Names go through fashions, and in Ireland, it is becoming increasingly more common to name children after beauty spots.

Irish Central reports that in North America, the most popular Irish names used to be Liam and Sean for boys and Cathleen and Bridget for girls. There was also a phase that saw the names Ryan, Riley, Jameson, Erin, Kennedy and Quinn attain common usage.

But now, the latest trend is for place names. This is not confined to locations in Ireland. As celebrities have proved over the years, you can name your child after the place where you reckon it was… conceived. Step forward the multi-careered Brooklyn Beckham, son of Victoria and David Beckham, and Paris, the daughter of the late Michael Jackson.

Kinsale for a girl?

What about Kinsale, though? In an interview with the US family, the McNeals, on CNBC, mother Caitlin told the programme all their children were named after locations and Kinsale was named after a place where the family had holidayed.

Special locations, close to a family’s heart or perhaps connected to their ancestral homes, seem like a nice idea for a name, and here are some of the possibilities people can choose from, should they wish to name their child after a place in Ireland.

Top Irish baby names that are also places:

• Carlow—the county town of County Carlow in Ireland’s south-east.
• Lucan—a town 12 kilometres west of Dublin and on the River Liffey.
• Ennis—the county town of County Clare in Ireland’s mid-west and where the River Fergus enters the Shannon estuary.
• Ross—a townland on Lough Sheelin in County Meath and an already well-established boy’s name.
• Navan—the county town of County Meath.
• Cashel—in the south of Ireland, known for the Rock of Cashel, and in County Tipperary. Bear in mind, this one also lends its name to a blue cheese.
• Cabhan—the Irish word for Cavan, which means ‘grassy hill’ or ‘hollow’.
• Kerry—County Kerry, and a name already in much use, which can be for boys or girls but is more commonly used for girls.
• Clare—as in County Clare, and an alternative spelling to the name Claire. Again, already in widespread use.
• Ireland—well, that’s obvious, isn’t it? Alec Baldwin, who has Irish genes, has a daughter called Ireland.
• Shannon—after the River Shannon, the longest river in the country, which flows into the sea at Limerick. Another name used widely.
• Tara—after the Hill of Tara, an ancient burial site in County Meath, identified as the seat of the High Kings of Ireland and that has a special place in Irish mythology.
• Clarina—a village in County Limerick.

 

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