Ciarán

Ciarán or Ciaran is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin (Scottish Gaelic spelling^[2][3]). 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, 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 (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, currently playing for Aston Villa
• Ciarán Cuffe (born 1963), Irish politician
• Ciaran Donnelly (born 1984), England youth international 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 Jeremiah, British keyboardist
• Ciaran Joyce (born 1987), Welsh actor
• Ciaran Kilkenny (born 1993), Irish footballer
• Ciarán Kelly, synthetic biology scientific researcher and Young Pi
• Ciarán Kenny (born 1984), Irish hurler
• Ciarán Lenehan (born 1990), Irish footballer
• Ciarán Lynch (born 1964), Irish politician
• Ciarán Lyng (born 1985), Irish 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 football player
• Ciarán McDonald (born 1993), Northern Irish singer, producer, and instrumentalist best known for being a member, singer, and occasional producer of American boyband BROCKHAMPTON, better known as bearface.
• 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, retired Irish Gaelic footballer
• 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), England C international 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 Dover (born 1996), Australian footballer
• Kieran Egan (born 1942), Irish-Anglo-Canadian educationist
• Kieran Foran (born 1990), New Zealand rugby league player
• Kieran Gibbs (born 1989), England international 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), former Irish Gaelic footballer and coach
• Kieran McKeever (born 1968), former 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), 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), England international footballer
• Kieran Scott (born 1974), female American author
• Kieran Suckling (born 1964), Conservationist
• Kieran Tierney (born 1997), Scottish footballer
• Kieran Trippier (born 1990), England international 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 professional 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), England international 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 footballer
• Kyran O'Donnell (born 1958), Australian politician

See also

• List of Irish-language given names
• Cian Ciaran (born 1976), Welsh keyboard player
• Ciara (given name)
• Errigal Ciarán, Irish Gaelic Athletic Association club
• Chiron
• Kyron
• Kira (given name)
• Keeran (disambiguation)
• Kiran (disambiguation), an Indian name
• Kirin (disambiguation), Asian name

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, Black-Haired Boy

Other cultures

• Similarly pronounced/written names exist in other cultures. Hindu religion in India has the names Kiran and Kiron (pronunciation: ki-RUN) - both means "Ray of Light". In North India, this name is used for both boys and girls whereas in South India, only boys are named after this.

References