Killian

An Irish name with missionary miles under its belt, Killian descends from the Gaelic Cillian, from ceall, meaning church or cell, fitting for the seventh-century Irish saint who carried Christianity into what is now Bavaria and died for his trouble. The name was largely confined to Ireland until the 1990s, when American parents began reaching for Celtic choices beyond Liam and Aidan. It now sits comfortably in the U.S. top 400, boosted recently by Cillian Murphy's Oscar-winning turn. Two muscular syllables, that K cutting the air. Killian reads spirited and slightly fierce, a name with its sleeves rolled up.