Green Ireland… Homeland of clover, moorlands, castles, mysterious swamps, amazingly beautiful bays, fragrant coffee and ginger ale. How much magic, charm and beauty in this emerald country, which cannot but be amazed?!
The people of the land of fairy tales
No state simply can exist without its people. The Irish are quite unique in this respect. Who hasn't heard of their famous St. Patrick's Day? Who has not admired their folk dances, and even more so fairy tales and legends full of mysteries, secrets and magic?
And how many famous, outstanding people come from the emerald country? Let's list some Irish names. Take at least the eternal James Bond - Pierce Brosnan. The actor was born and raised in the city of Drogheda.
Natives of Ireland are the handsome Cillian Murphy and Colin Farrell. It was here that Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Jonathan Swift, who gave the world Gulliver, were born.
The most famous Irish names
Perhaps there is no person in the world who is not familiar with the tragic, but at the same time beautiful love story of Tristan and Isolde. Everyone admires their loy alty and courage, but few people know that both of these names are traditional for Ireland.
Another example of this kind is the name Patrick. Yes, it is hugely popular thanks to St. Patrick, who has a special holiday dedicated to him. This saint is venerated by dressing up in green clothes, using the symbolism of clover and visiting pubs, but this was far from always the case. Initially, tribute to Patrick was paid exclusively through prayer. By the way, since we are talking about this figure of Irish culture, it should be noted that St. Patrick was originally called Sukkat.
Few people know, but such common and long-established names as John, Rory or Charles are originally Irish.
Why we don't know much about Irish names
Whatever one may say, relatively little information has survived to this day about what names are characteristic of the people of Ireland. In this case, we mean the fact that traditional names and surnames of primordial origin are extremely rare.
And this happened because for a very long time England had an extremely powerful influence on the culture of Ireland, which led to the desire of the people to give children traditional British names.
Recall that the modern inhabitants of the moorlands and emerald fields are direct descendants of the ancient Celts. Nevertheless, by the 17th century, the original culture under the influence of England was almost forgotten.
In our days, there is a completely opposite tradition - more and more Irish people are turning to the historical memory of theirpeople. They are interested in folklore, study their history and give their children Irish names, or rather Celtic ones.
Features of country names of leprechauns and ale
Of course, every country, every nation has its own concept of a name. Ireland is no exception. A characteristic feature of the names of this people can be called their semantic fullness.
Of course, in the most general sense, we can say that any name has a certain meaning, regardless of the nationality that uses it. Yes it is. However, Irish names and their meanings in this regard are something quite special.
The fact is that the Celts were originally distinguished by their unshakable faith in the power of the word, and therefore treated it with respect and utmost care. Each name, each city name not only meant something important for them, but also gave a person or territory power, certain magical properties, endowed with certain features.
That's why almost all original Irish names have a specific translation. In the Russian tradition, for example, this is represented by just a few examples, the most striking of which are the names Vera, Hope and Love. For clarity, we note that a distinctive feature of such names is that their primary meaning is not lost and is easily understood by any native speaker.
Surnames of the people of the country of clover
If we are considering Irish names in this article, the list of which is diverse, we should pay attention to andthe names of this amazing people. Especially since it's worth it.
For example, remember the traditional form "I am such and such, the son of such and such, the grandson of such and such of the family …". So, this is just the traditional Irish formula for naming a surname. Initially, its main function was to determine the relationship to a particular genus.
Naturally, such a long and rather complex construction was not convenient to use, therefore, obeying the almighty law of economy of speech efforts, the Irish gradually began to shorten their surnames and reduce them to specific meanings. Nevertheless, echoes of the tradition of listing the family tree still survived in the form of the addition of prefixes O' and Mak.
Modern Irish names and surnames will become more understandable if you explain the meaning of the prefixes that they so love to use.
The prefix O', for example, literally means "grandson". Thus, the surname O' Henry means belonging to a particular genus, the founder of which had such a surname. By the way, it could also be a name that has undergone a certain semantic transformation over time.
As for the prefix Mac, its direct meaning is expressed in the word "son".
Irish men's names
Let's start with the names that are well known. The famous British actor Alan Rickman is admired by a good half of the fair sex around the world. Few people know, but in the Celtic tradition, his name means "beautiful." Perhaps this is partlyexplains his success.
Remember the story of how Arthur managed to take Excalibur out of the stone? So, this is also not without reason, since his name literally means "strong as a bear." "Coincidence!" you say. Perhaps…
Irish male names are almost all associated with strength, courage and intelligence. For example, a name like Angus means "a very strong man" and the name Art means "stone". Perhaps this is due to the fact that it was the representatives of the stronger sex who from ancient times had to protect their clan, country and be a support for the state.
Nevertheless, there are Irish names for men and much softer meanings. Bedwyr, for example, is "knowing" and Eoghan is "born of the yew tree."
The name Tristan, which was mentioned earlier, by the way, means "brave".
About the fairer sex
With men, everything is more or less clear. Let's pay attention to Irish female names. Like the representatives of the stronger sex, the ladies of Ireland have names that speak. Their semantics is more focused on fragility, femininity and beauty, rather than strength or courage. Ayin's name, for example, means "radiance" and Kinney translates as "beauty."
Known, in principle, the name Rowena carries the semantics of cuteness, and the name Shayla means "female fairy".
Irish female names are distinguished by the fact that they endow their owners with additional properties, thereby determining their fate.
Speaking of fate, let's remember the famous actress Saoirse Ronan, whose namemeans "freedom". A person familiar with the girl's filmography will easily identify a certain parallel between the roles and the semantics of the name.
Analogues of Irish names in the Russian tradition
Of course, Irish names, like any other, have their counterparts in other cultural traditions. If we talk about names familiar to a Russian person, the first thing that comes to mind, of course, is Peter, corresponding to the Irish Patrick.
Irish names like Evelyn ("light") or Eohann ("born of a yew tree") also have their counterparts (Evelina, Ivan), which have long become familiar to the Russian ear.
