| Ciaran | Conall | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Little dark one | strong wolf (disputed) |
| Origin | Irish | irish |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | KEER-awn | KON-al |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1959 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2025 (105) | 2016 (41) |
| In 2025 | 105 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Ciaran | Conall |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 503 | 162 |
| 2010s | 688 | 317 |
| 2000s | 609 | 238 |
| 1990s | 303 | 55 |
| 1980s | 62 | 6 |
| 1970s | 17 | 0 |
| 1960s | 10 | 0 |
| 1950s | 6 | 0 |
Ciarán means “little dark one,” from ciar, “black.”
Popularly glossed as 'strong wolf', from Old Irish 'con' ('hound/wolf') plus a second element. This is DISPUTED: the rigorous etymology derives it from Proto-Celtic *kuno- ('hound') + *walos ('prince, chief'), giving 'strong hound' or 'mighty chief' rather than literally 'wolf'. Flagged as uncertain.
Ciaran is more popular than Conall today: about 105 US babies were given the name Ciaran in 2025, compared with 0 named Conall.
Ciaran means Little dark one (Irish origin), while Conall means strong wolf (disputed) (irish origin).
In US records, Ciaran first appears in 1959 and Conall in 0, so Conall has the longer recorded history.