Ciarán ( Irish spelling) or Ciaran ( Scottish Gaelic spelling) is a traditionally 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. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

suffix to ''ciar'' ("black", "dark"). It is the masculine version of the name Ciara. The name became common in reference to Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich, who gave his name to the Ciarraige and

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, and two early Irish saints both counted among the

Twelve Apostles of Ireland The Twelve Apostles of Ireland (also known as Twelve Apostles of Erin, ir, Dhá Aspal Déag na hÉireann) were twelve early Irish monastic saints of the sixth century who studied under St Finnian (d. 549) at his famous monastic school Clonar ...

: Ciarán the Elder and Ciarán the Younger. It is anglicised in various ways: Ciaran, Kieran, Keiran, Keiron, Keiren, Keerun, Kiran, etc. 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 Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...

(born 1956), Irish musician *

Ciarán Byrne Ciarán Byrne (born 6 December 1994) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for the St Mochta's club at senior level for the Louth county team. He previously played professional Australian rules football for the Carlton Football Club. His nickname ...

(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 Ciaran Clark (born 26 September 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender, central midfielder and left-back for Championship club Sheffield United, on loan from Premier League club Newcastle United and the Republic of I ...

(born 1989), Irish footballer * Ciarán Cuffe (born 1963), Irish politician * Ciaran Donnelly (born 1984), English footballer *

Ciarán Farrell Ciarán Farrell (born 1969, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish composer who has been active in his field since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1997. He has composed works for orchestra, ensemble, choir, and solo instruments, as well as for T ...

(born 1969), Irish composer *

Ciaran Fitzgerald Ciaran Fitzgerald (born 4 June 1952) is an Irish former rugby union player. He captained Ireland to the Triple Crown in 1982 and 1985, and the Five Nations Championship in 1983. Fitzgerald also captained the Lions on their 1983 tour. After t ...

(born 1952), Irish rugby player and coach * Ciarán Griffiths (born 1983), English actor *

Ciaran Gultnieks Ciaran Eugene Gultnieks (born 1970) is a British computer game programmer, whose projects include ''Star Wars'' (1988, for home computers), ''Dogfight'' (1993), '' Slipstream 5000'' (1995) and '' Hardwar'' (1998) for the PC. He is the founder ...

(born 1970), English computer/video game programmer * Ciarán Hinds (born 1953), Irish actor * Ciarán Hope,

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and Irish composer of orchestral,

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

, and film music * Ciaran Jeremiah, British keyboardist *

Ciaran Joyce ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' (informally known as '' Tracy Beaker'' or ''TSOTB'') is a British television programme series adapted from the book of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson. It ran on CBBC for five series, from January 2002 to Decem ...

(born 1987), Welsh actor *

Ciarán Kilkenny Ciarán Kilkenny (born 7 July 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Dublin county team and as a dual player for his club Castleknock. He was previously on the playing list of Australian rules football club Hawthorn, as a rook ...

(born 1993), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Ciarán Kelly Ciarán Kelly may refer to: * Ciarán Kelly (footballer, born 1980) * Ciaran Kelly (footballer, born 1998) Ciarán Kelly (born 4 July 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for EFL League Two club Bradford City. He previously pla ...

, synthetic biology scientific researcher and Young Pi *

Ciarán Kenny Ciarán Kenny (born 14 August 1984 in Kilmuckridge, County Wexford, Ireland) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Buffers Alley and has been a member of the Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexf ...

(born 1984), Irish hurler *

Ciarán Lenehan Ciarán Lenehan is an Irish Gaelic footballer who currently plays for Meath Senior Football Championship club Skryne and the Meath county team. Lenehan made his senior inter-county debut against Kildare Kildare () is a town in County K ...

(born 1990), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Ciarán Lynch Ciarán Lynch (born 13 June 1964) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central constituency from 2007 to 2016. He was educated at University College Cork, studying Social studies, an ...

(born 1964), Irish politician *

Ciarán Lyng Ciarán Lyng (born 9 July 1986) is an All Star-nominated Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football and hurling for St Martin's and Gaelic football for the Wexford senior inter-county team, and has played international rules football for Irel ...

(born 1985), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Ciarán MacGillivray The Cottars are a Canadian Celtic musical group from Cape Breton Island formed in 2000. The group's current members are Ciarán MacGillivray, Fiona MacGillivray, Bruce Timmins, and Claire Pettit. History The Cottars were founded in late 2000 wh ...

