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...sooo how cruel would I be to inflict this obscure Irish name on a child growing up in England . Honest opinions wanted. Its the Irish for 'freedom' by the way.

PS I'm posting as someone who always swears blind that she will give DCs nice 'neutral' names, so probably won't go there.

I know one pfb but her mum pronounces it Sorsha.

Quite like the name though.

Assume you're Irish ? Sorry, it does make a bit of difference to me in whether or not you can 'pull it off'
Friend recently was going to call her DD to it. I believe what put her off is that it's the IRA's magazines title apparently
Also know of someone that has recently named her DD it, so I'm thinking it's not that obscure, if that's what you're aiming for.

It's not obscure. I would imagine most English people can pronounce it. I know two.

It's about as known as Aoife or Niamh ime.

Beautiful name.

The two I know aren't 'Seersha' though. I can't type what they are. They're Irish and I can't replicate the exact pronunciation. More like Saresha.

Yes I'm Irish. Saoirse's in the top 20 or 25 girl's names in Ireland now, I'm guessing would be pretty obscure to most English people (don't know if the actress Saoirse Ronan has helped with that). It doesn't have any political connotations down south.

I like it, but thought it was prounounced as per ShowOfHands - closer to SaireSha.

ShowOfHands Thats interesting. I would definitely say 'seer-sha'. Irish is divided into three regional dialects and Ulster Irish in particular can be a bit distinctive, so that might explain it.

I know a Saoirse pronounced SeerSha, her nn is Cici if that helps.

Lovely name. All the Siobhans, Aoifes and Niamhs I know have no problem in England. Go for it!

I think it's crazy to give a child a Gaelic name when they live in the uk. They will spend their entire life spelling it & explaining it. that's just mean!

PS Also accent as well. The accent in the part of Ireland I'm from tends to compress and flatten things a bit, if that makes any sense (probably doesn't ).

Oh I know you can pronounce it Seersha and I suspect that might be the most common pronunciation. But I do know two who are Saresha and somebody has already mentioned knowing one who is a Sorsha (isn't that a different name?).

So people know it here I'm sure but you might have the odd slight quirk of pronunciation depending on what people are most familiar with. Like Esme, v common well know name but I know both Esmays and Esmees.

I loved this name both times I was pregnant, but discounted it because I just felt it would constantly be spelt and pronounced incorrectly. It is beautiful though.

We considered Aoife as a girl's name and decided against for the same reason.
I think it's one thing to have a name you always have to spell and another that people wouldn't know how to pronounce having only seen it in print. Jmho though.

Must admit I thought it was pronounced Sorsha too. I don't think it's nearly as well known in England as Niamh, is it?

I like it because of the dance in lord of theddance

I'd have no idea how to pronounce it if I read it.

If I had to spell it from memory I'd find it very tricky.

But, that's my problem. I used to vaguely know someone who pronounced their name 'Sor-sha'. No idea how it was spelt.

I wouldn't. It just isn't worth the hassle. But it's up to you.

I think it's lovely. I live in Scotland where gaelic names are pretty common place - we decided against one for the spelling issue (Ruaridh/Ruairi etc) but if you like it, go for it!

Milktraylady etc

Serious, thanks for the honesty. I don't want to use a name lots of people will react badly to.

I think it's lovely, and I'd know how to pronounce it.

I went to school with a Saoirse. Her name was pronounced Sir-sha. She's a lovely girl

a good chunk of people won't know how to pronounce or spell it. Don't make life difficult for your kid.

We have on in our NCT group (in London). Her parents are Irish, obviously.

I'm Aoife (living in the U.K), I've rarely met anyone new who could either pronounce or spell it, and yes, it is a pain in the arse.