Amhlaoibh

Well obviously I think it was grounds, yes.

The OP told you how it was pronounced, as well as clueing you up as to the language it was written in.

Rude comments about scrabble tiles were entirely unnecessary, except to slag off the name in a culturally insensitive way.

If I see a name I'm not familiar with, I try to make sense of the letters and find out what language it is written in
Well, so do I. I have no knowledge of Irish, so that method was no help whatsoever. Is that ignorance?- maybe so, I don't know what I don't know.
Hardly grounds to call someone an ignorant arsehole, was it?

Because Irish boys' names are fab and girls' names all sound like a word for a body part or disease.

It's a cross we all have to bear :o

I'm not belittling them because they are not the same as mine. I'm belittling them because they are stupid, ignorant and offensive opinions.

Amhlaoibh is a name entirely unfamiliar to me, and yet I can immediately tell how it should be pronounced.

Do you know how?

It's because I speak Irish, the language in which the name is written.

Does it annoy the fuck out of me when ignorant dicks make predictable, unoriginal jokes about how words written in my mother tongue are like random scrabble tiles?

You bet it does.

It's a totally dickish thing to say. Particularly when the OP explains where the name came from.

People who knew the name was in Irish still felt it acceptable to say rude things about how it looked like random letters.

Well it only looks like random letters if it is beyond your wit to conceive of letters being arranged in ways different from how they are arranged in English.

If I see a name I'm not familiar with, I try to make sense of the letters and find out what language it is written in.

I don't just dismiss it as a random bunch of scrabble tiles (which, as we all know, would spell "oxidize").

"We can't all like/spell/pronounce everybody's names fgs"

nobody mentioned anything about 'liking' the name, as you now i have i can only assume your dismissive and belittling attitude towards it is because of your dislike of the name. it's fine not to like a name, it's fine not to understand it, be able to pronounce it, or spell it. it isn't fine to assume your dislike of the name renders it 'a bunch of scrabble tiles' to everyone else that comes across it. it isn't. it is a name that you personally do not like.

"what I meant was that I wouldn't know how to pronounce the name unless someone had told me. And, yes, I do think that most people will struggle"

again, this does not make the name unpronouncable, it just tells us that you cannot pronounce it. others can which means it is pronouncable.

"What I meant by the teacher not knowing is that if he/she was faced with a list of names to be called out and didn't know which name applied to which child.

You have obviously misunderstood my post completely."

firstly, i dont think you understand what you posted yourself.
secondly, if that is what you meant i would ask to think about how much of an issue the problem you have highlighted is likely to be in the life of the person with this name? how often will this child be faced with a teacher that isn'tt familiar with the name? perhaps 30 occasions throughout school life? and of those 30 occasions, each teacher will spend at most 10 seconds establishing who owns the name, as it is an unusual name, it is very likely the name will stick in their mind and they wont struggle with it a second time. i hardly think this qualifies as a reason not to use the name you love. do you?

"Why gave a child a name that they will have to spell out to people every time they meet somebody who doesn't know how to pronounce/spell it?"

so what names are acceptable then? because there are lots of names with different variations on spelling that it would be almost impossible to find a name that every person you are likely to meet in your life will know how to spell.

There is only one ignorant arsehole on this thread bunbaker, but it's not me or you
It's quite rude and ignorant to belittle other people's opinions just because they are not the same as yours.

"Only ignorant monoglot arseholes have opinions like that.

There are languages other than English."

And there are more polite people who care about getting the pronunciation/spelling right first time. I know perfectly well that we live in a cosmopolitan country and try very hard to get people's names right, but I admit that this particular one defeated me. There is no need to be so rude about it.

working9while5 I love the name Finbarr.

Only ignorant monoglot arseholes have opinions like that.

There are languages other than English.

I would have no idea how to pronounce that, and yes that's my problem. But, how many other people would know how to pronounce it?
Why gave a child a name that they will have to spell out to people every time they meet somebody who doesn't know how to pronounce/spell it?

"you say 'unpronouncable' as if it is a property of the name. just because you cannot pronounce does not mean others will also struggle"

No, what I meant was that I wouldn't know how to pronounce the name unless someone had told me. And, yes, I do think that most people will struggle. I consider myself well educated and cosmopolitan, but have never heard of this name before. I would expect that this would be the case with most people, judging from the replies on here.

What I meant by the teacher not knowing is that if he/she was faced with a list of names to be called out and didn't know which name applied to which child.

You have obviously misunderstood my post completely.

Of course I wouldn't care let alone be offended if somebody said my name looked like gobbledy gook as I'm not over-sensitive! We can't all like/spell/pronounce everybody's names fgs. This is why there are forums like these, to ask people's opinions & gain an insight into how people perceive a particular name.

SheCutOffTheirTails that is only my opinion! Surely that is what the op has asked people to give?

