Balor

Meaning: (Sea Giant, (modern spelling: Balar) was king of named Fomorians, a group of supernatural beings. He is often described as a giant with a large eye in his forehead that wreaks destruction when opened. He has been interpreted as a god or personification of drought and blight. It is suggested that Balor comes from Common Celtic *Baleros, meaning "the Deadly One", cognate with Old Irish at-baill (Dies) and Welsh ball (Death, Plague).

He is also referred to as Balor Béimnech (Balor the smiter), Balor Balcbéimnech (Balor the strong smiter) and Balor Birugderc (Balor of the piercing eye). The latter has led to the English name Balor of the Evil Eye.)

Origin: (Celtic, Irish, Irish Mythology)

Pronunciation: (b'-lor, BAL-or)

Gender: Male

I was watching WWE wresting a few months ago and there is a wrestler with the ring name of Finn Balor and I really liked the look of the last name. When I learned about the meanings and origin it is quite a bit of a dark and destructive name but that might be what an author is looking for or maybe to name a character this whose personality is quite the opposite, who knows, so I decided to add this so that it may be able to be the perfect name for an author out there that has been looking for just the right name and hadn’t yet stumbled upon this one. It definitely has an interesting albeit disturbing history and mythology behind it.

Morrigan

Meaning: (Great Queen, Phantom Queen, Derived from Irish Mór Ríoghain, In Irish myth she was a goddess of war and death who often took the form of a crow. The Morrígan is a goddess of battle, strife, and sovereignty. She sometimes appears in the form of a crow, flying above the warriors, and in the Ulster cycle she also takes the forms of an eel, a wolf and a cow. She is generally considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic Valkyries, although her association with a cow may also suggest a role connected with wealth and the land.

There is some disagreement over the meaning of the Morrígan's name. Mor may derive from an Indo-European root connoting terror or monstrousness, cognate with the Old English maere (which survives in the modern English word "nightmare") and the Scandinavian mara and the Old Russian "mara" ("nightmare"); while rígan translates as 'queen'. This can be reconstructed in Proto-Celtic as *Moro-rīganī-s. Accordingly, Morrígan is often translated as "Phantom Queen". This is the derivation generally favoured in current scholarship.

In the Middle Irish period the name is often spelled Mórrígan with a lengthening diacritic over the 'o', seemingly intended to mean "Great Queen" (Old Irish mór, 'great'; this would derive from a hypothetical Proto-Celtic *Māra Rīganī-s). Whitley Stokes believed this latter spelling was due to a false etymology popular at the time. There have also been attempts by modern writers to link the Morrígan with the Welsh literary figure Morgan le Fay from Arthurian romance, in whose name 'mor' may derive from a Welsh word for 'sea', but the names are derived from different cultures and branches of the Celtic linguistic tree. For more information on the Irish Mythology and name see- ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morr%C3%ADgan} )

Origin: (Irish, Irish Mythology, Celtic)

Pronunciation: (Mo-Rih-gAWn, moe-rEE-an, moe-rEE-gan, mo-ree-an, MOOR-ee-an, mor-ree-gun)

Gender: Female

I was watching syfy channels Heroes of Cosplay a few months ago. One of the cosplayers dressed up like a character named this from a video game. I really like the name, it looks like Morgan but a tad bit cooler. It looks like a name that could be in a science fiction or fantasy setting and really work or could be in a very historical setting and work there too. It is pretty and I like the meanings a lot but the mythology is a bit dark but may work for an antagonist characters name. All in all a very interesting name which I kind of love.

Eimear

Meaning: (Swift, Variant of ÉIMHEAR which is modern Irish form of Emer Possibly from Gaelic eimh "swift". In Irish legend she was the wife of Cúchulainn. She was said to possess the six gifts of womanhood: beauty, voice, speech, needlework, wisdom and chastity.

Eimear possessed the “Six Gifts of Womanhood” – “beauty, a gentle voice, sweet words, wisdom, needlework and chastity!” She was bethrothed to the warrior Cuchulainn (read the legend) when they were children and they loved each other very deeply. But Cuchulainn had “a wandering eye” and Eimear endured this, realizing “everything new is fair,” but when he made love to Fand, wife of the sea god Manannan, Eimear confronted the lovers. After seeing the strength of Fand’s love she offered to withdraw. Touched by this display of unselfishness, Fand left Cuchulainn and returned to the sea. When Cuchulainn died Eimear spoke movingly and lovingly at his graveside.)

Origin: (Irish, Irish Mythology)

Pronunciation: (EE-mur, ee-mer)

Gender: Female

I forget where I first saw this name but I was intrigued by the look. Like all good Irish names it looks nothing like the pronunciation, LOL. The meanings are very nice and it does look like a beautiful name. The mythology is interesting as well. I wouldn’t mind seeing it more and since I know the name the pronunciation wouldn’t be hard but for someone unfamiliar with it, it may be a tad difficult so be warned writers out there.

Fintan

Meaning: (White Fire, White Bull, Little Fair One, According to legend this was the name of the only Irish person to survive the great flood. This name was also borne by many Irish saints. Anglicized form of the traditional Irish name Fiontan, derived from "finn" and "tine". Saint Fintan was an Irish abbot, whose monastery existed at a remarkable level of austerity. Fintan himself lived only on bread and water. )

Origin: (Irish, Irish Mythology, Gaelic, Celtic)

Pronunciation: (FIN-tan (Irish), FIN-tən)

Gender: Male, possibly Uni-Sex

I was looking up Fire meaning names for one of my novels and though I didn’t choose this for the novel I did like it enough to add it here. I like the meaning White Fire. It has a strong look and meanings. The history and legend is also very intriguing. It has a nice long history of use and I wouldn’t mind seeing this more often.

