St. Patrick's Day Names

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Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish readers! I don't have much Irish heritage, so I don't celebrate the holiday, but I thought it'd be fun to compile a list of names, mostly based on history. Most of these would be a great way to honor your Irish descent.

Expected:
Christian- It's a Christian holiday.
Ireland- Straight to the point, but I really love the name Ireland.
Patricia- The female form of Patrick. Too old fashioned.
Patrick- Too obvious an association for a March 17 baby.

Unique:
Bell- There's a bell called St. Patrick's Bell. Spelled like this, it is a subtle nod to the holiday.
River- In Chicago we dye the river green on St. Patrick's Day. River would make a lovely choice for either gender born around March 17 (or any time).
Tara- One of St. Patrick's churches is on the Hill of Tara. She's a little dated, but the connotation is nice.
Saul- St. Patrick founded his first church in a town called Saul. He's a very uncommon name that deserves wider recognition.

Unheard of:
Bishop- Before he was a saint, he was a bishop. This name gets used from time to time. Only use it if you're religious.
Celestine- Pope Celestine sent St. Patrick to be the first bishop to Irish Christians. Celestine is a lovely elaboration of Celeste.
Padrig- He's the Welsh form of Patrick. He might be a little hard for Americans to grasp at first, but I think Padrig is still useable.
Palladius- Palladius is the supposed name of the real St. Patrick. A little over the top, Pallas would be a nice contraction.

Names With the -ara Sound

When you think of names with the -ara sound at the end, your first thought will most likely be Sarah. She was in the top ten, from '78 to '02. Like me, you probably know many Sarahs of all ages. Here are some other less popular -ara sounding names

Ara- This Arabic name is just okay to me.
Cara- I like this name, but it reminds me too much of Jon and Kate plus 8.
Clara- I really like this name. It's very beautiful, and it means bright.
Farrah- I don't like this name at all. It sounds very stuck-up to me.
Kara- Another form of Cara. I don't like this spelling as much.
Tamara- It sounds very 70's to me, probably because she would have the nickname Tammy.
Tara- I don't mind this one. Tara is one of the better ones on this list.
Vara/Vera- I like it pronounced VEAR-uh, but not VARE-uh.