Irish baby-naming is a hip culture full of gorgeous, often littleknown names whose original bearers were kings and queens, mythological heroes and heroines, saints and fairies. So what are some of the coolest, most appealing Irish baby names? • Names For Your Little Redhead: Cochrann, Róisín, and Scarlett (for girls) and Reed, Roan, and Alroy (for boys) • Unisex Names: Campbell, Darcy, Delaney, and Magee • Celeb Names: Aidan Quinn, Cillian Murphy, Cormac McCarthy, Eoin Colfer, Liam Neeson, and Saoirse Ronan • Stage Names from the great Irish playwrights: Chloe, Deirdre, Eliza, and Juno • Mythological Names: Aine, a fairy queen who would love no man but Finn; and Gael, the hero for whom the Irish race is named. And hundreds of other inspired and inspiring choices.... “Frankly, the world of cool names is so fascinating, you'll probably read through all of them.” ― Newsday on Cool Names “Unlike garden-variety baby-name guides... [Beyond Jennifer & Jason] lays it on the line.” ― Entertainment Weekly Pamela Redmond Satran is the author of two novels about motherhood, Babes in Captivity and The Man I Should Have Married . She is a contributing editor to Parenting magazine, a columnist for Baby Talk, and a frequent contributor to such publications as Glamour and Bon Appetit. With Linda Rosenkrantz Finch, she is also a bestselling Baby-naming expert on Parenting.com, selling over a million copies of books such as Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana and Cool Names for Babies . Linda Rosenkrantz is the author of Telegram! Modern History as Told Through More than 400 Witty, Poignant and Revealing Telegrams and the memoir, My Life as a List: 207 Things About My (Bronx) Childhood . In addition to writing articles for numerous magazines, she writes a nationally syndicated column on collectibles. Rosenkrantz is also a bestselling baby-naming expert on Parenting.com and coauthor, with Pamela Redmond Satran, of popular books including The Baby Name Bible , Cool Names for Babies and Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana . She lives in Los Angeles, California. Cool Irish Names for Babies By Satran, Pamela Redmond St. Martin's Griffin Copyright © 2009 Satran, Pamela Redmond All right reserved. ISBN: 9780312539122 Chapter one IRISH IN AMERICA For many years, lively Irish names have been a prime export to the UK and the U.S.—dating back to the eras of Bridget, Kathleen and Eileen, Kevin, Kelly, Brian, Shannon, and Sean. The last couple of decades have seen a new, ever- increasing burst of popularity of Irish names as reflected in the latest report from the Social Security Administration of the top names in the United States. Below are the names with Irish brogues currently on those lists, starting with the most popular and including old per sis tent favorites like Ryan and Brian, newer and cooler entries like Maeve and Kellen, hip surnames like Finnegan and Sullivan, and those that have become unisex, such as Riley and Finley. THE TOP IRISH NAMES IN THE USA Girls RILEY KENNEDY KEIRA/KIERA CASSIDY KELLY KELLY McKENNA CAITLIN CIARA BRIDGET TEAGAN KATHLEEN SHANNON RYAN CASEY AILEEN TARA QUINN MAEVE KEELY FINLEY IRELAND SHEA boys AIDAN/AIDEN RYAN BRANDON KEVIN CONNOR/CONNER/CONOR SEAN BRIAN/BRYAN LIAM BRADY BRODY RILEY/REILLY PATRICK COLIN NOLAN SHAWN SHANE DONOVAN BRENDAN KEEGAN/KEAGAN QUINN BRENNAN CASEY GRADY DECLAN DARREN ROWAN FINN SHAUN MICHEAL (Irish spelling) KELLEN MILO RONAN BLAINE KIERAN TYRONE FINNEGAN KEENAN BECKETT SULLIVAN SEAMUS CULLEN FINLEY RORY KILLIAN REAGAN Excerpted from Cool Irish names FOR BABIES by PAMELA REDMOND SATRAN & LINDA ROSENKRANTZ Copyright © 2009 by Pamela Redmond Satran & Linda Rosenkrantz Published in March 2009 by St. Martin's Press All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the Publisher. Continues... Excerpted from Cool Irish Names for Babies by Satran, Pamela Redmond Copyright © 2009 by Satran, Pamela Redmond. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.