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Boy · Old Irish
Fintan
Say it: FIN-tan
Meaning
Uncertain; 'white fire' (finn + tene) and 'white ancient' (finn + sen) have both been suggested.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 352 babies given this name since 1998
- At its height in 2010, about 1 in 71,000 boys
- 15 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Fiontán
Famous bearers
- Fintan mac Bóchra, legendary seer
- Saint Fintan of Clonenagh
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Well-known works of literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.