How we source our names

NameCipher is run by Greachain. Here is where the information on this site comes from, so you can judge how far to trust it.

Meanings and origins

Name meanings come from the long-standing language roots of each name, such as Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Hebrew, Greek or Latin. Many names have more than one accepted origin, and where scholars or sources disagree the page says so instead of picking a winner. Irish names show the Irish-language spelling alongside the anglicised form people use every day.

Descriptions

The written notes on each name are drafted with the help of AI tools and then checked by me before publishing. If you find something wrong, please tell me and I will correct it.

Popularity data

The US figures use the US Social Security Administration's national baby name data, which is in the public domain. The Irish figures use the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Ireland's baby names data, published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The charts cover 1964 to 2025 and rank names among babies of the same sex. A gap in a chart means fewer than 3 Irish or 5 US babies received that name that year. Irish accented spellings (such as Síle) are only recorded from 2018, so earlier years combine spellings.

Pronunciation audio

The audio clips are computer-generated using neural text-to-speech voices from Microsoft Azure, in Irish, Welsh or English depending on the name. They are a guide, not a native speaker's recording. For Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Breton and Manx names there is no suitable voice, so most of those names have no audio and rely on the written guide instead.

Tools and suggestions

The sibling matcher and surname check use simple rules about length, rhythm and sound, so treat them as a rough guide and trust your own ear. Your shortlist is saved only in your own browser.

Corrections

Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected] or use the contact page.