One of the great mysteries of baby-naming is how a name comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a fashionable, popular choice. Finn, one of the new cool Irish names, is a perfect example.

　　When we wrote our first baby-naming book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason, 20 years ago, Finn appeared in exactly one place: As a So Far Out It’s In name, in the Irish surname category. Finn was used as a first name in its native Ireland, but was virtually unknown in the US.

　　Finn has a lot going for it, starting with the very first inspiration for the name, the greatest hero of Irish mythology, Finn McCool.   How could a name not be cool with an ancestor like that?

　　But unlike other, far more complex Irish names, Finn has tremendous crossover potential.  It’s also kind of Scandinavian, sort of fishy, easy to spell and say, plus has several attractive relatives: Finnian, Finnegan, Finlay.

　　And it’s been chosen by such high profile couples as Ed Burns and Christy Turlington for their son, while Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn named their daughter Finley, a version also chosen by Lisa Marie Presley for one of her newborn twin girls.

　　Once you dissect all that, it’s easy to see that Finn‘s popularity hardly came from nowhere.  And it’s a name that’s unlikely to fade away again anytime soon.

　　For more names from Irish mythology, check out our new book, Cool Irish Names for Babies.

　　AND HAVE A HAPPY ST. PATRICK‘S DAY!