Last updated: March 2026

Character Name

Clodagh

Meaning — Named after the River Clodagh in County Tipperary and County Waterford, Ireland — one of several Irish rivers whose names became given names. The river name itself is of uncertain Celtic origin, possibly derived from an ancient tribal or geographical term. Clodagh as a given name was popularised by the Marquess of Waterford who named his daughter after the family's local river in the late nineteenth century, making it a relatively modern addition to the Irish naming canon.·Irish origin·Female·KLOH-dah

Clodagh Clodagh has a gentle, flowing quality rooted in its river-name origin — a name that suggests movement, constancy, and a deep connection to a particular place on the Irish landscape. Characters named Clodagh tend to have a strong sense of home and belonging, with the kind of steady warmth that sustains those around them over long periods. The name suits heroines whose power comes from rootedness rather than ambition, who know who they are and where they come from.

Best genres for Clodagh

Contemporary FictionHistorical FictionLiterary FictionHistorical RomanceFamily Saga

Famous characters named Clodagh

No verified literary characters with this exact given name were found yet. We are continuously expanding this section.


Variations & nicknames

ClodaghClóda

Pairs well with

Clodagh O'BrienClodagh MaherClodagh RyanClodagh ButlerClodagh GleesonClodagh Phelan

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Related names

Niamh

Old Irish · “Derived from the Old Irish word "niamh" meaning "bright" or "radiant". The name belongs to one of the most celebrated figures of Irish mythology, Niamh of the Golden Hair, a princess of Tír na nÓg (the Land of Eternal Youth) who fell in love with the poet-warrior Oisín and carried him away on her white horse across the sea.

Sorcha

Old Irish · “Derived from the Old Irish word "sorcha" meaning "brightness", "radiance", or "light". It shares the same root as the modern Irish adjective "sorch" meaning "clear" or "bright". Sorcha has been used as an Irish equivalent of Sarah or Clara in anglicised contexts, though it is entirely distinct in origin. The name has been popular in Ireland and Scotland for centuries.

Brigid

Old Irish · “Derived from the Old Irish "Brigit" or "Bríg", meaning "exalted one" or "the high one", from a Proto-Celtic root "briganti" meaning "high, lofty, the exalted one". Brigid was one of the most important goddesses of pre-Christian Ireland, associated with poetry, healing, smithcraft, and the hearth fire. The Christianised Saint Brigid of Kildare (c. 451–525) became one of Ireland's three patron saints.

Aisling

Old Irish · “Derived from the Old Irish "aislinge" meaning "dream" or "vision". The word also refers to a specific genre of Irish poetry, the "aisling", in which Ireland is personified as a beautiful woman who appears in a vision and laments the country's oppression. The name thus carries rich literary and political associations, with overtones of visionary idealism and the pursuit of an Ireland not yet achieved.

Orla

Old Irish · “Anglicised form of the Irish "Orfhlaith" (also spelled Orlaith), meaning "golden princess" or "golden sovereign", from the Old Irish "ór" (gold) and "flaith" (sovereignty, princess). The name was borne by several early Irish noblewomen, including a sister of Brian Boru — the High King of Ireland who defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.


More Irish names

Reagan

An anglicised form of the Irish surname "Ó Riagáin" or "Ó Reagáin", derived from the Old Irish "riagán" possibly meaning "little king" or from "rí" (king) combined with a diminutive suffix. The name transitioned from a patronymic surname to a given name through the Irish-American tradition of using family surnames as first names, a practice that preserved ancestral Celtic identity through generations of the diaspora.

Caoimhe

Derived from the Irish word "caomh" meaning "gentle", "beautiful", or "precious". The name has been used in Ireland since the early medieval period and is associated with warmth, kindness, and quiet inner beauty. Several Irish saints bore forms of this name, reflecting its long tradition within Irish Christian culture.

Seán

Irish form of John, derived via the Old French "Jehan" from the Latin "Joannes" and Greek "Ioannes", ultimately from the Hebrew "Yohanan" meaning "God is gracious". Seán is one of the most common Irish masculine names and has been used in Ireland since the Norman period. Its anglicised form Shawn/Shane reflects the Irish pronunciation and is widely used throughout the English-speaking world.

Éabha

The Irish form of Eve, from the Hebrew "Chavah" meaning "living" or "life-giver". In Irish Gaelic the name takes the form Éabha, pronounced quite differently from the English Eve, and has been used in Ireland since the early Christian period. In Irish tradition Éabha (Eve) is also associated with various legendary and mythological figures, and the name enjoyed a significant revival in Ireland during the twentieth-century Gaelic language revival.

Clodagh

Derived from the River Clóirtheach (anglicised as Clody) in County Wexford and County Carlow, Ireland. River names in Irish tradition often carry associations with flowing abundance, boundary-crossing, and the sacred nature of water. The name was popularised by the Marquess of Waterford, who named his daughter Clodagh in 1879, after which it entered the wider Irish naming tradition.

Kellie

Kellie is a feminine variant of Kelly, an Irish surname and given name derived from the Gaelic ceallach, possibly meaning "war" or "bright-headed." As a given name Kelly became popular in the English-speaking world from the mid-twentieth century, with Kellie as a distinctly feminine spelling variant.


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