Irish Names Starting with C

Cadhla comes from a literary Irish word meaning “beautiful,” also glossed as “comely” or “graceful.”

From the Gaelic cara + the diminutive -in meaning “little friend or little beloved.”

Devotion to St. Catherine came to Ireland with Christianity.

From caol “slender” and fionn “white, fair, pure.”

From caomh “gentle, beautiful, precious.” The same root as Kevin, the name has become very popular in Ireland with the original Irish spelling.

Cara comes from the Irish word cara, “friend.”

From cas “curly-haired.” The Cassidys were the hereditary physicians to the Maguires, the chiefs of County Fermanagh between 1300 and 1600.

Catherine in Irish is Caitlin, pronounced KOIT-leen, meaning “pure, clear.”

Catriona is a spelling of the Irish Caitríona and the Scottish Gaelic Catrìona, the Gaelic forms of Catherine.

Chevonne in Irish is Siobhan, pronounced shiv-AWN, meaning “God is gracious.”

The feminine form of Ciaran, from the Irish ciar meaning “dark” and implies “dark hair and brown eyes.”

A medieval name derived from Latin clarus “clear, bright, famous.”

From clodhna meaning “shapely.” Cliodhna had three magical birds that could sing the sick to sleep and cure them.

Cloda in Irish is Clodagh, pronounced CLO-da.

The river Clody runs through County Tipperary and County Wexford and like most Irish rivers is named for a local female deity.

Colleen comes from the Irish word cailín, “girl” or “young unmarried woman,” a diminutive of caile, “woman, countrywoman.” In Irish, cailín is grammatically a masculine noun.

Croía comes from croí, the Irish word for “heart.” It is a new name rather than an old one.

Cabhán is an Irish word meaning “hollow,” and An Cabhán is the Irish name of Cavan, the Ulster county and its county town.

From coinneach “attractive person,” “pleasant person.” A sixth-century Irish missionary St. Canice founded churches in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Caolán comes from caol “slender, narrow” with the diminutive -án, so “slender one.” Rev.

Carney comes mainly from the Irish surname Ó Cearnaigh, “descendant of Cearnach,” a personal name meaning “victorious.”

Carrick comes from the Irish carraig, “rock.” It is best known as a place-name element, as in Carrickfergus (Carraig Fhearghais, “Fergus’s rock”) and Carrick-on-Suir (Carraig na Siúire).

Carroll in Irish is Cearul, pronounced KAR-ul, meaning “sharp, cutting.”

From cath “battle” and all “mighty” and signifies “a great warrior.”

Cearul is a simplified spelling of Cearbhall, from the Old Irish Cerball, probably from cerb “sharp, cutting.” It was once a common Irish name and was borne by several medieval kings.

Charles in Irish is Cathal, pronounced KA-hal, meaning “great warrior.”

From cian “ancient, enduring.”

From ciar “dark” and the diminutive -in it means “little dark one.” Popular for over 1500 years, at least 26 saints have borne the name.

Cille means “associated with the church.”

Clearie is a spelling of Cleary, from the Irish surname Ó Cléirigh, “descendant of Cléireach.” Cléireach means “clerk” or “cleric,” a churchman and, by extension, a scholar.

Clooney is an Irish surname used as a first name. It is an anglicized form of Ó Cluanaigh, “descendant of Cluanach,” an old surname of South Leinster.

Coilín is a variant of the old Irish name Coileán, which means “whelp.” In modern Irish coileán means a pup or cub, and also a youth.

Colin in Irish is Coilin, pronounced KOH-lin, meaning “whelp, pup.”

A Gaelic form of the Latin columba meaning “dove.” St. Columba of Iona or Colmcille colm + cille or “dove of the church” was a prince of the O’Neill clan, a great poet and scholar.

From the same root as Colm, it means “little dove” and has developed into a separate name from Colm and there are said to be 350 saints of the name.

Means friendship or could be from con “a hound,” as applied to a swift-footed warrior, and all “great, mighty.”

An old name from con “a hound” or “swift-footed warrior” and in the form conan means “little warrior.” Conan Maol (“Bald Conan”) was one of the warrior-band, the Fianna.

Means “lover of hounds.” Conchobhar MacNessa was the king of Ulster and, according to legend, was born on the same day as Christ.

From conn “chief” + laoch “hero” meaning “highest chief.”

Connell in Irish is Conall, pronounced KUN-al, meaning “mighty hound.”

Connor in Irish is Conchobhar, pronounced CON-r, meaning “lover of hounds.”

Conor in Irish is Conchobhar, pronounced CON-r, meaning “lover of hounds.”

From old Irish corbmac “son of the charioteer.” Cormac Mac Airt was probably the most famous of the ancient kings of Ireland.

Craig in Irish is Carrick, pronounced KAR-ik, meaning “rock.”

From cron “brown, sallow, dark-skinned.”

Cúan comes from cú “hound, wolf” with the diminutive -án, so “little hound” or “little wolf.” Written Cuan, without a fada, it is also the everyday Irish word for a harbor or haven.