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Traditional Irish baby names are making a huge comeback

Traditional Irish baby names are making a huge comeback
A mother holds the feet of a new baby, © PA Archive/PA Images

Traditional Irish names are becoming increasing popular after decades of being less common.

The past decade has seen Irish names appear more often on birth records in Ireland, the UK, and the US.

Here are some old Irish names being given to babies, per the country's Central Statistics Office.

Irish Star did a breakdown of the names, their pronunciation and meaning.

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Girls
Ríona

Pronounced: Ree-na

From the Irish 'rí', which means 'king', 'monarch', or 'royalty'.

Éala/Éile/Aodhla

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Pronounced: Ay-la or Ay-leh

The name Éala is increasing in popularity in Ireland. It's a spelling variation of the separate names Éile and Aodhla.

Éile is thought to be a derivative of the name of the Celtic goddess Ériú. Aodhla likely means 'little fiery one', coming from the Irish name 'Aodh', meaning 'fire'.

Muireann

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Pronounced: Mwir-inn (like the word 'whir' but with an M in front)

A name from Irish mythology, Muireann was the mother of warrior hero Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Croía

Pronounced: Kree-ya

From the Irish word 'croí', meaning 'heart'.

Siún

Pronounced: Shoon

Irish version of Joan, a name of Hebrew origin meaning 'graced by God' or 'God is gracious'.

Aideen/Aedín/Éadaoin

Pronounced: Ay-deen

Another derivative of 'Aodh' to mean 'little firey one'.

Síofra/Siofra

Pronounced: Shee-fra

Comes from the Irish 'sí', which refers to fairies.

Naoise

Pronounced: Nee-sha

Now a unisex name that mostly appears on the list of girl names, this was originally a boy's name referring to a male figure of Irish mythology. Naoise was the nephew of King Conchobar mac Nessa of Ulster.

Róisín

Pronounced: Row-sheen

Little rose.

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Boys
Tomás

Pronounced: Tum-aws

Irish form of Thomas, a name of Semitic origin meaning 'twin'.

Donnacha

Pronounced: Dun-a-kha

Brown-haired chief/nobleman.

Conall

Pronounced: Cun-nall

From the Irish 'con', a grammatical form of 'cú' meaning 'hound'/'wolf'.

Daire/Dáire/Dara

Pronounced: Dar-rah

Seemingly from the Irish 'dair'/'daracha', meaning 'oak' or 'oak tree'.

Read more:Common Irish last names and the fascinating meanings behind them

Caolán

Pronounced: Kwee-lawn

From the Irish 'caol', meaning 'slender' or 'narrow'.

Aodhán

Pronounced: Ay-dawn

Male version of 'little fire'/'little fiery one'.

Daithí/Dáithí/Dathí

Pronounced: Dah-hee or Daw-hee

Swift one/nimble one.

Cathal

Pronounced: Kah-hal

Battle ruler.

Fiachra

Pronounced: Feeya-khra

From the Irish 'fiach', which can mean either raven or to hunt. It was probably initially given to the sons of warriors/hunters to mean 'little hunter', or else to baby boys born with black/very dark hair.

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