'balbriggan' originates from the Irish placename 'Baile Brigín' (anglicized as 'Balbriggan'), where 'Baile' meant 'town' and 'Brigín' was a personal name (or diminutive).

'balbriggan' changed from the Irish 'Baile Brigín' into the anglicized place-name 'Balbriggan'; in the 19th century the town's name was applied to a type of knitted cotton fabric produced there.

Initially it referred only to the place name 'Balbriggan'; over time it also came to denote the knitted cotton fabric (and garments) made in that town.