Niall is a male

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

word ''niadh''),. According to John Ryan, Professor of Early and Medieval History at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, Niall "seems to be so ancient that its meaning was lost before records began."

Notable people with the name Niall

;Medieval times *

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. ...

, High King of Ireland who lived in the early-to-mid 5th century AD *

Niall Caille Niall mac Áeda (died 846), called Niall Caille (Niall of the Callan) to distinguish him from his grandson Niall mac Áeda (died 917), was High King of Ireland. Background Niall belonged to Cenél nEógain, a northern branch of the Uí Néill, ...

, High King of Ireland in the 9th century AD ;Modern times * * Niall Carolan (b. 2002), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Niall Ferguson Niall Campbell Ferguson FRSE (; born 18 April 1964)Biography
Niall Ferguson

(b. 1964), Historian and the Laurence A. Tisch

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of History at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Niall Horan Niall James Horan ( ; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition ''The X Factor''. The group released five albums and went ...

(b. 1993), a member of the British-Irish boy band

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

Niall Mackenzie Niall Macfarlane Mackenzie (born 19 July 1961) is a Scottish former professional motorcycle road racer. Career Mackenzie, who hails from Fankerton, near Denny, Stirlingshire; won the British Superbike Championship three times from 1996 to ...

(b. 1961), Scottish former professional motorcycle road racer *

Niall Matter Niall Matter ( ; born October 20, 1980) is a Canadian-American actor. Following recovery from a serious accident sustained while working on an oil rig, Matter chose to pursue a full-time acting career. He received his first significant break in ...

(b. 1980), Canadian actor *

Niall McCready Niall McCready is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Aodh Ruadh and the Donegal county team. He won an Ulster Under-21 Football Championship medal with Donegal in 1995. He started the first game of Brian McEniff's last spell a ...

, Irish Gaelic footballer *

Niall McGinn Niall McGinn (born 20 July 1987) is a Northern Irish professional footballer, who plays for Scottish Championship club Dundee. McGinn has also played for Dungannon Swifts, Derry City, Celtic, Brentford, Aberdeen (two spells) and South Korea ...

(b. 1987), Northern Irish footballer *

Niall Moran Niall Moran (born 1 March 1983) is an Irish hurler who played as a centre-forward for the Limerick senior team. Born in Castleconnell, County Limerick, Moran first played competitive hurling whilst at Ardscoil Rís. He arrived on the inter-c ...

(b. 1998), Irish hurler * Niall O'Brien (b. 1981), Irish cricketer *

Niall O'Donnell Niall O'Donnell (born 1998) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. The ''Irish Independents Colm Keys named O'Donnell among his "18 for 08: The brightest young talents" in Gaelic football, descri ...

(b. 1998), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Niall Quinn Niall John Quinn (honorary MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit. As a player he was a striker who played top flight football for Arsenal, Manchester City and ...

(b. 1966), Irish former international footballer and chairman of the English club

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...

Fictional characters * Hunter Niall from ''Sweep'' *

Niall Brigant Niall Brigant is a fictional character from ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'' by author Charlaine Harris. He first appears in ''From Dead to Worse''. He is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse's great-grandfather and Claude and Claudine's grandfather. He i ...

from ''

The Southern Vampire Mysteries ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', also known as ''The True Blood Novels'' and ''The Sookie Stackhouse Novels'', is a series of books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris. The first installment, ''Dead Until Dark'' (2001), won the Ant ...

'' * Niall MacDonnell from the

Honorverse The Honorverse is a military science fiction book series, its two subseries, two prequel series, and anthologies created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. They are centered on the space navy career of the principal protagonist Honor ...

Niall Rafferty Niall Rafferty (born Matthew McQueen) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Barry Sloane. He first appeared during an episode broadcast on 3 December 2007. Former ''Brookside'' actor Sloane was ca ...

from ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' * Niall from ''

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'' is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released on December 1, it is the third installment in ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' and the seventh main en ...

'' * Pedron Niall from ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in a ...

References

{{given name Irish-language masculine given names English masculine given names

Notable people with the name Niall

See also

References