From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erin is a Hiberno-English derivative of the Irish word
"Éirinn". ("Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word
for Ireland - "Éire",
genitive "Éireann").[1]
According to Irish mythology and folklore, the name was originally given to
the island by the Milesians after the goddess Ériu.
Poets and nineteenth-century Irish
nationalists used Erin in English as a romantic name for Ireland.[2] In this
context, along with Hibernia, Erin is the name
given to the female personification of
Ireland.
Erin go bragh ("Éirinn go brách" in
standard orthography), a slogan dating from the 1798 revolution, is
often translated as "Ireland forever". The etymological history of
the word as it drifted throughout the Gaelic region gave rise to
its use by the early Scots to both mean Ireland and "west" - as
Ireland lies to the west of Scotland. [3]
As a given name,
Erin is used for both sexes, although, given its origins, it is
principally used as a female name. It first became a popular given
name in the United States. Erin is also a name for Ireland
in Welsh, and
is one of the top 20 most popular girls' names in Wales.[4]
As a family name,
Erin has been used as one of the many spellings of the name of the
Scottish clan "Irwin" - which was involved in the Scottish Plantations of Ireland.[5]
However, their name was originally derived from the place of the
same name near Dumfries,
and means "green water", from Brittonic ir
afon. [6] [7]
References