A LITTLE UNCOMMON. ENTIRELY YOURS.
Meaning, origin and pronunciation, with published usage by place and year.
Checking your saved choices…
Share this name or preview its baby card in Discover.
Strong in battle, in the documented Celtic name tradition.
The Irish personal-name etymology traces Cathal to a Celtic name glossed strong in battle. This agrees with the licensed battle-strong interpretation without promising a bearer’s character.
Irish name inherited from Old Irish, with Celtic ancestry.
The Irish entry records Old Irish inheritance; the English entry documents borrowing from Irish.
Not yet published for this spelling.
Counts apply only to the exact spelling, place, year and recorded usage shown. Places are separate; these figures are never added into a worldwide total. Missing or suppressed records never mean zero.
| Place | Year | Recorded usage | Published births | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | 2022 | Boys | 5 | 3449 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Northern Ireland | 2025 | Boys | 15 | 149 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Scotland | 2025 | Boys | 3 | 762 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Ireland | 2025 | Boys | 64 | 90 | Names below three occurrences are unpublished. Accent recording changed in 2018; comparisons across that boundary may not describe the same spelling coverage. Counts refer to registrations in the year. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| United States | 2015 | Boys | 5 | 12086 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts. |
Canada, Ireland and France coverage includes confidently matched existing profiles only; unmatched spellings are awaiting review. French counts are rounded to five.
Open an entry for its source, credit, licence and full qualifications. Different name traditions remain separate.
Checked against cited source
The exact English section documents male personal-name use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cathal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cathal&oldid=92136832. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact Irish section documents male personal-name use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cathal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cathal&oldid=92136832. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The Irish personal-name etymology traces Cathal to a Celtic name glossed strong in battle. This agrees with the licensed battle-strong interpretation without promising a bearer’s character. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cathal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cathal&oldid=92136832. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Recorded Irish personal-name reading. It is not automatically classified as English pronunciation. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cathal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cathal&oldid=92136832. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The Irish entry records Old Irish inheritance; the English entry documents borrowing from Irish. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cathal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cathal&oldid=92136832. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The Irish definition lists Charles as an English equivalent used for this name. This conventional equivalence does not mean Cathal has Charles’s Germanic etymology. Credit: Wiktionary contributors, exact Cathal entries. Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Cathal&oldid=92136832. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Adaptation: Rare Baby Names summarized the documented name route or language-specific relationship. No source audio, images or quotations reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
View statistics source (link unavailable)
Attribution: Source: NISRA : Website: www.nisra.gov.uk
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: (C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: U.S. Social Security Administration
Credit: Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.
License: CC BY 4.0
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: joined the published count and rank indicators and matched unambiguous existing spellings. Source values retained.
