Ciarán

Ciarán
	Ciarán of Clonmacnoise
Pronunciation	English: /ˈkɪərən, -rɔːn/ KEER-ən, -⁠awn; Irish: [ˈciəɾˠaːn̪ˠ, ciəˈɾˠaːn̪ˠ]; Scottish Gaelic: [ˈkʲʰiəɾan]
Gender	Masculine
Language(s)	Irish, Scottish Gaelic, English
Origin
Word/name	Gaels
Meaning	"little dark one"
Region of origin	Ireland and Scotland
Other names
Alternative spelling	Ciaran
Variant form(s)	Ciarian; Ciaron; Cieran; Crain; Kieran; Keiran; Keiron; Kieron; Kiran; Keiren; Kieren; Kyran; Kyron; Keeran; Kairan; Ceiren;
Related names	Ciara

Ciarán (Irish spelling) or Ciaran (Scottish Gaelic spelling)^[2]^[3] is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one"^[4] or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ciar ("black", "dark").^[5] It is the masculine version of the name Ciara.

The name became common in reference to Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich,^[6] who gave his name to the Ciarraige and County Kerry,^[7] and two early Irish saints both counted among the Twelve Apostles of Ireland: Ciarán the Elder and Ciarán the Younger.

It is anglicised in various ways: Ciaran, Kieran, Keiran, Keiron, Keiren, Keerun, Kiran, etc.

According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Kierans were the chiefly family of the Cíarraige tribe who in turn were from the Dumnonii or Laigin who were the third wave of Celts to settle in Ireland during the first century BC.^[8]

The name can also be found in the Irish surname of O'Keiran, meaning "descendant of Ciarán".

Notable people

Ciarán Bairéad (1905–1976), Irish folklorist and scholar
Ciarán Bourke (1935–1988), Irish musician
Ciarán Brennan (born 1956), Irish musician
Ciarán Byrne (born 1994), Irish Australian rules footballer
Ciarán Cannon (born 1965), Irish politician
Ciarán Carey (born 1970), Irish hurling player
Ciaran Carson (1948–2019), Northern Irish poet and playwright
Ciaran Clark (born 1989), Irish footballer
Ciaran Clear John Patrick (1920–2000), Irish painter
Ciarán Cuffe (born 1963), Irish politician
Ciaran Donnelly (footballer) (born 1984), English footballer
Ciarán Farrell (born 1969), Irish composer
Ciaran Fitzgerald (born 1952), Irish rugby player and coach
Ciarán Griffiths (born 1983), English actor
Ciaran Gultnieks (born 1970), English computer/video game programmer
Ciarán Hinds (born 1953), Irish actor
Ciarán Hope, Fulbright Scholar and Irish composer of orchestral, choral, and film music
Ciaran Jenkins (born 1984), Welsh journalist
Ciaran Jeremiah, British keyboardist
Ciaran Joyce (born 1987), Welsh actor
Ciarán Kilkenny (born 1993), Irish Gaelic footballer
Ciarán Kelly (footballer, born 1980)
Ciaran Kelly (footballer, born 1998)
Ciarán Kenny (born 1984), Irish hurler
Ciarán Lenehan (born 1990), Irish Gaelic footballer
Ciarán Lynch (born 1964), Irish politician
Ciarán Lyng (born 1985), Irish Gaelic footballer
Ciarán MacGillivray (born 1987), member of Cape Breton musical group "The Cottars"
Ciarán Mac Mathúna (1925–2009), Irish broadcaster and music expert
Ciaran Madden (born 1942), English actress
Ciarán Martyn (born 1980), Irish footballer
Ciarán McDonald (born 1975), Irish Gaelic footballer
Ciarán McKeown (1943–2019), Northern Irish peace activist
Ciarán McMenamin (born 1975), Northern Irish actor
Ciarán Murphy (born 1940), Irish politician
Ciaran O'Brien (born 1987), American soccer player
Ciarán O Gealbháin, Irish singer
Ciarán O'Keeffe (born 1971), English parapsychologist
Ciaran O'Leary (born 1973), Irish professional poker player
Ciarán Power (born 1976), Irish cyclist
Ciarán Sheehan (born 1990), Irish Australian rules footballer
Ciarán Sheehan, Irish actor
Ciarán Walsh, Irish artist
Ciarán Whelan (born 1976), Irish Gaelic footballer

Saints

Saint Ciarán Saighir or Ciarán the Elder
Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise or Ciarán the Younger
Saint Ciarán of Dissert-Kieran, celebrated 14 June
Saint Ciarán of Clonsost, commemorated 30 April
Saint Ciarán mac Colga, celebrated 19 May
Saint Ciarán Mac Eochaidh of Tubrid, a protogé of Saint Declan

