Orla ( ) is an

anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

of Órfhlaith, a feminine

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 f ...

of Irish origin. The name is often interpreted as meaning "golden princess", as it is derived from the Irish words ("gold") and (literally "prince"; its full feminine form being ). Well known via association with

Brian Boru Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...

, whose sister

Órlaith íngen Cennétig Órlaith íngen Cennétig, was Queen of Ireland. She was executed in 941. Background Órlaith appears to be the only recorded daughter of King Cennétig mac Lorcáin of Thomond (died 951). Her siblings included Mathgamain mac Cennétig (King of ...

(d. 941) was queen consort to the Irish High King

Donnchad Donn Donnchad Donn mac Flainn (''Duncan of the Brown Hair, son of Flann'') (died 944) was High King of Ireland and King of Mide. He belonged to Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the southern Uí Néill. Origins Donnchad was the son of High King Flann ...

, Órflaith (however spelled) was the fourth-most frequently recorded female name in the annals of 12th century Ireland; after a long period of obscurity, the name—in both the Órlaith and Órla forms—became popular in the late 20th century, not only in Ireland but also in Scotland, despite the name not having historical use in the region. Orla is also a male given name in Danish and has been used as a unisex name in Norwegian, Finnish and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. Orla is also a short form of the name Orsola, which is a variant of Ursula.

Significance of the Fada in "Órla"

In the Irish language, the presence of a fada (diacritic) is crucial, as it changes the pronunciation and meaning of a name. Órla, with a fada, is pronounced /ˈɔːrlə/ ("OR-lə") and retains its traditional and culturally significant meaning, while Orla, without a fada, is pronounced /ˈʌɹlə/ ("urlah") and can lead to misinterpretations and unintended meanings. The omission of fadas in names, especially in official records, has sparked discussions about linguistic accuracy and cultural representation.

Historical figures

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, died 941 *

Órlaith Ní Maoil Seachnaill Órlaith ( ; also spelled Órfhlaith or Órla) is a feminine Irish given name. The meaning of the name derives from the Irish words "golden" and "prince", though since names formed with "flaith" are almost exclusively feminine, it is usually in ...

Mide Meath ( ; ; ) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all of County Meath (which takes its name from the k ...

, died 1066 *

Órlaith Nic Cennétich Órlaith ( ; also spelled Órfhlaith or Órla) is a feminine Irish given name. The meaning of the name derives from the Irish words "golden" and "prince", though since names formed with "flaith" are almost exclusively feminine, it is usually in ...

, died 1104. The ship LÉ ''Orla'' is named after her.IDF LÉ ''Orla'' webpage
*

Órlaith Ní Mael Sechlainn Órlaith ( ; also spelled Órfhlaith or Órla) is a feminine Irish given name. The meaning of the name derives from the Irish words "golden" and "prince", though since names formed with "flaith" are almost exclusively feminine, it is usually in ...

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

, died 1115 *

Órlaith Ní Diarmata Órlaith ( ; also spelled Órfhlaith or Órla) is a feminine Irish given name. The meaning of the name derives from the Irish words "golden" and "prince", though since names formed with "flaith" are almost exclusively feminine, it is usually in ...

Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

Moylurg {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Magh Luirg or Magh Luirg an Dagda, anglicised as Moylurg, was the name of a medieval Irish kingdom located in modern-day County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was a sub-kingdom of the kingdom of Connach ...

, died 1252 *

Órlaith Ní Conchobair Órlaith ( ; also spelled Órfhlaith or Órla) is a feminine Irish given name. The meaning of the name derives from the Irish language, Irish words "golden" and "prince", though since names formed with "flaith" are almost exclusively feminine, i ...

and

Abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

, died 1283

Arts and media

Orla Brady Orla Brady (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. Brady has since appeared in many feature films and major television series, and was named in the 2020 list of Ireland's best film actors, publi ...

, Irish actress; her most notable and critically acclaimed work was the 1999 film ''A Love Divided'' *

Orlagh Cassidy Orlagh Cassidy (born August 17, 1968) is an American actress. Early years Cassidy was born on August 17, 1968, in Washington, D. C. Career Cassidy made her Broadway (theatre), Broadway debut in ''Our Country's Good'' (1991). Her other Broadw ...

, American actress *

Órla Fallon Órlagh Fallon (born 24 August 1974), professionally known as Órla Fallon, is an Irish singer, songwriter and former member of the group Celtic Woman and the chamber choir Anúna. Early life and education Fallon was born in Knockananna, Irelan ...

, Irish singer, songwriter, and harpist. She was a member of

Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble, formed in 2004 for a one-time event held in Dublin, Ireland. They started touring internationally as a group after multiple airings on PBS helped to boost the group's popularity. Celtic W ...

from 2005 to 2009. * Orla Fitzgerald, Irish actress * Órfhlaith Flynn, former member of

Anúna Anúna (stylized in all caps) is a vocal ensemble formed in Ireland in 1987 by Irish composer Michael McGlynn under the name An Uaithne. Taking the current name in 1991,AllMusic Biography/ref> the group has recorded 18 albums and achieved a ...

