Irish Boy Names Starting with C

Cabhán is an Irish word meaning “hollow,” and An Cabhán is the Irish name of Cavan, the Ulster county and its county town. The Irish dictionary also gives cabhán the sense “little hill,” and P. W. Joyce noted in Irish Local Names Explained that in parts of Ulster it means a round hill, so the word can describe either a hollow or a hill.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

Canice is the English form of the Irish name Cainneach, later Coinneach. It is linked to the Old Irish word caín, “handsome, beautiful, good,” and Patrick Woulfe (1923) glosses it “fair one.” In Scotland, the name Coinneach is often anglicised as Kenneth.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2015.

Caolán comes from caol “slender, narrow” with the diminutive -án, so “slender one.” Rev. Patrick Woulfe counted seven Irish saints of the name and gave Kealan and Kelan as its English forms; Keelan is another. The best known is St. Mochaoi of Nendrum, whose proper name was Caolán; Mochaoi is an affectionate form of it.

No. 132 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 41 baby boys.

Carney comes mainly from the Irish surname Ó Cearnaigh, “descendant of Cearnach,” a personal name meaning “victorious.” The same word is the epithet of Conall Cernach, a hero of the Ulster Cycle of Irish legend, though its exact sense there is debated.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

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). Carrick is also a district of Ayrshire in Scotland, named from the same Gaelic word; Robert the Bruce was Earl of Carrick before he became King of Scots.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

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

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 1979.

Cathal is an old Irish name made of two Celtic elements, cath, “battle,” and val, “rule,” so it is read as “battle ruler.” Patrick Woulfe (1923) traced it to a Celtic form meaning “battle-mighty.” It has been anglicised as Cahal and Cahill, and also as Charles, a name of entirely different origin.

No. 90 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 64 baby boys.

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. The best known is Cerball mac Dúnlainge, King of Osraige (Ossory) from 842 to 888, said to have been the second most powerful king in Ireland in his later years.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

Charles in Irish is Cathal, meaning “battle ruler.” Say it KA-hal.

No. 188 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 25 baby boys.

Cian is an old Irish name meaning “ancient” or “enduring,” borne by figures of Irish myth and history. The modern Irish word cian means “long” or “distant,” as in a long time or a distant place. In English the name has been written Kian, Kean or Cain.

No. 33 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 142 baby boys.

Ciaran, in Irish Ciarán, is an old name formed from ciar, “dark” or “black,” with a diminutive ending, so it means “little dark one.” Its English form is Kieran. Patrick Woulfe (1923) noted no fewer than fifteen Irish saints of the name in the Martyrology of Donegal.

No. 149 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 35 baby boys.

Cillian is an Irish name whose origin is not certain. It most likely comes from Old Irish cell, “church,” with a diminutive ending, giving “little church.” Patrick Woulfe (1923) instead took it as a pet form of Ceallach, a name he explained as “war” or “strife.”

No. 9 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 271 baby boys.

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. Patrick Woulfe’s Irish Names and Surnames (1923) traces the family to a Cléireach of the mid-9th century, a descendant of Guaire the Hospitable, king of Connacht, and notes that the family once ruled Aidhne in south County Galway.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

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. The Irish adjective cluanach means “deceitful, beguiling, flattering,” the source of the playful reading “rogue.”

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

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. Patrick Woulfe noted in 1923 that Coileán matched the Scottish Cailean, the Colin of the Campbells, and that in later times it was found mostly among the O’Dempseys.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2018.

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

No. 348 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 11 baby boys.

Colm is an old Irish name meaning “dove.” Like its variant Colum, it comes from the Latin columba, “dove,” and colm is also the Irish word for a dove or pigeon. The name was made famous by St. Colmcille, known in Latin as Columba, whose name means “dove of the church.”

No. 286 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 15 baby boys.

Colman, in Irish Colmán, is an old Irish name meaning “little dove.” It is a diminutive of colm, “dove,” the word behind the name Colm. Patrick Woulfe (1923) noted that nearly one hundred Irish saints bore the name, three of them patrons of the dioceses of Cloyne, Dromore and Kilmacduagh.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2023.

Conall is an ancient Irish name, anglicised Connell, whose exact meaning is debated. Patrick Woulfe, writing in 1923, traced it to an early Celtic form meaning “high-mighty.” Behind the Name instead derives it from Old Irish cú “hound, dog, wolf” and fal “rule,” giving “rule of a wolf.”

No. 97 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 59 baby boys.

Conan, in Irish Conán, is an old Irish name meaning “little hound” or “little wolf.” It is formed from cú “hound, wolf” with a diminutive ending. Patrick Woulfe, writing in 1923, recorded at least six Irish saints of the name, among them a 6th-century relative of St Columcille in County Donegal who was venerated on 8 March.

No. 232 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 20 baby boys.

Conchobhar is the old Irish name behind Conor and Connor. It comes from Old Irish cú “hound, dog, wolf” and cobar “desiring,” so it is often explained as “lover of hounds” or “lover of wolves.” Patrick Woulfe, writing in 1923, gave the meaning as “high will” or “desire” and noted that it was then usually anglicised Cornelius.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

Conlaoch is a variant of Connla, from the Old Irish Conláech, a name made from cú “hound, dog, wolf” and láech “warrior.” It means roughly “hound warrior”; in modern Irish laoch means “warrior” or “hero.” In the Ulster Cycle, Connla is the son of Cú Chulainn and the Scottish warrior woman Aífe.

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby boys a year get the name.

Connell in Irish is Conall. Say it KUN-al.

No. 829 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 3 baby boys.

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

No. 829 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 3 baby boys.

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

No. 16 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 211 baby boys.

Cormac is an ancient Irish name from the Old Irish Corbmac, and its meaning is uncertain. Patrick Woulfe, writing in 1923, explained it as “chariot-son,” “charioteer” or “son of Corb”; Behind the Name links it to corb “chariot, wagon” and macc “son.”

No. 141 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 38 baby boys.

The closest Irish name to Craig is Carrick, meaning “rock.” Carrick is said KAR-ik.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2023.

Cronan, in Irish Crónán, is an old Irish name formed as a diminutive of crón, so it means roughly “little dark-brown one.” Patrick Woulfe, writing in 1923, glossed crón as “dark-brown,” while Ó Dónaill’s dictionary gives “dark yellow, tawny” and “swarthy.”

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2006.

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. Rev. Patrick Woulfe counted four Irish saints named Cuan.

No. 135 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 40 baby boys.