Boy's name
Somhairle
“SOR-la”
from Norse sumarliði, 'summer traveller' — a Viking
The story behind the name
A Norse name gone Gaelic: Somerled, the 12th-century lord who founded the Lordship of the Isles, and Sorley Boy MacDonnell (Somhairle Buí, 'yellow-haired Sorley') who held the Glens of Antrim against both Elizabeth I and Shane O'Neill.
Where the name belongs
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