The #1 boy name in the United States is Liam — an Irish short form of William. That alone signals how thoroughly Irish naming has woven itself into the American chart. But the more interesting Irish story is the one further down: a wave of Gaelic-spelled names (Saoirse, Cillian, Niamh) that an American parent in 2000 would have considered unspellable.
The mainstays
These are the Irish-origin names sitting in the modern US top 250:
| Name | 2024 rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Liam | #1 boys | Short form of William |
| Riley | #229 boys / #42 girls | From Raghallaigh |
| Rowan | #71 boys / #266 girls | Tree name with Irish surname use |
| Maeve | #75 girls | Legendary warrior queen of Connacht |
| Quinn | #497 boys / #96 girls | Ó Cuinn, "descendant of Conn" |
| Declan | #131 boys | Saint Declan of Ardmore |
| Connor | #136 boys | Conchobhar, "lover of hounds" |
| Kevin | #196 boys | Saint Kevin of Glendalough |
| Finn | #198 boys | Fionn, "fair" |
| Patrick | #221 boys | The patron saint |
| Brody | #224 boys | Scots-Irish surname |
| Ronan | #257 boys | Rónán, "little seal" |
Liam, Connor, and Riley anchor the chart from the top. Maeve and Quinn are the modern Irish girls' equivalents — both have climbed steadily through the 2010s and are still rising.
The Gaelic-spelling wave
This is the part that's actively moving. Names with authentic Irish spellings — sounds that don't map onto English orthography — used to be rare in US data. They're not anymore.
- Cillian — #463 boys ("KILL-ee-an"). Cillian Murphy's Oppenheimer Oscar in 2024 added rocket fuel; the name was outside the US top 1,000 in 2010.
- Kieran — #440 boys
- Brennan — #1,054
- Conor — #707 (the Gaelic spelling holding alongside the Anglicised Connor at #136)
- Seamus — #1,450 ("SHAY-mus")
- Niall — #1,582 ("NYE-al")
Girls:
- Saoirse — #1,036 ("SEER-sha"). "Freedom" in Irish; the actress Saoirse Ronan normalised the spelling for a generation.
- Aoife — #2,230 ("EE-fa")
- Niamh — #3,148 ("NEEV")
- Siobhan — #1,931 ("shi-VAWN")
- Ciara — #1,361
- Caitlin — #1,679 (the original spelling, where the older surge of Caitlyn / Katelyn / Kaitlyn ultimately came from)
Anglicisation history
Most Irish names that appear in the US were filtered through centuries of English colonial rule over Ireland, during which Gaelic names were systematically Anglicised — either transcribed phonetically into English spelling, or replaced by English names with similar sounds.
This created the bifurcated landscape visible on the modern US chart:
The Anglicised layer — names that crossed centuries ago and now read as straightforwardly English: Liam (from the Irish form of William), Kevin (from Caoimhín), Finn (from Fionn), Maeve (from Méabh). These feel like normal English names because they've been in English usage long enough to lose their foreignness.
The Gaelic layer — names that have been used in Ireland all along but were rarely written on English-language documents: Saoirse, Aoife, Niamh, Cillian. These are the names now crossing for the first time.
Original Irish spellings
For the core names on the mainstays list, here are the original Irish forms:
| English form | Irish form | Pronunciation note |
|---|---|---|
| Liam | Liam | same |
| Riley | Raghailleach / Raghallaigh | the English is a phonetic approximation |
| Maeve | Méabh | the fada (accent) signals a long vowel |
| Quinn | Conn / Ó Cuinn | Quinn is the anglicised surname form |
| Declan | Deaglán | no close English equivalent |
| Connor | Conchobhar | the original is almost unrecognizable |
| Kevin | Caoimhín | "KWEE-veen" in Irish; Kevin is entirely phonetic |
| Finn | Fionn | the -nn is doubled in Irish |
| Patrick | Pádraig | "PAW-drig" in Irish; Patrick is the Latinised form |
| Ronan | Rónán | the accent marks a long "o" |
How to pronounce the harder names
The Gaelic-spelling names require learning a few Irish phonological rules:
- Mh / bh = a "v" or "w" sound. Siobhan = "shi-VAWN" (the bh is a v). Caoimhe = "KWEE-vah."