Orla Gartland Orla Joan Gartland (born 3 February 1995) is an Irish singer, songwriter and musician. Gartland released her debut studio album, '' Woman on the Internet'', in 2021, which reached number 3 on the Irish album chart, number 1 on the UK Indie Char ...

, Irish singer *

Orla Guerin Orla Guerin Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE ( ; born 15 May 1966) is an Irish people, Irish journalist. She is a Senior International correspondent working for BBC News broadcasting around the world and across the U ...

, Irish correspondent for BBC Africa * Orla Hill, English actress *

Orla Kiely Orla Kiely, OBE (born 24 May 1962) is an Irish fashion designer based in London. She began her career designing hats, and moved on to design work on handbags and a variety of other items including kitchenware and cars. She received a master's d ...

graduated from The

National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of t ...

in Dublin, and continued her education with a master's degree at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

in London. Her trademark leaf pattern used in her handbag design has become a highly recognisable international brand. Her collection now spans womenswear, accessories, wallpaper, homewares and stationery, plus a collection of notepaper for Tate Modern. * Orlaith McAllister, Northern Irish glamour model and former '' Big Brother'' contestant * Orla Ní Fhinneadha, Irish television presenter on TG4 * Orla O'Rourke, Irish actress * Orla O'Shea, Irish singer * Orlaith Rafter, Irish actor and writer * Orla Tobin (Rose of Tralee), singer, winner of the 2003 Rose of Tralee contest * Orla Wolf, German writer, artist and filmmaker

Sports

Orla Barry Orla Barry (born 21 September 1989) is an Irish discus thrower. Barry was born in Ladysbridge, County Cork, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Euro ...

, Irish discus thrower *

Orla Jørgensen Orla Jørgensen (25 May 1904 – 29 June 1947) was a male Danish racing cyclist who won a gold medal at the Cycling at the 1928 Summer Olympics, 1928 Summer Olympics with Henry Hansen (cyclist), Henry Hensen and Leo Nielsen. References Ex ...

, Danish male Olympic gold medalist in 1928 * Orla Noom, professional squash player from the Netherlands * Orla O'Doherty, professional squash player from Ireland * Orla Walsh, Irish track cyclist

Other

Orla Hyllested Orla Schartau Hyllested (4 August 1912 – 6 September 2000) was a Danish union representative, politician and mayor of Aarhus. Hyllested grew up in Aarhus in a working-class family and was a trained mason. Through his work he became involved in ...

, Danish union representative and politician *

Orla Lehmann Peter Martin Orla Lehmann (15 May 1810 – 13 September 1870) was a Danish statesman, a key figure in the development of Denmark's parliamentary government. Early life and education He was born in Copenhagen, son of (1775–1856), assessor ...

, Danish statesman *

Orla Møller Orla Reinhardt Møller (7 May 1916 – 14 February 1979) was a Danish priest and politician who served in different cabinet posts in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a member of the Social Democrats and of the Parliament between 1964 and 1977. Early ...

(1916–1979), Danish priest and politician * Órlaithí Flynn, member of the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

Orla Orla may refer to: Places *Orla, Missouri, USA *Orla, Texas, USA *Orla, Jharkhand, India *Orla, Podlaskie Voivodeship (north-east Poland), a village **Gmina Orla, a commune centred on the village * Orla, Krotoszyn County in Greater Poland Voivodes ...

, Italian organ maker *

Órfhlaith Begley Órfhlaith Acife Begley (; born 19 December 1991) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Tyrone since a 2018 by-election. Early life and career Órfhlaith Acife Begley was born ...

, MP in the UK Parliament for West Tyrone

Fictional characters

* Orla McCool, from the sitcom ''

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British-produced period teen sitcom set in Derry, Northern Ireland, created and written by Lisa McGee, that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4 and ran for three series. The channel's most successful comedy since '' ...

'' * Orla Healy, from the television drama ''

Three Families ''Three Families'' is a British two-part television drama series developed by Studio Lambert for BBC One. It is directed by Alex Kalymnios from a script by Gwyneth Hughes. Set in Northern Ireland between 2013 and 2019 when abortion was de fact ...

'' * Orla Sargent, from the young adult books '' The Raven Cycle'' * Agent Orla, from the educational television series ''

Odd Squad ''Odd Squad'' (stylized as ''ODD SQUAD'') is a children's live action educational comedy television series created by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman. The series premiered on TVOKids in Canada and PBS Kids in the United States on November 26, 2014 ...

'' * Orla, from the novel ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' and its film adaptation ''

Our Ladies ''Our Ladies'' is a 2019 Scottish coming-of-age comedy-drama film produced and directed by Michael Caton-Jones, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alan Sharp, based on Alan Warner's 1998 novel ''The Sopranos''. The film stars Tallulah Greive, ...

'' * Orla, male protagonist of the 19th century German emancipation drama ''

'' by Albert Dulk * Orla, female supporting character from '' Pokémon Horizons: The Series''

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orla (Name) Celtic given names Danish masculine given names Masculine given names Irish feminine given names Feminine given names