Boy's name
Ciarán
“KEER-awn”
IPA: /ciəˈɾˠɑːn̪ˠ/
from ciar, 'dark' — 'little dark one'
The story behind the name
Two great saints share it: Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, who founded the monastic city on the Shannon and died at 33, and Ciarán of Saighir, one of the pre-Patrician saints of Ossory. Between them they made it one of the most enduring names in the country.
Its age
Associated with AD 545 — Patrick & the Rise of the Uí Néill.
See Ireland in that year on the atlas ↗
Where the name belongs
Famous people with this name
- Ciarán Hinds (born 1953) — Northern Irish actor
- Ciaran Clark (born 1989) — association football player
- Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (AD 516–AD 546) — Irish bishop
- Ciarán of Saigir (AD 375–AD 530) — Irish saint
- Ciarán Bourke (1935–1988) — Irish singer
Irish people with an English Wikipedia article whose given name is recorded as Ciarán on Wikidata; descriptions from Wikidata.
Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z