Sorcha... pronunciations?

OP - you asked what people thought, you got their opinions. If you had every intention of using the Irish spelling and your own pronounciation why bother asking in the first place?

Either use the Irish spelling and the Irish pronounciation or make up the spelling then pronounce it the way you wish. Simple. My dc's have Irish names, I pronounce them correctly and spell them how they should otherwise why bother? I wanted names that reflected and respected their heritage, that included how they were spelled and how they were said.

Charlotte is a French name, and the CH is pronounced as it is done in France. So therefore you have scuppered your own argument wrt Sorcha by your example.

You could, by your reasoning here, call Charlotte 'CHarlotte', as in char lady, cha cha cha, etc.

'And really this 'it is disrespectful to the language' argument is not really relevant is it?'
It is relevant, really. You can't decide for yourself how to pronounce words in a language you know nothing about. That is not 'language evolving'. It is 'getting it wrong'. To do so despite knowing what the correct version is is to show a lack of interest in and respect for the language. Your DD is going to meet people whose language you have corrupted, people who have named their British DDs Sorcha who have taken care to get the pronunciation right just as many British people have named children Liam, Seán, Niamh, Siobhán over the years and got over themselves and pronounced the names as they should be pronounced. Insisting on pronouncing those names Lyam, Seen or See-an, Nyam or Nee-am, or See-ob-han would be ridiculous. It would be 'getting it wrong', not evolving any language.

Sorcha is based on a word, just as Isla is. It means bright. It is the opposite of dorcha (it even rhymes), which means, yes you've guessed it, dark. There are girls' names based on the same dichotomy -- Soireann and Doireann. Pronounced Sir-inn and Dir-inn (they rhyme too).

'Ice-la is ridiculous (i know people in glasshouses and all that...) but it sounds horrible and doesn't make sense.... and the real pronunciation is much nicer and more elegant' Everything you've just said here could equally be applied to Sorcha. "Sorsha is ridiculous... it sounds horrible and it doesn't make sense.... and the real pronunciation is much nicer and more elegant".

Colleen is a transliteration of the word cailín, meaning 'girl'. Another example of taking ignorance to a whole new level.

DD has a Sorcha at school and it is pronounced Sorsha.

I worked with the most elegant and lovely lady called Sorcha, she was a Sor-sha.

It's exactly the same thing!

But the point is, they like the name with the s - that's the name they've used, that's their child's name. Same as Sean's parents liked it as Seen. People might raise eyebrows or comment, but even if it is "wrong", if you like the pronunciation then you can use it.

I guess they were going with I-sla like I-rene or I-van - it makes as much sense as I-la I suppose. Whether or not it is a nicer or more elegant pronounciation is a personal thing though, as you have found.

In practice, you can choose whatever pronounciation you like - I know a Sean pronounced Seen, the aforementioned Ice-la/Isla and have come across a Sian pronounced Cy-ann.

Charlotte is a French name though isn't it? Like Charles is pronounced in French with a "Sh" too.

@ Mal-a-shee...!

Would be amusing if people in England ended up mispronouncing it as Sor-cha, as in cha cha cha. After all, that is how 'ch' is pronounced in English.... Isn't Sacha a Russian name?

Agreed its not an alternative, its just correct,

The fact of the matter is that in Irish, CHA does not and cannot sound like SHA. And if you think about it, it doesn't in English either. Its just wrong.

Wouldn't that be Mal-a-shee though, working9while5???

I meant the same as math, btw.. sor-uh-ka would be clearer I suppose.

To be honest, as someone Irish in England, I will not call my kids any Irish name that isn't straightforwardly decodable to an English reader (e.g. Brendan/Declan/Malachy) or else so well known that it would cause no controversy e.g. (Sinead, Siobhain, Niamh). It's a pain in the arse for the kid because people WILL continually mispronounce it. We had an Aislinn (ash ling) at university, London born and bred.. at graduation they called her Ayz leen and several of the lecturers continually called her random variations of her name. Why do it? I would love to call a little girl Aine (Awn ya) but I won't do it. She would have to live with the name, I won't.

RitaMorgan at Ice-la, love it.

The OP will do what she wants and I sense this thread is just making her dig her heels in even more...

Why not just name her Sorsha?

As for "it makes sense as I am in England to use the sha..", erm, WHY? Why would "cha" be "sha" in English?

Have any shange? No shance. Sit on your shair, no backshat.