girl's name
Éala
AH-la
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (Ireland)
- Births on record 701
Ireland
#10
2025 births
Éala is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "swan," from the Irish eala. It is a recent revival taken from vocabulary rather than from tradition, and appears in the Irish, Northern Irish and English records only in the last few years.
- Éala is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2025, when 215 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 215 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 2010.
Éala over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 2010s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 2010s | 73 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 538 |
What Éala means
Éala means swan. It is simply the Irish word for the bird, used as a name, with the associations of grace and fidelity that swans carry in Irish story.
Where Éala comes from
Eala is the modern Irish word for a swan. It has no history as a personal name — this is a twenty-first century revival of the kind that has produced Fiadh and Croia, in which Irish parents name from the living language rather than from saints or sagas. The swan carries unusual weight in Irish tradition through the Children of Lir, four siblings turned into swans for nine hundred years, which is probably the single strongest association an Irish reader brings to the name. Some reference sites gloss Eala as an Old English word, but the Old English eala is an interjection meaning alas or oh, and has nothing to do with the Irish name.
Éala in use
Eala is genuinely new. Our records carry it in England and Wales from 2019, in Northern Ireland from 2019 and in Ireland from 2010, and the numbers remain small — 19 births in England and Wales in 2025 and 19 in Northern Ireland in 2024. It ranked 105th in Northern Ireland, its strongest showing anywhere, which is a pattern several Irish-language names share.
How popular is Éala?
In 2025, Éala was given to 209 babies in Ireland, ranking #10 that year. It is one of the most popular names in Ireland.
Where Éala is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
How Éala is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Eala | Eala is a spelling of Éala, used in Northern Ireland, where it ranks #105. | 128 |
| Èala | Èala is a rare spelling of Éala, written with a grave accent and recorded 3 times, mostly in Ireland. | 3 |
Names that peaked alongside Éala
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Éala also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Éala over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Éala in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Éala
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Éala — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Éala
What does the name Eala mean?
Eala means "swan" — it is the Irish word for the bird.
How do you pronounce Eala?
AH-la, two syllables.
Is Eala an Old English name?
No. Some sites say so, but the Old English eala is an interjection meaning alas. The name is Irish.
Is Eala a traditional Irish name?
No. It is a recent revival drawn from Irish vocabulary, like Fiadh, rather than from tradition.
Is Éala a girl's or a boy's name?
Éala is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Éala most popular?
Éala peaked in 2025, when 215 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Éala a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Éala currently ranks #10 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.