Erin is a personal name taken from the

Hiberno-English Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...

word for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, originating from the Irish word ''"Éirinn"''. "Éirinn" is the

dative case In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this examp ...

of the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire",

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

"Éireann", the dative being used in prepositional phrases such as ''"go hÉirinn"'' "to Ireland", ''"in Éirinn"'' "in Ireland", ''"ó Éirinn''" "from Ireland". The dative has replaced the nominative in a few regional Irish dialects (particularly Galway-Connemara and Waterford). Poets and nineteenth-century

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

s used ''Erin'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

as a romantic name for Ireland. Often, "Erin's Isle" was used. In this context, along with

Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...

, Erin is the name given to the female

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

of Ireland, but the name was rarely used as a given name, probably because no

saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

, queens, or literary figures were ever called Erin. According to

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, the name was originally given to the island by the Milesians after the goddess ''

Ériu In Irish mythology, Ériu (; ), daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic languages, Germanic (Old Norse or ...

''. The phrase

Erin go bragh Erin go Bragh ( ), sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, , and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever." Origin ''Erin go Bragh'' is an anglicisation of ...

("Éire go brách" in standard orthography, dative "in Éirinn go brách" "in Ireland forever"), a slogan associated with the United Irishmen Rebellion of 1798, is often translated as "Ireland forever". The songs 'Let Erin Remember' and 'Érin grá mo chroí' are more examples of the word's usage in Irish romantic nationalism.

Usage as a given or family name

As a given name, Erin is used for both sexes, although, given its origins, it is principally used as a feminine forename. It first became a popular given name in the United States. Its US popularity for males peaked in 1974 with 321 boys registered with the name. ''Erin'' is also a name for Ireland in Welsh language, Welsh, and is one of the 20 most popular girls' names in Wales. As a family name, Erin has been used as one of the many spellings of the name of the Scottish clan "Irwin (surname), Irwin"—which was involved in the Scottish Plantations of Ireland. However, that name was originally derived from the place of the same name near Dumfries, and means "green water", from Common Brittonic, Brittonic ''ir afon''.Behind the Name: Search Results
/ref> Yering, Victoria, Yering is also a Bethayrian anglicized form of the related Bethayrian Erin.

Notable women

* Erin Andrews (born 1978), American sports reporter * Erin Anttila (born 1977), Irish-Finnish singer, better known by her mononym Erin * Erin Babcock (1981–2020), Canadian politician * Erin Bell (born 1987), Australian former netball player * Erin Bethea (born 1982), American actress * Erin Boag (born 1975), New Zealand ballroom dancer * Erin Brockovich (born 1960), American legal clerk and environmental activist and subject of the movie of the same name * Erin Burnett (born 1976), American news anchor and reporter * Erin Byrnes, American politician * Erin Calipari (born 1987), American pharmacologist * Erin Chambers (born 1979), American actress * Erin Davis (born 1962), Canadian Broadcaster and author * Grey DeLisle (born 1973), American voice actress and recording artist, real name Erin Grey van Oosbree * Erin Fitzgerald (born 1972) Canadian-American voice actress * Erin Gallagher (born 1998), South African swimmer * Erin Gemmell (born 2004), American competitive swimmer * Erin Gray (born 1950), American actress * Erin Gruwell (born 1969), American teacher * Erin Heatherton (born 1989), American fashion model * Erin Hunter, pseudonym used by the authors of the ''Warriors'' and ''Seekers'' series * Erin Jones-Wesley, American film producer and former softball player * Erin Kelly (actress), Erin Kelly (born 1981), American actress * Erin Kellyman (born 1998), British actress * Erin LeCount (born 2003), English singer-songwriter * Erin Jeanne McDowell, American cookbook author * Erin McKean (born 1971), American lexicographer * Erin D. Michos, American cardiologist * Erin Molan (born 1983), Australian television presenter * Erin Moran (1960–2017), American actress * Erin Morgenstern (born 1978), American writer * Erin Moriarty (actress), Erin Moriarty (born 1994), American actress * Erin O'Connor (born 1978), British model * Erin Phillips (born 1985), Australian former basketball player and Australian rules footballer * Erin Pizzey (born 1939), author and founder of the first domestic violence shelter in the modern world * Erin Regan (born 1980), retired American soccer player * Erin Richards (born 1986), Welsh actress * Erin Sanders (born 1991), American actress * Erinn Smart (born 1980), American fencer * Erin Spanevello (1987–2008), Canadian fashion model * Erin Wall (1975–2020), Canadian operatic soprano

Notable men

* Erin Barnett (born 1996), Gibraltarian footballer * Erin Bigler (born 1949), American neuropsychologist * Erin Clark (born 1997), Samoa league footballer * Erin Corr (1803–1862), Irish engraver * Erin Cossey (born 1971), New Zealand Maori rugby union player * Erin Hartwell (born 1969), American cyclist * Erin Helyard, Australian conductor and keyboard performer * Erin Henderson (born 1986), American football linebacker * Erin Mullally (born 1990), American and Australian actor and model * Erin O'Grady (1971–2003), American professional wrestler * Erin O'Toole (born 1973), Canadian politician * Erin Pinheiro (born 1997), Cape Verdean footballer * Erin "Syd" Sidney (born 1982), American singer, songwriter, and record producer * Erin Tañada (born 1963), Filipino lawyer, broadcaster, and advocate * Erin Tate, American drummer * Erin Weir, Canadian Member of Parliament

Fictional characters

* Erin, a character in 1986 American fantasy drama film ''The Boy Who Could Fly#Cast, The Boy Who Could Fly'' * Erin, a character in ''The Simpsons'' episode "Summer of 4 Ft. 2", voiced by Christina Ricci * Erin, protagonist of Nahoko Uehashi's light novel, manga, and anime series 獣の奏者エリン (''Kemono no Sōja Erin'') * Erin, a Girl Scout voiced by Samantha Ireland in the adult animated web series ''Camp Camp'' * Erin, a character first appearing in the episode "Food Chain (Adventure Time), Food Chain" of the animated series ''Adventure Time'' * Erin Brill, a character from the TV series ''Better Call Saul'' * Gamma Corps, Erin Cicero (Axon), a character in Marvel Comics * Erin Driscoll, a character in U.S. thriller ''24'' * Erin Esurance, formerly the Esurance mascot * Erin Gilbert, a Ghostbuster portrayed by Kristen Wiig in the 2016 film ''Ghostbusters: Answer the Call'' * Erin Hannon, a character in U.S. sitcom ''The Office'' * Erin Hasko, a character in the Marvel Comics series ''Web Warriors'' and video game ''Spider-Man Unlimited (video game), Spider-Man Unlimited'' * Dr Erin Mears, a character in the 2011 film, ''Contagion (2011 film), Contagion'', played by Kate Winslet * Erin Noble, a character in British television series ''Young Dracula'' * Erin Park, a character from ''Erin & Aaron'' * Erin Quinn, protagonist of Northern Irish sitcom ''Derry Girls'' * Silver (90210), Erin Silver, a character in American television franchise ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' * Erin Strauss, the former BAU Section Chief from the U.S. drama series ''Criminal Minds'' * List of Final Destination characters#Erin Ulmer, Erin Ulmer, a character from ''Final Destination 3'' * Erin Walton, a character from ''The Waltons'' * List of Touhou Project characters, Eirin Yagokoro, a character from ''Touhou Project''

References

{{National personifications English feminine given names Feminine given names Historical geography of Ireland Given names Irish feminine given names Irish mythology