Entry № 2793 · Irish origin

Eithne Eithne — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ EN-yah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Irish
Meaning
"Kernel (mother of Lugh)"
Syllables
1
First recorded
Ancient (Irish)

A name that means "kernel (mother of lugh)".

Eithne (pronounced "en-yah") is from the Old Irish etne (kernel, grain). The mother of Lugh — the great Celtic god — and one of the most enduring Irish feminine names. Enya, the Irish singer (born 1961), is the Anglicized form.

Multiple saints and queens bore the name.

Kernel. Mother of Lugh; modern Enya.

The name in its native script.

Eithne
Transliteration
Eithne
Pronunciation
/ ˈɛn.jə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Eithne stands.

Eithne does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Eithnes before her.

Real people
Enya
Irish singer (Anglicized Eithne).
born 1961
In fiction
Eithne
Lugh's mother.
Irish mythology

Names connected to Eithne.

The number behind Eithne.

7

The Seeker

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Eithne reduce to 7, The Seeker. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.