| Name |
Meaning |
Name of Fame |
Fineen
Finin |
Gaelic: 'Fair Offspring'. A name particularly associated with West Munster and the O Driscoll family. Unusually for a boys name the English equivalent name is Florence which acquired the diminutive ‘Florry’. Also spelled Fineen. |
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Fingal
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Gaelic: ‘Fair Stranger’. The original name is derived from the old Gaelic Fionn Gall meaning ‘Fair Stranger’. In Southern Ireland the name Dubh Gall evolved denoting ‘Dark Stranger’ describing the occupying Danes. Early Anglo-Norman versions of ‘Fingal’ include the similar Fiehengall, Fynnegal, Fyngal, and Finegal, which led to the mis-identification with Fine Gall.The Scottish variation of Irish Finn which has become well known through Macpherson's Ossianic poems (1795) and Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave (1830) on the island of Staffa. The name Fingal is recorded in the fourteenth century works of the Scottish poet, John Barbour (c. 1316-95). |
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Fingar
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Gaelic: 'Fair-Haired.' A name formed from fionn which also commemorates the name of a fifth-century Irish saint. Martyr of Cornwall, England, with Phiala, his sister, and companions. Irish by birth, the martyrs were slain at Hoyle, near Penzance, by pagans. |
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Finlugh
Fionnlugh |
Gaelic: 'Fair Winning'. More commonly found spelled as the English Finlay. Commemorates the name of an Irish saint who was a missionary in Scotland in the sixth century. Name has become particularly associated with Scotland as a result even though he returned to Ireland to become an abbot. The small island of Cara lies 0.5 miles south of the south tip of Gigha in Scotland’s Hebrides. It is about one mile long, but less than 0.5 miles across, and rises to about 150 feet. The island was a property of the MacDonalds of Largie, and a ruinous old chapel, dedicated to St Fionnlugh, is said to be the site of an early Christian monastery. Famous name: Scottish piper Finlay Macdonald and blues singer Finlay Quaye. |
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Finn
Fiann |
Gaelic: 'Fair'. Finn MacCool is one of the key figures in Irish and Scottish mythology. Finn MacCool was head of the Fianna and the father of the poetic hero Ossian. But his most famous role is as the giant who erected the Giants' Causeway on the Antrim coast. In other tales however he is a normal sized man. See also Fingal. Famous name: singer and composer Finn Kalvik. |
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Finton
Fionnttin |
Gaelic: 'Little Fair One'. St Fintan was a sixth-century abbot of Clonenagh. Famous name: Finton O’Toole is a renowned Irish theatre critic and arts commentator. |
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Fitzgerald
MacGerailt |
Norman French: 'Son of Gerald'. The prefix ‘fitz-‘ translates across form the French fils and equates with the Irish ‘Mac’ to create names which are descriptive of the male ancestral line of a family. Fitzgerald is descended from the Norman Earls of Kildare and is still a name to be found among esteemed public figures . Famous name Dr Garret Fitzgerald ‘Gearóid MacGearailt’ was the seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. Dr Fitzgerald is best known as the co-signatory of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, which he negotiated with then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. |
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Fitzgibbon
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Norman French: 'Son of Gibbon'. A surname used as a first name. The prefix ‘fitz-‘ translates across form the French fils and equates with the Irish ‘Mac’ to create names which are descriptive of the male line of a family. It means. (a form of Gilbert). Famous name: Canon David Fitzgibbon (1931-2005). |
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Fitzjames
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Norman French: 'Son of James'. The prefix ‘fitz-‘ translates across form the French fils and equates with the Irish ‘Mac’ to create names which are descriptive of the male line of a family. James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed 1670-1734 was a French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England and VII of Scotland. An example is was the Limerick writer Fitz-james O'Brien (1828-62) who emigrated to the United States and was killed in the American Civil War. |
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Flann
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Gaelic: 'Blood-Red', 'Red-Wat'. An old traditional Irish name which was once fairly widespread. Its current popularity derives in a great deal from its use as the pen name of the 20th century Irish Times humourist Brian O'Nolan (1911-66) who wrote under the pseudonym Flann Q'Brien. Has been anglicised as Florence. |
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