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Erin

{{Short description|Personal name}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Redirect|Erin's Isle}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox given name

| name = Erin

| image = Topography Ireland.jpg

| caption = A topographic map of Ireland, after which Erin is named

| pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛr|ɪ|n}}

| gender = Unisex

| language = English; Irish

| languageorigin = 1. Irish Gaelic
2. Hiberno-English

| origin = Hiberno-English derivative of Irish “Éirinn”

| meaning = Ireland (West), green water,

| region = Gaelic & Celtic

| related names = {{hlist|Ehrynn|Erinn|Eryn|Erynn|Iorn}}

}}

Erin is a personal name taken from the Hiberno-English word for Ireland, originating from the Irish word "Éirinn". "Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire", genitive "Éireann", the dative being used in prepositional phrases such as "go hÉirinn" "to Ireland", "in Éirinn" "in Ireland", "ó Éirinn" "from Ireland".

The dative has replaced the nominative in a few regional Irish dialects (particularly Galway-Connemara and Waterford).[http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=erin Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Erin] Poets and nineteenth-century Irish nationalists used Erin in English as a romantic name for Ireland.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B88jAAAAMAAJ&dq=Warner%27s+History+of+Ireland+let+erin+remember&pg=PA24|title=Irish Melodies|year=1828|publisher=Collins & Payn. }} Often, "Erin's Isle" was used. In this context, along with Hibernia, Erin is the name given to the female personification of Ireland, but the name was rarely used as a given name, probably because no saints, queens, or literary figures were ever called Erin.{{cite book | last1 = Osborn | first1 = Susan | title = What's in a Name? | edition = illustrated | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 1999 | pages = 250 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb7SemM58ygC | access-date = 2013-08-06 | isbn = 978-0671025557}}

According to Irish mythology and folklore, the name was originally given to the island by the Milesians after the goddess Ériu.

The phrase Erin go bragh ("Éire go brách" in standard orthography, dative "in Éirinn go brách" "in Ireland forever"), a slogan associated with the United Irishmen Rebellion of 1798, is often translated as "Ireland forever".{{cite book | title = A Dictionary of Hiberno-English | first = Terence Patrick | last = Dolan | date = 2020 | isbn = 9780717190744 | publisher = Gill Books }} The songs 'Let Erin Remember' and 'Érin grá mo chroí' are more examples of the word's usage in Irish romantic nationalism.{{cite book|title=The Handbook of British Regiments (Routledge Revivals)|author=Chant, C.|date=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781134647316|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mcmNAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT98|accessdate=2018-04-12}}{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Sean |last2=Laoire |first2=Lillis Ó |title=Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song Man |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-532118-0 |pages=20–21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXMQSIwXxFEC&dq=%C3%89rin+Gr%C3%A1+mo+Chro%C3%AD&pg=PA21 |language=en}}

Usage as a given or family name

As a given name, Erin is used for both sexes, although, given its origins, it is principally used as a feminine forename. It first became a popular given name in the United States. Its US popularity for males peaked in 1974 with 321 boys registered with the name.{{cite web|url=http://www.parents.com/babynames/censusPopularity.jsp?babyNameId=307746&mode=USPopularity&page=4 |title=US Popularity for "Erin" by Year |publisher=Parents.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305141026/http://www.parents.com/babynames/censusPopularity.jsp?babyNameId=307746&mode=USPopularity&page=4 |archive-date=2016-03-05 }} Erin is also a name for Ireland in Welsh, and is one of the 20 most popular girls' names in Wales.[http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/using/pages/welshnamesforchildren.aspx Welsh names for children] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731185649/http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/English/using/Pages/Welshnamesforchildren.aspx |date=2008-07-31 }}{{cite web

| url = https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/derry-girls-inspired-baby-names-gain-popularity-across-uk-and-ireland-41570441.html

| title = Derry Girls-inspired baby names gain popularity across UK and Ireland

| last =Campbell

| first =Niamh

| date = 20 April 2022

| website = belfasttelegraph.co.uk

| publisher = Belfast Telegraph

| access-date = 23 May 2022

| quote = }}

As a family name, Erin has been used as one of the many spellings of the name of the Scottish clan "Irwin"—which was involved in the Scottish Plantations of Ireland.{{Cite web |url=http://www.clanirwin.org/history.php |title=Clan Irwin Association |access-date=2007-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620005332/http://clanirwin.org/history.php |archive-date=2007-06-20 |url-status=dead }} However, that name was originally derived from the place of the same name near Dumfries, and means "green water", from Brittonic ir afon.[http://www.last-names.net/Articles/Scottish-Names.asp Scottish Surname Meanings & History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527195506/http://www.last-names.net/Articles/Scottish-Names.asp |date=2007-05-27 }}[http://surnames.behindthename.com/php/search.php?type=n&terms=irving&submit=Go Behind the Name: Search Results]

Yering is also a Bethayrian anglicized form of the related Bethayrian Erin.{{fact|date=May 2025}}

Notable women

Notable men

Fictional characters

References

{{Reflist}}

{{National personifications}}

Category:English feminine given names

Category:Feminine given names

Category:Historical geography of Ireland

Category:Given names

Category:Irish feminine given names

Category:Irish mythology