Caitrìona, Ùna and Mhàiri

Thanks celtiethree I think hamish is a great (non) name too!
Ill have a look at the websites ta

Una! Love this and was on my list of girls names

Hi Thinking, there isn't a site that say the names out loud for Scottish Gaelic but there is for Irish:
www.babynamesofireland.com

If you are interested in learning some Gaelic the BBC have some beginner lessons:

www.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/

Lachlan - yes is OK. I have used a variation for one of my DS (which I'm sure would upset some Gaelic speakers!!!)

PS - I like Hamish.

. I have a Hamish! It's wrong??
I knew it was a version of Seamus but didn't realise it wasn't actually a name.
My boys all have Scottish names but I think the other 2 are ok. Well assuming Lachlan is ok??!
I wish I understood Gaelic a bit more, it scares me a bit as I have no clue about how to pronounce names and some of them look ( and probably sound) lovely

Are there any sites that actually say the names out loud so you can hear how they sound?

Hi Rinkan, Shay - mas, though happy to be corrected by many on here who are more knowledgeable than me.

Thanks celtiethree. So how do you pronounce Seumas?

For Hamish, the vocative case of Seumas is "a Sheumais" which is pronounced Hamish. So Hamish like Mhairi doesn't work.

I have a Catriona and a Shona - I love them both and the names are OK too I reckon. If I had a Mabel, I'd love her to bits too.

Getting back to Lallans, its common in the lowlands (i.e the best part) . It isn't like Gaelic, more Scots. If that makes sense.
I suppose, I like a lot of people, use it, or a form of it.

As for names. If it's any help I had a dentist called Vaila (after the island)

Thanks HardCheese

This is a great thread. I'm scottish but don't know Gaelic & find this discussion fascinating. So can someone elaborate on why Hamish is 'wrong'?

Groovee, Clodagh in Ireland is pronounced to rhyme with 'soda', but with a softened 'd' sound like the 'th' in 'thou'.

Hamish (Gaelic) and Séamus (Irish) are both versions of James.

I thought Hamish came from James

Dh wanted Isla or Iona but I went for Eilidh. I couldn't get passed a friends dog being Isla and I had a key child called Iona. Catriona was a consideration. Friends have used Morven, Shona, Muirne. Most recently Ceitidh has appeared and I love the spelling of Katie like that.

Always wondered how Clodagh was pronounced.

So is Hamish the Gaelic spelling of the vocative of Seamas?

Ooooh, a Gaelic pedants thread! Lovely... always popular in the baby names section

Hamish is the vocative of Seamus (Irish spelling, think Scots-Gaelic one is Seamas) i.e. James in English.

The M(h)airi thing is indeed annoying for Gaelic-speakers to read and I found it odd when I first met DH's cousin whose name is Mhairi. Why use 'Mhairi' as a proper name but not 'Hishbel' or 'Heonaigh' or 'Chaitriona'?? Possibly because the difference between 'm' and 'v' sounds is so strong? I think I actually came across the spelling Varry once - that's one to make a linguist's skin crawl...

Anyway, OP, if you haven't been scared off by the pedants then I love the names Ishbel and Eilidh, personally. They're Scottish but not obvious choices like Kirsty or Fiona.

Oh, love this thread. Born and bred in Scotland, a total language geek and self-confessed pedant. Had vaguely heard some people say that "you should pronounce Mhairi as "varry" and had no idea that it was wrong. And vv taken aback to learn that Hamish is also wrong!

My question is, if 'Mhairi" is the vocative of Mairi, of which name is Hamish the vocative?

v nostalgic to hear about the vocative case as last time was on high school Latin (my Latin teacher had a baby called Cairistiona! Think she was a bit of a Gael too). We used to translate vocative in English as "o slave" given that no equivalent spelling change in English, so I suppose that to call a child "Mhairi" is like calling her "o Mary"...

I totally agree. Use the correct spelling & don't make up names. Loads of kids out their with a name & parents have added 'idh' on the end to make them sound Gaelic...either use a Gaelic name properly or don't bother!!

Just for the record, my name is 'Seonaid' pronounced 'Shona' (which I believe isn't correct Gaelic). When I lived in Scotland, it was mostly fine (though it was pronounced 'shen-aid' at my graduation), but now I live in London it causes me such a lot of trouble (people can't spell it, people can't pronounce it, new people take ages to work out what you're called, etc.). I've called my son something very straightforward!

Depends on regional accent.
Kweeva is Munster Irish; Keeva is Connacht (and possibly Ulster too, but I'm not very familiar with the Ulster/Donegal accent).
Again, Seersha is Connacht (and possibly Ulster) and Sare-sha is Munster accent.

Ah, Caoimhe. Pronounced Kweeva by some, Keeva by others. Why?

Also Saoirse, which strictly speaking is Seer-sha, but my southern Irish father and his family all pronounce it more like Sare-sha.

This is a great thread.

I think the winner of the best suggestion of a name in a MN baby names thread of all time would be jennypiccolo 's DH's suggestion of Babbity Bowster!

Thanks curry and mac - that's interesting. I suppose it also makes calling the DC in for tea nice and straigthforward.

'Donaaaaaaald!' and 5 children come a-runnin'.

Thank you for answering my questions about spelling reform. Very very interesting. It has led me to read up on Dutch reform and how well accepted that is. Mostly it was done to "dutchify" foreign words which had entered the language and is only partially accepted in the Netherlands eg government uses reformed words, the media does not always.

Very confusing but very fascinating!

I imagine for the child it would be very irritating in later life when Irish and Scottish people constantly tell her that her name is "wrong". We are Irish and my child was born abroad so I wanted an Irish name with an easy spelling. I went with a very anglicized spelling of an Irish name, but a common one which I found acceptable. I couldn't quite bear to use a family name, Caoimhe, as Americans would have butchered it, and Kiva just isn't the same to me.