Aodh

Meaning: (Fire, Fiery, Spirit, Brightness, Splendor, From the old Irish name Áed, which meant "fire". This was a very popular name in early Ireland, being borne by numerous figures in Irish mythology and several high kings. Modern form of the Old Gaelic name Aed. Mythology: name of the Celtic sun god. It was a common personal name since long ago, and from the later Middle Ages onwards, was commonly anglicized as Hugh and Eugene. This name is the source form of Aidan and McCoy.)

Origin: (Celtic, Irish, Scottish, Gaelic, Irish Mythology)

Pronunciation: (EE, AY, IY)

Gender: Male

It is a diminutive for Egan *see on list of posts* but I decided to add them as two different names as I often do because even as diminutives or variants a name can look so very drastically different. This name has nice strong meanings. It has a nice long use and could be used because of its history, mythology, just the nice look of the name. Or it could be a character name but they use one of the anglicized names when maybe in another country. I don’t however like the pronunciation, it is just two letters. Maybe with the proper accent it might sound alright but to me it doesn’t sound right. But when looking up Fire names I found this and it has been a name I had wanted to add for sometime but forgot about until I was looking up Fire names.

Brigit

Meaning: (Exalted One, Shining Bright, The High One, Strength, The name Brigid from brigh meaning “power, vigour, virtue” epitomizes the Irish genius for layering old and new. The main female deity of the Celts, Brigid made the land fruitful and animals multiply, she blessed poets and blacksmiths. Her namesake St. Brigid of Kildare carried her powers into the Christian era. The stories of Brigid”s compassion and miracles are told now as they have been for more than 1500 years in every part of Ireland. She is equal in esteem and shares a grave with St. Patrick and St. Columcille. Her feast day, February 1st, is the first day of Spring in the Celtic calender.)

Origin: (Gaelic, Irish, Irish Mythology, Celtic)

Pronunciation: (bridge + id, BRIJ- id)

Gender: Female

When I was looking up information on Rhiannon *see on list of posts* I saw that some had suggested sibling names and Brigit was among them. I have decided to use this as maid servants name in one of the novels I am currently writing. I do however keep wanting to use the French pronunciation bri-JEET but when I listened to this name it is Bridge-id. I like the meanings and the spelling versus other spellings like Bridget and Bridgette. It also has a nice long history as well.

Aoife

Meaning: (Beautiful, Beauty, Radiant, Joyful, The name has also been associated with Esuvia, a Gaulish Goddess, and was borne by several heroines in ancient Irish legend. In Irish legend Aoife was a warrior Princess. In war against her sister Scathach, she was defeated in single combat by the hero Cuchulainn. Eventually she was reconciled with her sister and became the lover of Cuchulainn. The name was also borne by a daughter of King Dermot of Leinster, who married Richard de Clare, the 2^nd Earl of Pembroke and leader of the 1169 Norman invasion of Ireland. This name is sometimes used as a Gaelic form of Eve or Eva due to the similarity in pronunciation, Eva has thus been a popular name in Ireland, and many historical Eva’s were actually named Aoife.)

Origin: (Irish, Irish Mythology, Celtic, Scottish, Gaelic)

Pronunciation: (ee-fah, a-ee-fah, EE-fya, EE-fa, IY-Fah)

Gender: Female

I was watching this special on T.V about the British girl band The Saturdays. One of the women had a baby named Aoife. I have never been a fan of classic Irish names because of the spelling of them and how hard they are to pronounce but this one isn’t too bad. Still the pronunciation looks nothing like the name spelling but both are pretty in a way. It has a beautiful meaning and I do like it.

Branlin / Branlyn / Branlon / Branlen

Meaning: (Bran: Raven, Bramble, A Thicket of Wild Gorse, In Irish Legend Bran was a mariner who was involved in several adventure. Lin / Lyn / Len / Lon: Fine Jade, Forest, Beautiful, Pretty, Lime Tree, Linden Tree, Mountain of Linden Trees, Dwells by the Torrent, Family name in Chinese. In English, short form for names like Linden and Linette. By a Lake, Pond, Small Waterfall, Fierce.)

Origin: (Chinese, Spanish, Scandinavian, Old English, German, Welsh, Irish, Irish Mythology, Celtic, Gaelic, Scottish)

Pronunciation: (BRAN- lin)

Gender: Male

I was at a religious District Convention a few weeks ago and when I was walking around at lunch I heard this lady call her son his name was Branlin and I thought what a cute cool name that is. It has good meanings when I got around to researching it and it sounds super cute.

Maeve

Meaning: (Intoxicating, In Irish Gaelic, the name "Medbh" means "she who intoxicates." It is rooted in the Irish legend of Queen Maeve or Medb, one of the main protagonists of the early Irish legend Táin Bó Cúailnge. The original form is Meadhbh, name of the powerful and legendary warrior queen of pre-Christian Ireland (first century). She is described in the "Tain", the Celtic equivalent of the "Iliad", as "tall, fair...carrying an iron sword". It is also associated with the fairy queen, Queen Mab of Irish and English legend. Maeve also means “Goddess of Song" in some languages.)

Origin: (Irish, Irish Mythology, Celtic, Gaelic)

Pronunciation: (MAYV, Mayve, MAY-v, MAY-vee)

Gender: Female

I love everything about this name from the meaning to the look. I saw this name on a Lifetime Movie and the prosecuting attorney in the film was named Maeve. I like the shortness of the name but that it looks unique and rare.