Etymology

Niall

N1I1A1L1L1

Today it means: A male given name from Irish or Scottish Gaelic used in Ireland and Scotland since the Middle Ages. Full definition →

Irish Niall ← Scottish Gaelic Niall ← Old Irish Níall
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₃neyd-“to revile”
  2. Old Irish · derived fromNíall
  3. Scottish Gaelic · derived fromNiall
  4. Irish · borrowed fromNiall
  5. English todayNiall

Borrowed from Irish Niall or Scottish Gaelic Niall, ultimately from Old Irish Níall, of uncertain original meaning. Suggestions include nél (“cloud”) and nïa (“champion”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *h₃neyd- (“to revile”). Doublet of Neil.

Words from the same roots

IrishNiall all →

NeilNeill

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.