Irish names starting with E

The E names in brief

• Éabha · “AY-va” · Girl's name · also Eva, Ava
  The Irish form of Eve. Irish took the biblical Eve and made it Éabha — and since the 2000s, when Ava became a global favourite, Irish parents have used the native spelling to keep the sound and the country in one word.
• Eachann · “AKH-an” · Boy's name · also Hector, Eachdhonn
  From the older Eachdhonn — 'horse-lord'. Still in use among the Scots, where it goes down as Hector — a Trojan prince standing in for an Irish horse-lord.
• Éadaoin · “AY-deen” · Girl's name · also Aideen, Edwina
  An old name; Woulfe records no meaning for it. A holy virgin of Moylurg, the country around Boyle in Roscommon, whose festival day was 5 July. Not to be confused with Étaín of the Mythological Cycle, though the names are often run together.
• Éamonn · “AY-mun” · Boy's name · also Eamon, Edmund, Edmond
  The Irish form of Edmund, 'protector of wealth'. Éamon de Valera (American-born, Limerick-reared) dominated independent Ireland for half a century as Taoiseach and President and wrote its 1937 Constitution. Éamonn Ceannt was executed for his part in 1916.
• Éanán · “AY-nawn” · Boy's name · also Enan
  An old name; Woulfe records no meaning for it. Borne by several Irish saints. Like a good many of these, the name outlasted every fact about the men who carried it.
• Earnait · “AR-nit” · Girl's name · also Ernet
  From earna, 'knowing'. The feminine form of Earnán, and one of a whole family of Irish women's names ending in -nait: Gobnait, Muadhnait, Odharnait, Rathnait. Almost all of them belonged to saints.
• Earnán · “AR-nawn” · Boy's name · also Ernan, Ernest
  From earna, 'knowing' or 'experienced'. The name of eight Irish saints, and the masculine pair to Earnait. Anglicised as Ernest, which is Germanic and unrelated.
• Éibhear · “AY-ver” · Boy's name · also Ever, Heber, Ivor, Éimhear
  Of unknown origin. Common among the MacMahons of Ulster, and on Cape Clear island in Cork, where it was written Heber. In the north it went down as Ivor.
• Eibhlín · “eye-LEEN” · Girl's name · also Eileen, Evelyn, Aileen, Eveleen
  From Norman-French Aveline. Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill wrote, or spoke, 'Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire', the Lament for Art O'Leary, over her murdered husband's body in 1773. It is the greatest keening poem in Irish and one of the finest poems by any woman in Europe that century.
• Eiléanóir · “EL-a-nore” · Girl's name · also Eleanor, Eleanora, Eilíonóra
  A Provençal form of Helena. Often taken for a name in its own right; Woulfe says it is really Helena, carried through Provence and into Ireland by the Anglo-Normans.
• Eilís · “EL-eesh” · Girl's name · also Eilíse, Elizabeth, Elsie, Bessie
  From Hebrew Elisheba — 'God is an oath'. The Irish Elizabeth, and very common. It arrived first in the form Isabella, which is why Irish records hold Isabellas, Elizabeths and Eilíses who are all the same woman.
• Éimear · “EE-mer” · Girl's name · also Emer, Eimhear, Eavear
  Uncertain; possibly 'swift'. Emer, daughter of Forgall, was the wife of Cú Chulainn — and he won her only by proving himself in the six gifts she demanded: beauty, voice, sweet speech, needlework, wisdom and chastity. She is the standard by which the sagas measure a woman's accomplishment.
• Éimhín · “AY-veen” · Boy's name · also Evin
  From eimh, 'swift' or 'active'. Three Irish saints carried it; one founded Monasterevan, the monastery of Éimhín, and is patron of the O'Dempseys.
• Eithne · “ETH-na (also EN-ya)” · Girl's name · also Enya, Ethna, Edna, Aithne
  Probably from eithne, 'kernel' or 'grain'. Borne by queens, saints and at least one mother of a god: Eithne, daughter of Balor, was the mother of Lugh. Nine holy women of the name are remembered in the Irish calendars.
• Enda · “EN-da” · Boy's name · also Éanna, Endeus
  Possibly 'bird-like'. St Énda founded the monastery on Inis Mór in the Aran Islands around 484 — the earliest Irish monastic foundation of which we have record, and the school where Ciarán of Clonmacnoise and Brendan the Navigator are said to have trained.
• Eochaidh · “OH-khee” · Boy's name · also Oghie, Eochaid, Eochy
  An old name built on each, 'horse'. Once very common and almost gone by Woulfe's day; a favourite among the O'Hanlons of Armagh. The surnames Keogh and Kehoe are 'son of Eochaidh'.
• Eoghan · “OH-in” · Boy's name · also Owen, Eugene, Ewan
  'born of the yew' — from eo, yew. Eoghan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, gave his name to Tír Eoghain — County Tyrone, 'the land of Eoghan'. Eoghan Rua Ó Néill (Owen Roe O'Neill), the Spanish-trained general, won Benburb in 1646; Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin was Munster's last great wandering poet.
• Eoin · “OH-in” · Boy's name · also Owen, John, Eóin
  The Irish form of John, direct from Latin Johannes. Ireland has two Johns: Eoin, taken straight from the Latin of the Gospels and used for John the Baptist and the Evangelist, and Seán, which came later through Norman French. Eoin MacNeill founded the Irish Volunteers and countermanded the 1916 Rising.
• Ériu · “AIR-oo” · Girl's name · also Éire, Erin
  The name Ireland itself comes from, with Old Norse or Old English 'land' added to it. Daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the matron goddess of the island. She met the invading Milesians at Uisneach and was promised the country would keep her name forever.
• Ernán · “AIR-nawn” · Boy's name · also Ernan, Ernin
  From iarn, 'iron' — 'little iron one'. Borne by several early saints, including an uncle of Colmcille who went with him to Iona.

Also spelled with E

Listed on the atlas under another spelling, but the E form is the one many families carry — they are the same name.

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