Old fashioned Irish names make a comeback for girls and boys

Baby boy Bernard and the sweet little girls Murray and Neal

BERNIE MALONE,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, November 6, 2011, 10:58 AM

Updated Friday, April 6, 2012, 12:21 PM

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8 Comments

Old baby names are new again.

Photo by elaine hudson

Old Irish names are back in vogue. Names that would likely be associated with long ago are now the names of choice for hip-young-things having kids.

However, what’s really changing is the names that are being used for girls.

Names such as Beatrice, Violet, and Florence are making a resurgence among baby girls and names like Harold, Harvey, and Stanley can apparently be heard in playground across the land.

Biblical names such as Caleb, Caleb, Ethan and Levi are also back in fashion along with slightly more stylish names like Calvin, Clifford, Felix and Ike.

The Irish names that seem to be trending according to Nameberry.com include Bernard for boys and names like Morris, Murray, and Neal for baby girls. Is this something we can really get behind?

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Is it time to stop messing with babies names and return to the more traditional names like Cathleen, Maura and Mary for girls and Sean, Ciaran and Kevin for boys?

Let us know your thoughts below.

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8 Comments

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ciaradexy | Nov 10, 2011, 05:48 PM EST

CitizenWhy-These names are not Irish and they are not being used here! Bartholomew, Arthur, Beatrice, Winifred?? Why do Americans use Irish surnames as first names? Murray for example, its a surname. Last year, Jack and Sophie where the most popular baby names here. RobbCobb-Mary and Kathleen are old ladies names! Neither of which have been in vogue for years! Colten, Ive never ever heard of! Maybe these names are all Americans interpretations of irish names but theyre just as foreign to the Irish as Mohammad is.

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Scrivner | Nov 08, 2011, 03:45 PM EST

Would "A Boy Named Sue" fit in today?

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padraiginrua | Nov 07, 2011, 04:00 PM EST

Unless I've gone blind, these names are English names. They are not written in Irish and while they may have been used in Ireland, they are not Irish. I'm glad to say that I've seen a resurgance of really Irish names such as Maebh ,Béibhinn, Ciarán and Aodhán recently

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mcdolan | Nov 07, 2011, 09:36 AM EST

the names listed in this article are not Irish. What are you at?

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CitizenWhy | Nov 07, 2011, 09:31 AM EST

It seems that the Irish, in choosing these names, are identifying with the English, not that there's anything wrong with that. I regret that names used among my kin in Ireland for centuries have disappeared: Bartholomew, Luke, Arthur, Beatrice, Winifred, Bridget. Oh well.

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GeorgeDillon | Nov 06, 2011, 04:24 PM EST

"Names such as Beatrice, Violet and Florence,... Harold, Harvey and Stanley". Am I missing something here? Is Malone telling us that these are Irish names?

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RobbCobb | Nov 06, 2011, 11:59 AM EST

I'm in favor of a change up now and again - we even went a little against the norm when we named our eldest son Colten (yes, with an "e"), but I still personally favor the traditional "Cathleen, Mary, Sean and Ciaran" over the oldschool names that are making a resurgence.

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KSERRAHN | Nov 06, 2011, 11:14 AM EST

I have an old fashion name and I like it. It suits me

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