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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Help me find a beautiful Irish name that isn't too hard to pronounce/spell!

63 replies

Glittermania · 22/04/2011 18:20

Please help me! I am Irish, but my DH is English, and we live in England. I really want to give DD1 a beautiful Irish name,

My favourites are Aofie, Saoirse, Caoimhe and Aoibheann, but no-one is able pronounce/spell them!

DH is suggesting Niamh, because its quite common and well-known, but I'm not keen on Niamh.

Do you know any other Irish girls names that are easy for non-Irish people to say? Thank You!

OP posts:

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LackingNameChangeInspiration · 08/08/2012 15:23

not really "Irish" but very common in Ireland is Mary which I LOVE

I know Caoimhe as Kweeva too

PandaWatch · 08/08/2012 15:20

Whatevs - which parts of Ireland is it pronounced Kweeva and which Keeva?

There are so many beautiful names on this thread!

bureni · 06/08/2012 16:40

Roisin is a nice name that means Rose so would give your daughter the option of two names meaning the same.

kirigamirose · 06/08/2012 16:36

roisin - rosheen

A1980 · 25/04/2011 22:46

My Irish friends are called Alison, Denise and Fiona......!

LittleWhiteWolf · 25/04/2011 15:42

Bridget is the best name ever, but I'm sure your DD3 has a beautiful name, too! She doesn't tend to get any of the lovely nns (Bee, Bridie, Birdie) and instead just gets called Bridge.

mathanxiety · 25/04/2011 15:32

I love Bridget and Brigid and still regret not naming DD3 one of those, and it's been 12 years now. She would have been Biddy for short. [sigh]

I think 'Beinhinn' should be 'Beibhinn', pronounced Bevin. Lovely name.

LittleWhiteWolf · 25/04/2011 15:27

My daughter is Bridget so I'm obviously a fan of that name!
My maiden name comes from Ireland and I have some Irish in my but by and large I'm English, so I didnt feel right naming DD anything too Irish. My favourites were Saoirse and Aoife, just like you OP, but we went for something very Anglisised (sp???).
Mind you I do still love Saoirse...
Grainne is lovely also. And Orla, as has been mentioned.

emeraldislander · 25/04/2011 13:19

I know an Acushla which, I believe, means "beat of my heart", which I think is rather lovely.

now there's a name :o Some of the names I haven't even heard of. How do you pronounce Beinhinn? Benin?

Aisling (pronounced Ash-ling) and Aislinn (Ash-linn) are two different names. I like the -linn ending, it's softer to me.

I think one difficulty with having an Irish name in England is the fact that the letter 'r' is pronounced differently, and names can be that bit trickier to pronounce (I have two 'r's in my name, and have to constantly spell it and pronounce it for people).

My top name is Roise ( pronounced Row-sha).

Superfly · 24/04/2011 18:25

Majella
Assumpta
Bridie
Biddy
Biddy-Ann
Peg

hester · 23/04/2011 23:39

There's a child model called Caoimhe on the latest M&S ad. She's cute as buttons. You wait...

ninja · 23/04/2011 23:27

Irish Queen - I have a Caoimhe and a Maebh too!!

I love the name Maebh and you can anglify it to Maeve.

What about Sorcha - it's a lot more intuiative to spell than Saoirse

I can't believe that Caoimhe could become popular although it'll help poor dd1

missmelo · 23/04/2011 23:18

I like Ciara but I might be biased :-) Also nice are :

Sinead
Orla
Roisin
Iseult
Muireann
Maeve

TapselteerieO · 23/04/2011 19:11

I think Dervla is an accepted alternative spelling - dh and I considered going for the trad spelling, but tbh we are not very precious about it - the language was spoken before they codified the spelling. I can imagine a true Gaelgoir wouldn't be impressed.

SilkStalkings · 23/04/2011 19:08

Maeve is do-able, v sweet
Darina (Allen)
Kerry

WinterOfOurDiscountTents · 23/04/2011 18:50

It should be Dearbhla, so if they can't handle the Anglicized spelling you;ve no hope! Likewise Maebh, and most things with a bh sound. Sorcha is Sor-a-KA, not sorsha, it can't make that sound with the letters in it in Irish.

I think if you're worried abour pronounciation you want something either short, or already anglicized; Orla, Siofra, Sive etc.

CarefulWithThatAxeEugene · 23/04/2011 18:35

@ GenevieveHawkings

Was about to say Dervla makes me think of diesel. You could have twins - Diesel and Dervla.

GenevieveHawkings · 23/04/2011 16:32

Phydgthjx is beautiful I think. It's pronounced Susan.

valiumbandwitch · 23/04/2011 16:21

what about Raonadh? Rayna (i think)

mathanxiety · 23/04/2011 16:17

Riona is nice but would be pronounced to rhyme with Fiona all the time, when it should be REE-uh-na

growing3rdbump · 23/04/2011 15:40

I know a Ronagh (not sure if it's Irish, but her mother is...) she and the name are beautiful!

GwennieF · 23/04/2011 14:51

My sister is called Sorcha and absolutely hates it when people pronounce her name 'Sorsha'. It is pronounced 'Sor-a-cha'.

Lonnie · 23/04/2011 01:14

Being the mum of an Aoife (no irish connections we just loved it and it fitted our criteria)

I have only had very possitive comments and because the spelling is that whacky to look at people ask and its rare we have to explain twice. So I wouldnt let that put you off..

TapselteerieO · 23/04/2011 00:13

I do think English people can struggle with Dervla, the r and v together doesn't quite roll together with an English accent... there are some lovely names here, I would go for Orla if I could have just one more dd.

ebbandflow · 22/04/2011 22:31

Feena means small fawn, really easy to pronounce.

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