Best 100+ Unusual Irish Boy Names That Will Stand Out

The most popular Irish baby boy name is Conor.  While our list may include some of the other Irish baby boy names in the top 10, the vast majority of names on this list are unusual Irish baby names.

If you’re looking for an unusual name for your baby, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve hunted down the most uncommon male names with Irish origins.

Some are truly rare Irish boy names that you won’t hear often. They come from a pool of old , traditional Irish names and cute Irish boy names, but we think you’ll agree that if you’re looking for a unique Irish name for your baby boy, you’ll find plenty to choose from on our list.

Old and Traditional Irish Boys Names

Many classic Irish names for boys have fallen out of use, which means you may well find one of the uncommon Irish boy names on the list below a wonderfully unique baby name for your son.

1) Aban, meaning “little abbot”.

2) Alaois, meaning “famous in war”.

3) Aodh (pronounced Ay), meaning “fire”.

4) Bain, meaning “fair haired”.

5) Beacan, meaning “little one”.

6) Brogan, also spelled Bógáin, meaning “little shoe”.

7) Caelan, meaning “warrior”.

8) Cianán (pronounced Keenan), meaning “ancient”.

9) Coileáin (pronounced Collin), meaning “young”.

10) Coireall (also spelled Coirill, Kerill and Cyril, pronounced Kor-ril), this was the name of a 13th-century Irish bishop.

11) Conall, meaning “strong in battle”.

12) Cormac, meaning “charioteer”.

13) Dáithí (also spelled Daithí or Dathí, pronounced Dah-hee), meaning “swift” or “nimble”.

14) Daly, meaning “counsellor”.

15) Dara (also spelled Daire, Darragh and Daragh), meaning “oak tree”.

16) Declan, meaning “good”.

17) Devlin, meaning “brave”.

18) Diarmuid (also spelled Dermot and Deermot), this was the name of an Irish demi-god.

19) Eamon (pronounced Aymon), meaning “guardian” or “protector”.

20) Eoghan (pronounced Owen), meaning “young”.

21) Eoin (also spelled Ewan, Ewen, Evan and Eoghan, and pronounced Owen), meaning “God is gracious”. It’s also the Gaelic form of John and is currently one of the most popular baby names in Ireland.

22) Fallon, can be used as a boy name or a girls’, meaning “leader”.

23) Fiadh, another unisex name, meaning “wild”.

24) Finn, meaning “white” or “fair”.

25) Galvin (also spelled Gealbhan), meaning “bright”.

26) Girvan, meaning “small rough one”.

27) Hagan, meaning “Viking”.

28) Hugh, the Anglicized version of Aodh (see above), meaning “fire”.

29) Jarlath (also spelled Iarfhlaith in Gaelic), meaning “lord”.

30) Iollan (pronounced Ul-an), meaning “one who worships a different god”.

31) Kane (sometimes spelled Cian), meaning “ancient”.

32) Keiran (sometimes spelled Ciaran), meaning “dark”.

33) Leith, which is also attributed to Scotland, meaning “wide”.

34) Lochlain, meaning “Viking”.

35) Lonan (also spelled Lonán), meaning “little black bird”.

36) Lorcan, meaning “little fierce one”.

37) Mack, meaning “son”.

38) Merric, meaning “ruler of the sea”.

39) Micheál (also spelled the Anglicised way, Michael), meaning “red earth”.

40) Nevan (also spelled Naomhán), meaning “holy”.

41) Niall (also spelled Neal or Neil), meaning “warrior” or “champion”.

42) Odhran (also spelled Orrin and prounced O-rawn), meaning “small green one”.

43) Oisin (pronounced O-sheen), meaning “little deer”.

44) Phelan (also spelled Faoláin and pronounced Fay-lan), meaning “wolf”.

45) Quillan (a variant of Collin), meaning “cub”.

46) Riordan, meaning “poet”.

47) Rourke, meaning “champion”.

48) Ruairí (also spelled Ruaidhrí/Ruaidhrígh/Raidhrígh/Ruaraidh, and pronounced Rory), meaning “red haired king”.

49) Saorirse (pronounced Sor-cha), meaning freedom. This name is sometimes given to girls now, but it was originally a boys’ name.

50) Taber, meaning “well”.

51) Tadgh (pronounced Ty-eg), meaning “storyteller”.

52) Taveon, meaning “hillside”.

53) Tevis, meaning “hillside”.

54) Torin, meaning “chief”.

55) Ultan, meaning “one who comes from Ulster”.

56) Whelan (a variation of Phelan), meaning “wolf”.

57) Yven, the name the French gave to Celts.

Contemporary Irish Boys Names

Some modern Irish boy names are gender neutral, but they still make strong boy names. See if one of the following Irish names grabs your fancy.

58) Aiden (also spelled Ayden, Aydan, Aydin, Aadyn and Aedan), meaning “little fire”.

59) Bard, meaning “minstrel”.

60) Cathal, this was the name of an ancient Irish saint, but has recently come out of underuse to become an unusual Irish baby name.

61) Clancy, originally an Irish surname and now used as a boy name. It means “red warrior”.

62) Connelly, another unusual Irish baby name that started out as an Irish surname. It means “fierce as a hound”.

