mbabynames
← back to all names
- a name for -

Connor

says "KON-er"
from the Irish, meaning "lover of hounds". Connor is Conor with a second n added on, the spelling Irish emigrants carried abroad so the name would survive contact with any accent, and it has become the world's default version of the name.
Connor kon-er lover of hounds
as a nursery print →
9
curated middles
Irish
origin
"KON-er"
how it's said
- how to say it -
Connor says "KON-er"
✓ easy abroad

The export spelling of Conor - Conchobhar, the legendary king of Ulster.

all irish names, with pronunciations →
- the name itself -

Say it KON-er, the stress up front and nothing tricky after it. Underneath the extra letter is Conchobhar, the legendary king of Ulster who led the Red Branch warriors in the old sagas, and the meaning usually given is 'lover of hounds' - a hunter's name. In Ireland itself the single-n Conor is the older, home form; Connor is what happened once the name left, doubling the middle consonant so it could not be misread or mispronounced anywhere it landed.

That makes Connor an honest choice rather than a lesser one: it is the same king, the same story, just spelled for a wider audience. It has been a fixture of the charts in America, Australia and Britain for decades, which means it reads as comfortably Irish-American as it does Irish. If you want the name in its native form, Conor is that page. If you want the version that travels without a second glance, this is it.

- the heart of it -

six middles for connor

tap to keep ♡
№ 01
Connor Ruairí
Connor Ruairí sets lover of hounds beside red king, two names with a hunter's edge to them, and the rolling three-syllable Ruairí gives Connor's clipped KON-er somewhere to run to after that firm opening beat.
№ 02
Connor Naoise
Connor Naoise pairs lover of hounds with a warrior of legend, and the soft NEE-sha landing after Connor's hard opening keeps the two names from crowding each other on the way out.
№ 03
Connor Darragh
Connor Darragh takes lover of hounds into oak, a name with real weight to it, and the two firm one-two beats of Darragh answer Connor's own KON-er without ever repeating its sound.
№ 04
Connor Daire
Connor Daire is brief and unhurried, hounds meeting fruitful, like an oak, and the single soft syllable of Daire lets Connor's stronger opening do the work while the middle simply exhales.
№ 05
Connor Fintan
Connor Fintan puts a hunter's name beside white fire, and the shared two-syllable shape between them makes for a name that scans evenly all the way through rather than tipping one way.
№ 06
Connor Niall
Connor Niall is short and certain, hounds meeting champion, and both names land on a firm single syllable so the pairing reads like two decisions made back to back rather than one trailing into the other.
- the rest, by mood -

more middles for connor

Kept fully Irish

Assigned middles that keep Connor Irish from first sound to last.

Connor RuairíIrish

Connor Ruairí sets lover of hounds beside red king, two names with a hunter's edge to them, and the rolling three-syllable Ruairí gives Connor's clipped KON-er somewhere to run to after that firm opening beat.

Connor NaoiseIrish

Connor Naoise pairs lover of hounds with a warrior of legend, and the soft NEE-sha landing after Connor's hard opening keeps the two names from crowding each other on the way out.

Connor DarraghIrish

Connor Darragh takes lover of hounds into oak, a name with real weight to it, and the two firm one-two beats of Darragh answer Connor's own KON-er without ever repeating its sound.

Connor DaireIrish

Connor Daire is brief and unhurried, hounds meeting fruitful, like an oak, and the single soft syllable of Daire lets Connor's stronger opening do the work while the middle simply exhales.

Connor FintanIrish

Connor Fintan puts a hunter's name beside white fire, and the shared two-syllable shape between them makes for a name that scans evenly all the way through rather than tipping one way.

Connor NiallIrish

Connor Niall is short and certain, hounds meeting champion, and both names land on a firm single syllable so the pairing reads like two decisions made back to back rather than one trailing into the other.

Soft and lyrical

Assigned middles with a gentler, rolling close after Connor's firm opening.

Connor RonanIrish

Connor Ronan reads as lover of hounds followed by little seal, a pairing of animal names that feels deliberate rather than accidental, and the soft -an ending closes the name gently after Connor's firmer start.

Connor LorcánIrish

Connor Lorcán brings hounds up against little fierce one, and there's a real charge in that meaning, while the hard-soft-hard rhythm of Lorcán keeps pace with Connor's own opening beat instead of echoing it.

Connor OdhránIrish

Connor Odhrán sets lover of hounds beside little pale one, a quieter meaning that tempers Connor's hunting edge, and the OH-rawn landing gives the full name a longer, more considered close.

- a kind warning -

combinations to think twice about

Connor Cormac

Connor Cormac - the two hard C-openings collide and the names run together on the tongue.

Connor Cian

Lovely alone, but Connor Cian repeats the same opening sound and the pairing blurs.

Connor Corey

Connor Corey doubles the Cor- sound almost exactly and reads as a stutter rather than two names.

Connor Ruairí
say it out loud. first, middle, last. you'll know.
- how it sounds -

the music of connor

Connor runs KON-er: a firm opening beat and an easy, unstressed -er landing. Because the front of the name is so solid, a second hard C or K sound in the middle, names like Cian, Cormac or Cillian, echoes that same opening and the pair loses its shape. Middles with a softer or later-falling stress, whether short and clean or longer and rolling, let Connor's own opening stand alone.

- the full list -

all 9 middles for connor

Connor Ruairí
Connor Naoise
Connor Darragh
Connor Daire
Connor Fintan
Connor Niall
Connor Ronan
Connor Lorcán
Connor Odhrán
- shortened, softly -

nicknames for connor

Con
- if there's another -

sibling names for connor

AoifeNiamhRíanSaoirseFionnÓrla