Unusual Irish Names

As I am Irish and have a uniquely Irish name, I have decided to base this next post on Irish names. Ireland has a long history of Celtic names and also Anglo-Irish names from when the Normans invaded in 1169. Many ancient Irish names have been given a modern spelling such as 'Tighernán' being modernised to 'Tiarnán' and 'Aodhán' to 'Aden'. Some popular Irish names are Niamh, Fionn and Cathal.

Irish names come from the Ancient Celtic language. This Celtlic, or Brehon, language came to Ireland with the celts many years before Christs death. Here is a list of some of my favourite unusual Irish names. I found all of these in a book of Irish names my parents used to name me and my siblings.

1. Aurnia
2. Bébhinn
3. Dagda
4. Samhairle
5. Líadaín

Unusual Names of Celebrities Babies

Once a celebrity becomes pregnant and the press find out about it, rumours and speculation begin to fly about what they will be called. Some of the names are perfectly normal such as "Prince George" and Anne Hathaway's "Jonathon", but others are a little more quirky.

Let's start with the Kardashians. The Kardashians are American reality TV stars who have made billions from clothing brands, social media and make-up to mention a few. They graced the headlines of tabloids worldwide when, arguably the most famous of the Kardashians, Kim, announced she was pregnant with Kanye Wests baby. It was soon released that Mr and Mrs West had named their child North. So that along with her last name means her full name is North West. I thought that it was a joke when I first heard it too. So once it was revealed that Kanye and Kim were having another baby, many people thought that she/he would be called South or maybe even East. No, instead the couple moved away from directions and decided on Saint instead.

SAINT WEST pic.twitter.com/xZGpY7z8KW

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 7, 2015

Another celebrity famed with rather unusual name choices is of course pop king Michael Jackson. Jackson named his children all Michael after himself but also have them 'quirky' second names; Prince, Paris and Blanket. Blanket Jackson has recently spoken out saying he no longer wants to be known by that name and prefers to go by 'Bigi'. This is because he was bullied over his fathers choice of name for him.
And here is a table of the most unusual celebrity kids names;


1. Elsie Otter - Zooey Deschanel
2. Apple - Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
3. Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo and Petal Blossom Rainbow - Jamie and Jools Oliver
4. Blanket - Michael Jackson
5. Saint and North West - Kim and Kanye West
6. Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches and Pixie - Bob Geldof and Paula Yates
7. Blue Ivy - Beyoncé and Jay Z
8. Kal-El - Nicolas Cage
9. Moon Unit, Dweezil and Diva Muffin - Frank Zappa
10. Heaven - Jamie Lynn Spears

My First Post

As my first post I have decided to explore the origins of my own name. Many people think that my name is Tiernan (TEER-nin) but it is in fact Tiarnán (TEar-nawn) which is the Irish pronunciation. My parents found my name in a book of Irish names and it just stuck in their heads as a beautiful name. Since then I have gone through many stages, most notably the length of time it took me to learn how to spell my own name, realising fadas were not commonly used online and the struggle of telling people for the sixth time how my name is spelt.

My name is a modernisation of the name "TIGHEARNÁN", which comes from the Irish meaning "little lord" and was the name of a 12th century king in ancient Ireland according to www.behindthename.com. Another translation of Tiarnán is "lordly".

As Tiarnán is an unusual name, it is hard to find famous people other than myself to write about here. Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn is a famous uileann pipe player from Monaghan. Here is a video of Tiarnán on the uileann pipes, from YouTube.

Tiarnán Mulvenna is another famed Tiarnán who achieved stardom through Warrenpoint Football Club. Mulvenna plays forward for the NIFL Premiership.

So I hope this blog post has educated you in terms of an unusual name and I hope you decide to name all your children Tiarnán from now on.

Introductory post

Hello. My name is Tiarnán. All my life I have suffered with having people mispronounce and misspell my name. I have decided to write my blog on other unusual names and try find some new quirky names. I also want to find out a bit about names in general such as their history and where different names originate.