We spotted an unusual Irish girl name and it's our new favorite!

An Irish girl’s name that we have never heard before caught our eye on the baby name list that Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) released for 2023 and it’s now one of our favorites.

Irish names have always been popular but they are having a real moment right now and names that were once uncommon, or even unheard of, are seeing a rise in popularity.

Great for our culture, our country but not so great when you are trying to think of a name for your baby. Some people don’t mind choosing a popular name for their little one, but for others, a name that is rising in popularity is a big no-no.

So if you are in that camp, then coming up with a baby name, especially an Irish one, can be a task and a half!

Luckily we are the experts here and have a knack for finding little-used names – and we don’t gatekeep! We recently came across a new and very cute baby name when perusing the CSO list.

Unusual Irish name

The name is Éinín and it was only given to six baby girls in 2023. This moniker is pronounced ay-neen and means “little bird." It is related to the boys’ name Éanna, which is much more well-known and means “birdlike."

The great thing about that this name is although it isn’t used often, it still sounds quite familiar. Probably because it comes from the Irish word for bird, éan and also because of its similarity to Éanna. But it is very cute and we think it would be a gorgeous choice for nature-loving parents.

Popularity of the name Éinín

The name Éinín was given to six baby girls in 2023 and was ranked 555 of all baby girls born in Ireland that year. This was actually the first time it appeared on the list, previously it had been given to fewer than three babies so couldn’t be ranked due to confidentiality reasons.

Will there be more than six Éiníns born in 2024?

Is it a real name?

As with all “new” names, especially when it comes to Irish names, the question of whether it is actually a name does come up. It happened when the name Éala surged in popularity after Carl Mullan and his wife Aisling used the moniker for their little girl. It also came up with the name Croía, which is now quite popular.

The authenticity of the name was brought up in this Reddit thread three years ago. A parent was asking the naming community what they thought of it (without the fadas) and people weren’t too fond, to be honest. “It’s not really a name, just a word being used as a name, it has no historical use as a name by Irish speakers. Kind of like naming your child Duckling in English,” somebody said.

Other sources cite it as a “contemporary” Irish name. Well, it comes from an Irish word and is currently being used as a name in Ireland, so that’s good enough for us!

What do you think of the name Éinín?

*This article was originally published on EveryMum.ie.