- Gh / dh = mostly silent or a very soft sound at the back of the throat
- Fh = completely silent. Aoife's "f" is silent entirely; it's just "EE-fah."
- Ai / ea = complex; context-dependent. Caitlin = "KAHT-leen" in Irish (not "KATE-lin" as commonly said in the US)
- Sio- at the start of a word = "shi." Siobhan = "shi-VAWN"
The single biggest mispronunciation in the US: Caitlin as "KATE-lin" — the Irish original is "KAHT-leen," which is why the name became Cathleen in Anglicised form. The surge of Kaitlyn and Katelyn spellings in the 1990s was an attempt to match the English pronunciation to the name's sound.
Regional Irish variants
Ireland has distinct regional dialects (Connacht, Munster, Ulster) and some names have regional variants:
- Saoirse is pronounced "SEER-sha" in Ulster Irish but "SUHR-sha" in Munster Irish — Saoirse Ronan uses the Ulster pronunciation, which is what most Americans have heard.
- Tadhg (a boy's name, "TY-ig") varies by region; it's more common in Munster.
- Roisin (pronounced "ro-SHEEN," meaning "little rose") is widespread but the Connacht pronunciation differs slightly.
In the US, these regional distinctions collapse — parents pick whichever pronunciation they've heard, usually from a specific famous bearer.
What's driving it
Two forces:
- Diaspora pride looping back. Irish-American naming through most of the 20th century was assimilationist: Patrick, Kevin, Mary, Brigid. The current generation is pulling from Gaelic itself — names their grandparents would not have used on a US birth certificate.
- Specific high-profile bearers. Cillian Murphy, Saoirse Ronan, Aoife O'Donovan. One famous figure with a correctly-spelled Gaelic name removes the "how do I write this" objection for thousands of parents.
The two waves are likely to keep merging. Expect more Aoife, more Eoin, more Tadhg in the next decade — names that look completely opaque on the page until you've heard them once, and then permanently aren't.
Frequently asked questions
Is Liam actually Irish or just associated with Ireland? Liam is genuinely Irish — it's the Irish and Scottish Gaelic form of William, ultimately from the Germanic Willahelm. It was used in Ireland and Ireland alone for centuries before spreading internationally in the late 20th century. The US adoption of Liam as #1 follows its popularity in Ireland and the UK.
Why do so many Irish names look so different from how they're pronounced? Irish (Gaeilge) uses a spelling system based on Old Irish, which is quite different from Modern Irish pronunciation. The spelling rules are internally consistent — once you know the system — but they're not intuitive for English speakers. Irish was also largely not written in standardised form during the centuries of English rule, which meant the spellings that survived were often archaic forms frozen in time.
Are names like Aidan, Brendan, and Brigid Irish? Yes. Aidan comes from Aodhán (diminutive of Aodh, "fire"), Brendan from Breandán, and Brigid from Bríd — the great Irish saint also venerated as a pagan goddess. All three have been substantially Anglicised and are not included in the Gaelic-spelling wave because they've been in English usage long enough to feel native.
What's the next Gaelic name likely to break into the top 500? Cillian is the most obvious candidate, driven by Cillian Murphy's Oscar and Peaky Blinders fame. Saoirse is also climbing; the fact that Saoirse Ronan has been a consistently prominent actress for over a decade has normalized the spelling significantly. On the boys' side, Tadhg and Eoin (the Irish form of John, "OH-in") are the names most frequently cited in Irish parenting communities as likely to cross.
For more origin spotlights, see Greek names on the modern US chart.
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration 2024 release. "Unranked" means fewer than five US births that year. Pronunciations are conventional Gaelic; American usage occasionally drifts.