63) Devin, meaning “fawn”.

64) Dillon, yet another Irish name that started as a surname, it means “like a son”.

65) Farrell, which is a variant of Feargal, and comes from an Irish clan, meaning “member of the Fearghal clan”.

66) Fintan, though an ancient name is only now starting to gain traction. It means “white fire”.

67) Flynn, which probably started life as a surname and now used as an Irish baby name.

68) Keegan, another Irish name that was a surname but increasingly used as a first name, meaning “fire”.

69) Keir, meaning “dark haired”.

70) Lennon, meaning “dear one”.

71) Maquire, which started off as a surname only, but has been taken up by parents recently as a first name. It means “son of the dark haired one”.

72) Malachy (pronounced Mal-a-ki), meaning “my messanger”.

73) Murphy, meaning “descendant of a sea warrior”.

74) Piran, meaning “prayer”.

75) Rafferty, meaning “prosperity”.

76) Shane, meaning “God is gracious”. This is an Irish baby name that can be given to a boy or a girl.

Irish Boys’ Names Inspired By The Festive Season

How about choosing one of these Irish names with meaning that hark back to Christmas? They’re unusual and make cool baby names.

77) Aoire (pronounced Air-ah), meaning “shepherd”.

78) Críostóir (pronounced Kree-stor), this is the Irish version of Christopher and means “bearer of Christ”.

79) Cuilin (pronounced Quil-in), means “holly”.

80) Gaibrial, the Irish spelling of the archangel who appeared to Mary.

81) Nioclás (pronounced Nik-los), this is the Irish version of Nicholas and means “victory”, though of course it also has connotations with St Nick.

82) Stiofán (pronounced Stif-fawn), the Irish version of Stephan, meaning “crown”.

Irish Boys Names From Books And Films

Names that have been popularised through books and films can make great unusual baby names, as these prove.

83) Cullen, which became famous as the surname of the vampire family in the Twilight films, it’s also used as an unusual Irish baby name and means “holly”.

84) Darcy, which probably came from an Irish surname and is sometimes used for as a girl as well as a boy’s name. It became popularised from Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, and means “dark haired”.

85) Finian (also spelled Finnian), made famous by the 1960’s film starring Fred Astaire called Finian’s Rainbow. It means “fair”.

86) Garrett, a character in Breaking Dawn, part of the Twilight saga.

87) Kermit, which has become well-known for being the name of the green frog in Sesame Street, it means “free man”.

Irish Boys’ Names Inspired by Famous Irishmen

The list of famous Irishmen is long, meaning there are heaps of cool Irish names for babies that parents can be inspired by. What about a name meaning king or guardian? Choose one of the nearly unique Irish boy names here and that could be the subtext of your baby’s name.

88) Brendan (also spelled Breandán or, in an earlier Irish version, Brénainn), from the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, meaning “prince” or “king”.

89)  Cillian (pronounced Kill-ee-an), from the Irish actor Cillian Murphy, meaning “little church”.

90) Colm (pronounced Collum), from the Irish actor Colm Meany, meaning “dove”.

91) Conor, from the Irish mixed martial artist Conor MacGregor, meaning “one who loves wolves or dogs”.

92) Feargal (also spelled Fergal), from the Irish singer Feargal Sharky, meaning “man of valour”.

93) Liam, from the Irish actor Liam Neeson, meaning “guardian”.

94) Pierce, from the Irish actor Pierce Brosnan, meaning “rock”.

95) Seamus (pronounced Shaymus), from the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. Seamus is the Irish version of James.

Uncommon Irish Boy Names

Although this list is of unusual Irish baby names, some are more uncommon than others. Unusual Irish baby names sometimes started out as , before becoming one of the Irish male names. One of the following, almost unique Irish boy names could be just the name you’ve been looking for.

96) Benen, which was the name of an ancient Irish saint.

97) Carbry, meaning “charioteer”. Iósua (pronounced Yo-swa), this is the Irish version of Joshua and means “salvation”.

98) Cashel, meaning “castle”.

99) Cassidy (from an Irish surname), meaning “clever”.

100) Cian (pronounced Kee-an, also spelled Kian), meaning “ancient”.

101) Curran, meaning “hero”.

102) Ferris, meaning “rock”.

103) Finbar, which is an ancient Irish saint’s name.

104) Fionn (an alternate version of Finn), meaning “fair haired”.

105) Gallagher, an ancient surname meaning “foreign help”, now being used as  an unusual Irish first name.

106) Grady, meaning “noble”.

107) Larkin, meaning “fierce”.

108) Lonan, meaning “blackbird”.

109) Rí (pronounced Ree), meaning “king”.

110) Seanán (pronounced Shin-awn), meaning “little wise one”.

111) Seosamh (pronounced Show-sav), this is the Irish version of Joseph and means “he will add”.

112) Tiernan, meaning “little lord”.

113) Torin, meaning “chief”.

114) Traigh, meaning “strand”.

115) Treasigh, meaning “fighter”.

116) Tully, meaning “hill” or “peaceful”.

117) Tynan, originally a surname but starting to get used as a first name, meaning “dark”.

118) Veon (a variation of Taveon), meaning “hillside” or “sky”.