People with the given name Keiren

Keiren Westwood (born 1984), English-Irish footballer

People with the given name Kieran

Kieran Brennan (born 1957), Irish hurler
Kieran Charnock (born 1984), English footballer
Kieran Conry (born 1951), Bishop of Arundel and Brighton
Kieran Culkin (born 1982), American actor
Kieran Doherty (1955–1981), Provisional Irish Republican Army hunger striker
Kieran Doherty, Northern Irish writer, TV format creator and Executive Producer
Kieran Donaghy (born 1983), Irish Gaelic footballer
Kieran Donnelly, Irish Gaelic footballer
Kieran Dover (born 1996), Australian soccer player
Kieran Egan (1942–2022), Irish-Anglo-Canadian educationist
Kieran Foran (born 1990), New Zealand rugby league player
Kieran Gibbs (born 1989), English footballer
Kieran Phelan (1949–2010), Irish Politician
Kieran Goss (born 1962), Irish musician
Kieran Hanrahan (born 1957), Irish musician and broadcaster
Kieran Hebden (born 1977), English musician
Kieran Kane (born 1949), American country singer
Kieran Lalor (born 1976), American politician
Kieran Lyons (born 1989), Fiji's top female chess player
Kieran Mahon, British musician
Kieran McAnespie (born 1979), Scottish footballer
Kieran McFeely, Irish musician
Kieran McGeeney (born 1971), Irish Gaelic footballer and coach
Kieran McKeever (born 1968), Irish dual player
Kieran Mulroney (born 1965), American actor and screenwriter
Kieran Noema-Barnett (born 1987), New Zealand cricketer
Kieran Nugent (1958–2000), Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) member
Kieran O'Brien (born 1973), English actor
Kieran O'Connor (1979–2020), Irish Gaelic footballer
Kieran O'Donnell (born 1963), Irish politician
Kieran Phelan (1949–2010), Irish politician
Sir Kieran Prendergast (born 1942), English diplomat and former United Nations officer
Kieran Prendiville (born 1947), English television writer, producer, and presenter
Kieran Read (born 1985), New Zealand rugby union player
Kieran Richardson (born 1984), English footballer
Kieran Scott (born 1974), female American author
Kieran Smith (born 2000), American swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist
Kieran Suckling (born 1964), Conservationist
Kieran Tierney (born 1997), Scottish footballer
Kieran Trippier (born 1990), English footballer
Kieran West (born 1977), Olympic gold medal-winning rower
Kieran White (died 1995), English singer

People with the given name Kieren

Kieren Fallon (born 1965), six-time British Champion Jockey
Kieren Jack (born 1987), Australian rules footballer
Kieren Perkins (born 1973), Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist
Kieren Webster (born 1986), Scottish musician

People with the given name Kieron

Kieron Dawson (born 1975), Irish rugby union player
Kieron Dwyer (born 1967), American comic book artist
Kieron Dyer (born 1978), English footballer
Kieron Gillen (born 1975), English computer games and music journalist, as well as a comic book author
Kieron Moore (1924–2007), Irish actor
Kieron Pollard (born 1987), West Indies cricketer
Kieron Richardson (born 1986), English actor

People with the given name Kyran

Kyran Bracken (born 1971), Irish rugby union player
Kyran O'Donnell (born 1958), Australian politician

Fictional characters

Ciaran McCarthy, a character from the British soap opera, Coronation Street
King Ciaran of Venallis, one of the main characters in the Song of Souls trilogy by Christen Stovall
Lord's Blade Ciaran, from the video game Dark Souls
Kieran, from The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare, a Wild Hunter and Mark Blackthorn's boyfriend
Kieran is the son of Lord Donnán, who appears in the seventh episode of psychological horror adventure game, The Last Door
Lena Kieran Luthor, a character from the CW series Supergirl, played by Katie McGrath
Kieran Northrup, the main character of the novel Don't Call Me Ishmael
Kieran, a playable character in “Fire Emblem-Path of Radiance” and “Fire Emblem-Radiant Dawn”
Ciaran, a mysterious character in "1899" by Netflix
Kieran Duffy, fictional character from Red Dead Redemption 2
Ciaran, Sarah McCool's love interest in the Channel 4 sitcom, Derry Girls

Other cultures

Cioran is a Romanian surname. A notable individual with the name was nihilist philosopher Emil Cioran.

References

^ "Keeran - Meaning of Keeran, What does Keeran mean?".
^ Akerbeltz Gaelic Resources Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^ Iain Mac an Tàilleir: Ainmean Pearsanta, retrieved from SMO website
^ "Ireland". Irish Boys Names. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
^ "Southern Methodist University". Kira's Name. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
^ "RootsWeb". County Kerry. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
^ "Live views from Ireland: Kerry". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
^ Cairney, C. Thomas (1989). Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States, and London: McFarland & Company. pp. 78–82. ISBN 0899503624.

This page or section lists people that share the same given name.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.