My name is Clea (Klee-ah), and it comes from my great grandmother, Clea Conaway who’s father’s side was mostly made up of ancestors who immigrated from Ireland (back to Samuel Blair on one line, a guy who escaped execution for defying the crown and then fought in the American Revolution) and who’s mother’s parents immigrated from Germany. I was always told my name was Irish. Clearly, with the spelling, I figured it was Irish American or a version of some name that had been changed. But I recently found out about the word “cliath”, which is pronounced the same way. I also saw there was a Lake Clea in Northern Ireland, where a significant portion (but not all) of my Irish ancestry is from.
I’m curious, has it ever been a name in Ireland, and if so, is it still a name? If not, is there another name it could have been derived from over generations of a bad game of telephone in the Irish American community?
Edit: My ancestors on that line came from Ireland between 1640 and 1730, so this might be a better question for an Irish historian.
Edit 2: it’s tough because on her father’s side, all of the ancestors, whether Dutch, Irish, English, German, or Scottish, came to the US before 1750. I just realized Samuel Blair is actually on my great grandfather’s side.
Edit 3: One theory I’ve had is that it’s a mangled version of Clíona (Cliodhna)