Cathal

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Cathal is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name199 records spelled Cathal2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ireland, United Kingdom

  Also written Cáthal

39 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Cathal is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• ‘battle mighty’. This was once a common name and it is still employed nowadays. Cathal Crobhdeargh, ‘Red Hand’ (died 1224), was king of Connacht. Modern use of Cathal has been stimulated by the patriot Cathal Brugha (1874-1922), who was killed- in the Irish Civil War. Cathel is a spelling variant. Charles was used as an anglicisation. The Scottish surname Cadell is probably derived from Cathal.

  as a name·Irish first names

• Irish Gaelic name, pronounced ‘ko-hal’. It is derived from the Old Celtic words cath ‘battle’ + val ‘rule’. It was borne by a 7th-century saint who served as head of the monastic school at Lismore, Co. 40 Waterford, before being appointed bishop of Taranto in south Italy. Variant: Cal (in Ulster).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, Irish Gaelic; a battle ruler

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In Irish, a male given name from Old Irish, equivalent to English Charles

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

GB NISRA — Baby names Northern Ireland full list (1997–present) — 29 years between 1997–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Cathal Brughab. 1874IEIrish revolutionary and politician (1874-1922)
• Cathal O'Shannonb. 1893IEIrish writer, politician and IRA volunteer
• Cathal Blackb. 1952IEfilmmaker
• Cathal Dunneb. 1953IEIrish singer
• Cal Doddb. 1956IEnot in their usual nameIrish voice actor
• Cathal Ó Searcaighb. 1956IEIrish poet
• Chas Smashb. 1959GBnot in their usual nameEnglish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
• Cathal Pendredb. 1987IEIrish-American actor and former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter
• Cathal WattersIEIrish cinematographer and director
• Cathal mac Conchobar mac TaidgKing of Connacht

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 79 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Cathal?

We estimate roughly 286 people bear Cathal (counting its spellings and scripts) across 6 countries in our records.

In which country does Cathal have the most bearers?

Cathal is most frequently recorded in Ireland, where it is most often spelled cathal.

How common is Cathal compared with other names?

In Ireland, Cathal is the 109th most common given name of 13,994 given names recorded there.

Is Cathal a male or female name?

Cathal is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Cathal mean?

Recorded meaning: ‘battle mighty’; once common, still used.