Anne, Bridget or Siobhan

[fatfingers]

Baby is due in just over a week and we still can't agree on a girl's name! Our shortlist consists of the above 3 names and I don't think we can really have Siobhan because dh and I pronounce it differently so the child would be confused!

Bridget might be a bit too Irish because we have an Irish 'O' surname.

Anne is nice and simple but still doesn't sound quite right to me having first name and a surname starting with a vowel. Probably the strongest contender though.

What do you think?

[somedizzywhore1804]

What about Anna? I just think it's a bit more stylish than Anne but nice and simple still.

[FlipFantasia]

How about Aine? Pronounced Awn-ya? Still Irish but like Anna?

I personally love Bridget. Not so keen on Siobhan and like Anna a lot - a beautiful, classic name. I love Aine too though!

[FlipFantasia]

Gah, just seen that it's Anne you have not Anna - I do like Anne a lot (with an 'e'). Still prefer Aine

I think Anne & an O' surname work well.

[ProfondoRosso]

Oh, I love Bridget. It was my grandmother's (dad's mum) name and she was such a gentle lady, from Derry.

I was going to be Bridget, but ended up being named after my other granny.

I know it's not one of your names, but what do you think of Aisling (Ash-ling)? It's my sister's partner's name and I love it.

[fatfingers]

Yes, Anna is quite nice. Had also considered Annie but that sounds too twee imo, Anna is nicer. I'll put it to dh later.

I love the name Aine written down but didn't know how to pronounce it! Not sure I like the sound of it and I'm sure I'd have to constantly be telling people how to spell it - I already have that problem with my surname!

[Penny6Pence]

How can you pronounce Siobhan differently?? There's only pronunciation.

[Penny6Pence]

ONE pronunciation!!

[somedizzywhore1804]

You say it on-ya. One of my best friends is called it and is Irish living in the UK. She has a nightmare with people calling her "Anne", "Aynee", "Ayne".....it's such a nice name but I personally wouldn't inflict the pronunciation issues on a child.

[NigellasDealer]

shi - von or shi - vorn I suppose.
Bridget is an excellent name!
Aine is like Onya with the O sound a little longer

[fatfingers]

ProfondoRosso I love Aisling but dh doesn't! That would actually be top of my list.

I do really like Bridget as well - we'd probably shorten to Bridie. Just sounds so typically Irish that I think it might sound over the top for an English child.

[MyNameIsKenAdams]

Wow those names are quite different to one another.

Anne, im not keen on, but like longer versions - Anna, Annie, Anastasia.

Siobhan I am really not keen on.

Really love Bridget, and Id pick this of your three.

What about Aoife (Ee-fah)?

[fatfingers]

That's right NigellasDealer - dh says Shi-von and I say Shi-vorn. I don't like it when it's prounounced Shi-von!

I do think that Aine would cause confusion in England.

[akachan]

Bridget is probably my favourite name but it's my cat's name so I couldn't use it!

[fatfingers]

Aoife is out MyNameIs because we have a family member with that name already. Nice though.

[NigellasDealer]

hahaha 'Bridie' I call my dd that, short for 'Bride of chucky' -
Bridget/Bridie are fine names, and England and Ireland are so mixed up with each other, i do not think it matters.

[PeterParkerSays]

Bridget, it's a lovely name as is Bridie

[bassingtonffrench]

all lovely names and quite different to each other and also to the most popular names today.

Bridget is fab. there aren't enough of them.

Anne is also fab. I prefer it to Anna in the sense I think it is more unusual and I like single syllable names. I think the double vowel thing is irrelevant in this case. You are lucky to have an 'O' surname! it always sounds so good!

Siobhan is nice but it is a bit 80s for my tastes

[ToffeeJungle]

I like Bridget out of those 3.

Though Anna would be better!

[adaloveslace]

I'm Irish and not especially keen on your names OP - sorry. They feel quite dated to me but they may be just because I know several much older Annes and Bridgets and many Siobhans of my age (late 30s).

Anne is my favourite of the three but I much prefer Annie or Anna.

Aine is pronounced Awn-ye (at least in my part of the country, think its pronounced On-ye a bit further north) but I agree it could cause problems outside of Ireland.

I'm currently living abroad and people really struggle with Irish names, but there are some lovely, fairly phonetic and younger-feeling options. Have you considered:

Maeve
Síofra (pron. She-uh-fra but the 'uh' is barely there)
Aifric (pron. Afric - my favourite but DH says no )
Niamh (pron. Neve, so not all that phonetic but more common in the UK now)
Sive (pron. to rhyme with Dive and you can spell it Sadhbh but if you're in the UK, I probably wouldn't)
Neasa or Nessa (another favourite of mine)

Best of luck

[Mrswellyboot]

I wouldn't advise going for siobhan then producing it with vom ending.

What about Sinead ?

Anne is pretty and timeless

[Mrswellyboot]

Mary

[NigellasDealer]

I like Afric....

[adaloveslace]

My phone did something ugly to Siofra - it's supposed to have a fada on the i

[tortoisesarefab]

i love anna, how about orla?

[GlitzAndGiggles]

I love Irish names they're so pretty! My fave in your list is Siobhan. Also love Niamh and Sinead! I have a relative called Sinead who's half Irish and people always used to spell it as 'shinade' lmao