
Oisin
Owen
Padraig
Ronan
Rory
Ross
Seamus
Shaun
Irish Names for Grandparents
Most Irish people use the English words for grandparents. Most commonly used would be:
Grandmother : Granny, Nana, Grandma, Nan
Grandfather : Grandpa, Granddad
Irish:
Some of us use the Irish words for our grandparents. There are two types of names for grandparents, more formal or less formal, more or less corresponding to the English 'Grandmother' vs. 'Granny' (or 'Grandfather' vs.
'Granddad').
The formal versions are:
Grandmother : Seanmháthair (SHAN-maw-hir)
Grandfather : Seanáthair (SHAN-awe-hir)
These literally mean 'old mother' or 'old father'.
More informally, there are the equivalents of Granny and Grandpa:
Granny : Mamó (MA-moe, moe rhymes with so).
Grandpa : Daideó (DA-doe, doe rhymes with so).
In English:
Again, most Irish people use the English words for parents. Most commonly used would be:
Mother : Mummy, Mum, Mammy, Mam.
Father : Daddy, Dad.
In Irish:
Some people do use the Irish words for parents. There are two types of names for parents, more formal or less formal, corresponding to the English 'Mother' vs. 'Mum' (or 'Father' vs. 'Dad').
The formal versions are:
Mother : máthair (MAW-hir)
Father : áthair (AWE-hir)
More informally, there are the equivalents of Mum and Dad:
Mum : Mamaí (MA-mee, same as Mammy).
Dad : Dadaí (DA-dee, same as Daddy).
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"Danny Boy"