Of course it's belittling a name to say it looks like a bunch of scrabble tiles thrown on a table.

"It's a lovely sentiment but tbh it looks like a bunch of scrabble tiles have just been thrown on the table!"

you were absoloutely belittling the name simply because it was beyond your ability to pronounce it!

i have no problem whatsoever with the fact that hundreds of names are difficult to read, prounounce and spell. my first language is english so i read things in english and i find many names hard to pronounce but i would never ever be so rude as to tell anyone i thought their or their child's name looked like a bunch of random letters (which is what you were implying with the scrabble tile comment). it isn't a bunch of random letters, it's just a different language to english (your language, not everyone's language). you can't honestly tell me that if a non english speaker saw your name (dont know whether your name is english or not) and said it looked like gobbledy gook you wouldn't be a bit offended?

I think Finbarr Ólaoibh scans better.
lovely name.

Just because a name is not English doesn't mean that it looks like a bunch of scrabble tiles.

I agree.

I think the trouble with this one is that (to me) it isn't immediately obvious that it is an Irish name so I don't even know where to start.

Booooooyhoo how very rude & presumptuous of you to suggest I was belittling the name when I was doing nothing of the sort.

I was simply saying what the name looked like to my mere English eyes if you don't mind. Just because a name is not English doesn't mean that it looks like a bunch of scrabble tiles. Yes I'm English but I have no trouble pronouncing names from many different countries. Irish names I do struggle with though because they don't look how they sound - hence the scrabble tiles analogy.

As for saying to the op that she 'shouldn't take much heed to what strangers think'.... well she's just asked a bunch of strangers for their opinion so that's exactly what I was doing - giving my opinion!

LOL @ Finbarr Ólaoibh - you'd definitely know that was a Cork man :o

I can certainly see the argument for that spelling too, although it seems a shame with a family name with all that history to change the spelling. BTW wasn't calling your pronunciation into question, just saying that I would say it differently. It's funny that you put in the -uv and later -iv, because I've been saying it over and over and it's a sound that is barely there, but you're right. The second part of the name definitely has one and a half syllables :)

Also :o at Gobnait. We have girls, and I managed to convince DH to go with Irish names (he is English). The one name he was adamant that we were not having (not that there was any argument from me) was Gobnait. He refuses to believe that anyone in the history of the world has ever had a little girl and thought "we should call her Gubnet". I tend to agree.

Finbarr is a good name, and definitely a name you could bring anywhere without any trouble.

But Amhlaoibh is so great.

Bunbaker

"Maybe not in the actual pronunciation, but when I first saw the name I thought how on earth do you pronounce that?"

Yes, I know and I do understand that. What I meant was that there aren't any sounds in the name that a native English speaker with no Irish would struggle with.

Of course you would have to explain that those letters make those sounds to someone who doesn't speak Irish - but at least they wouldn't struggle to make those sounds. There are plenty of Irish names where the basic sounds that make the name lovely aren't used in English and so the name will always be mispronounced (or underpronounced).

I think it's lovely and interesting. Ólaoibh would look right for those of us with Irish family who don't actually read Irish properly, but I'd still happily spell it properly.

My sister's called Saoirse and hasn't been bothered by spelling or reading her name to people I don't think. My name is extremely unusual but fairly phonetic and I do have to spell it and often pronounce it for people. It has never bothered me in the slightest bit. In fact, I much prefer having such an unusual name. It's been a real ice breaker many times because there's a bit of a story to our names too, just like Amhlaoibh would have for your son. I completely get the idea of using the middle name for tradition/sentiment.

In conclusion, do it!

"The problem with unpronouncable names, apart from people not being able to spell it is that a teacher who hasn't been primed might call out the name in a different way and the child won't know that the teacher is referring to him."

1)you say 'unpronouncable' as if it is a property of the name. just because you cannot pronounce does not mean others will also struggle

2. the teacher would not have difficulty in approaching the child and asking them to clarify the pronunciation of their name. it would take all of 10 seconds. it is really a non-issue.

"There's nothing particularly hard about the pronunciation."

Maybe not in the actual pronunciation, but when I first saw the name I thought how on earth do you pronounce that? The problem with unpronouncable names, apart from people not being able to spell it is that a teacher who hasn't been primed might call out the name in a different way and the child won't know that the teacher is referring to him.

I am currently reading the Lemony Snickett books to DD so Olaf, being the evil baddy, is not a name I would want to use, but that is totally irrelevant to the OP.

for a fada it's Ctrl + Alt + O= Ó

I think I would get closer with the O spelling. (I'm sorry, I know it's not a straight O, but I can't get the thingy). I had no idea at all where to start with Amhlaoibh, and have little knowledge of Irish names, but I think I would manage your 'revised' spelling more easily.

oh working i love it spelt with an Ó. and i do think it would help people to pronounce it properly spelt like that!!