Irish name

A formal Irish Gaelic name consists of a given name and a surname, as in English. Surnames in Irish are generally patronymic in etymology, although they are no longer literal patronyms, as is the case in Icelandic. The form of a surname varies according to whether its bearer is male or female, and in the case of a married woman, whether she chooses to adopt her husband's surname.

First or given names

The Irish have a traditional system for naming children: the first son is named after the father's father, the second son after the mother's father, the third son after the father. The first daughter after the mother's mother, the second daughter after the father's mother, the third daughter after the mother. Any further children are named by the parents' choice. This has led to some spectacular names being made more common, for example there are plenty of Assumptas and Perpetuas, and many girls were named after Saints Theresa and Bernadette in the 1950s shortly after they were canonised. Many families still adhere to this way of naming children, although it is becoming less common nowadays with the influx of more secular names from the world of TV and popular music. Traditional names or Irish versions of Anglicised names are also used, eg. Sean instead of John, and Grainne instead of Grace. Its possible for several cousins to have exactly the same name, eg. Daniel Murphy, if all their fathers were brothers, and they are named after the same grandfather. To avoid confusion a pet name may be used, or a middle name eg Daniel Patrick may be called Dan Pat, and Daniel John may be called Danny John.

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