indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Usage Irish Mythology
Other Forms FormsCethlion, Cethlinn, Ceithlenn, Ceithlionn, Céthlionn, Cethleann (Modern Irish)
Meaning & History
Possibly means "crooked tooth". In Irish myth she was the wife of Balor of the Evil Eye, king of the Fomorians and by him the mother of Ethniu (or Eithne, Ethlenn).Irish archaeologist R. A. Stewart Macalister (1870-1950) proposed that it was originally a variant of Ethlenn arising from the frequent identification of Lugh (son of Ethlenn) by the matronymic "Lugh Mac Ethlenn": thus, Mac Ethlenn → Mac Cethlenn. Also, the town of Enniskillen in Northern Ireland is named for her, from Irish Inis Cethlinn "Cethlenn's island".