(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 Ciarán Martyn (born 25 March 1980) is a midfielder for Ballinamallard United of the NIFL Premiership. Career Born in Sligo, Ireland, Martyn started his career at U.C.D. where he scored in a 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup clash with PFC Velbazhd K ...

(born 1980), Irish footballer * Ciarán McDonald (born 1975), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Ciarán McKeown Ciaran McKeown (1943 – 1 September 2019) was a peace activist in Northern Ireland. Early life and education Born in Derry to a Roman Catholic family, the son of a schoolmaster Richard Deutsch, ''Mairead Corrigan, Betty Williams'', pp.69–7 ...

(1943–2019), Northern Irish peace activist *

Ciarán McMenamin Ciarán McMenamin (born 1 October 1975) is a Northern Irish actor and author. Early life McMenamin was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, where he attended St Michael's College. He earned his B.A. from the Royal Scottis ...

(born 1975), Northern Irish actor *

Ciarán Murphy Ciarán P. Murphy (born 30 May 1940) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Wicklow from 1973 to 1982. A secondary school teacher before entering politics, Murphy was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first at ...

(born 1940), Irish politician *

Ciaran O'Brien Ciaran Patrick O'Brien (born November 17, 1987) is an American soccer coach and former player. Early life and education O'Brien played center midfield for four years at Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington, where he earned NSCAA A ...

(born 1987), American soccer player *

Ciarán O Gealbháin Ciarán (Irish spelling) or Ciaran (Scottish Gaelic spelling) is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ''ciar'' ("black", "dark"). ...

, Irish singer *

Ciarán O'Keeffe Ciarán James O'Keeffe (born 21 March 1971) is an English psychologist specialising in parapsychology and forensic psychology. Ciarán attended John Hampdon Grammar school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and had a brief spell at High Wycombe Musi ...

(born 1971), English parapsychologist * Ciaran O'Leary (born 1973), Irish professional poker player *

Ciarán Power Ciarán Power (born 8 May 1976 in Waterford, Ireland) is a former professional racing cyclist, the first Irish cyclist to ride in a major tour since Stephen Roche in 1993. He is a member of the Irish Pezula Racing Team. Power turned profession ...

(born 1976), Irish cyclist *

Ciarán Sheehan Ciarán Sheehan (born 19 November 1990 in Farran, County Cork, Ireland) is an Irish sportsman. Sheehan played Gaelic football and hurling with his local club Éire Óg GAA (Cork), Éire Óg, his divisional side Muskerry GAA, Muskerry, and was ...

(born 1990), Irish Australian rules footballer *

, Irish actor * Ciarán Walsh, Irish artist *

Ciarán Whelan Ciarán Whelan (born 28 February 1976 in Raheny, County Dublin) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for the Raheny club and, formerly, for the Dublin county team. He is right-footed but can kick with both feet and usually plays in midfield. He wa ...

(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 Tubrid or Tubbrid (Irish: ''Tiobraid'') was formerly a civil and ecclesiastical parish situated between the towns of Cahir and Clogheen in County Tipperary, Ireland. A cluster of architectural remains at the old settlement still known as Tubrid ...

, a protogé of

Saint Declan In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

People with the given name Keiren

Keiren Westwood Keiren Westwood (born 23 October 1984) is a professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Queens Park Rangers. Born in England, he played international football for the Republic of Ireland. Club career Manchester City Westwood was ...

(born 1984), English-Irish footballer

People with the given name Kieran

* Kieran Bell (born 1990), English musician * 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 (hunger striker), Kieran Doherty (1955–1981), Provisional Irish Republican Army hunger striker * Kieran Doherty (writer), 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 (educationist), Kieran Egan (born 1942), 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 * Simple Kid, 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 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 (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 The CW, CW series '' Supergirl (TV series), Supergirl,'' played by '' Katie McGrath '' * Kieran Northrup, the main character of the novel, ''Black-Haired Boy'' *Kieran, a playable character in “Fire Emblem-Path of Radiance” and “Fire Emblem-Radiant Dawn” *Ciaran, a mysterious character in "1899 (TV series), 1899" by Netflix.

Other cultures

* Similarly pronounced/written names exist in other cultures. Hindu religion in India has the names Kiran and Kiron (pronunciation: ki-RUN) - both mean "Ray of Light". In North India, this name is used for both boys and girls, but in South India only for boys. * Cioran is Romanian surname, neither common nor unheard. Its most famous user was nihilist philosopher Emil Cioran.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciaran English masculine given names Irish-language masculine given names Scottish masculine given names Masculine given names