Irish Girl Names Starting with C

Cadhla comes from a literary Irish word meaning “beautiful,” also glossed as “comely” or “graceful.” It was historically a man’s name and survives in the surname Ó Cadhla, “descendant of Cadhla,” which is anglicized as Kiely, Kealy, Keely and Quealy.

No. 89 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 55 baby girls.

Caireann is an old Irish name borne in legend by Cairenn Chasdub, the mother of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Its origin is uncertain: the scholar T. F. O’Rahilly argued that it comes from the Latin name Carina, from carus, “dear, beloved,” and that Cairenn herself may have been a Romano-Briton.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2010.

Caitlín is an Irish form of Catherine, taken from the Old French Cateline. Catherine goes back to the Greek Aikaterine, a name of debated origin that became associated in early Christian times with the Greek katharos, “pure,” which is why it is usually said to mean “pure.”

No. 247 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 17 baby girls.

Caoilainn is an Irish name made up of caol, “slender,” and fionn, “fair,” the same two words that form the name Caoilfhionn. For Caoilfhionn, Woulfe (1923) gives the English form Keelin and records it as the name of an Irish virgin saint venerated on 3 February, called Coelfinnia in Latin.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2019.

Caoimhe is an Irish name that Woulfe (1923) explains as meaning “gentleness, beauty, grace, courtesy.” It is also an ordinary Irish word: Ó Dónaill’s dictionary defines caoimhe as “gentleness, mildness; loveliness, smoothness” and links it to the adjective caomh, “dear, gentle.”

No. 31 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 130 baby girls.

Cara comes from the Irish word cara, “friend.” It is still an everyday word: letters in Irish open with a chara, “my friend” or “dear sir,” and anam cara, “soul friend,” gave the Irish poet John O’Donohue’s 1997 book on Celtic spirituality its title.

No. 52 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 94 baby girls.

Cassidy comes from the Irish surname Ó Caiside, meaning “descendant of Caiside,” and Caiside was itself a given name meaning “curly-haired.” The best-known family of that name came from County Fermanagh, and Behind the Name lists Cassidy as a given name for both girls and boys.

No. 718 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 4 baby girls.

Catherine in Irish is Caitlin. Say it KOIT-leen.

No. 273 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 15 baby girls.

Catriona is a spelling of the Irish Caitríona and the Scottish Gaelic Catrìona, the Gaelic forms of Catherine. Catherine goes back to the Greek Aikaterine, whose origin is uncertain; early Christians spelled it Katharina to link it with the Greek katharos, “pure,” which is where the usual meaning comes from.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2024.

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

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

Ciara is an Irish name from ciar, “dark,” a word Ó Dónaill’s dictionary defines as dark or swarthy in colour or complexion. It is the feminine form of the name Ciar, from the same word, and is also described as the feminine of Ciarán.

No. 106 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 44 baby girls.

Claire is the French form of Clara, from the Latin name Clarus, “clear, bright, famous.” The name has been used in English since the Middle Ages, first spelled Clare, and it was popularised by Saint Clare of Assisi, who founded the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares.

No. 352 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 11 baby girls.

Clíona is a form of Clíodhna, the name of a fairy queen in Irish legend; the meaning of the name itself is unknown. Other spellings include Clídna and the anglicised Cleena. Clíodhna is described as a queen of the banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann, ruling over the fairies of south Munster.

No. 273 for girls in Ireland in 2025 (spelled Clíodhna), with 15 baby girls.

Cloda is another spelling of Clodagh. Say it CLO-da.

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2021.

Clodagh is an Irish girl’s name taken from the Clodiagh (An Chlóideach), a small river in County Waterford. It was first used as a given name for Lady Clodagh Beresford (1879–1957), daughter of the 5th Marquess of Waterford, who was named after the river, which flows through the family’s Curraghmore estate.

No. 47 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 100 baby girls.

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. The word passed into Irish English as colleen, “a girl,” and appears in the title of Dion Boucicault’s 1860 play The Colleen Bawn, from cailín bán, “fair girl.”

No. 718 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 4 baby girls.

Croía comes from croí, the Irish word for “heart.” It is a new name rather than an old one. Croía is not itself a word in Irish; it was formed from croí in recent years. It is sometimes said to mean “little heart,” but it has no diminutive ending; Irish marks “little” with -ín, as in Róisín.

No. 9 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 211 baby girls.