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Baby names

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Original poster

Niamh

56 replies

Nsr4u2c · 18/10/2012 21:48

Hi, just wondering want your thoughts are. I really like the name Niamh, however I wanted Anne as a middle name after my grandma but I don't think they go, what are your thoughts?

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Cahoots · 22/10/2012 16:39

Ok, having read this thread, I don't think I would call a DD Niamh. I like the name Neeve but I don't like the 'proper' pronounciation of Niamh. It sounds like a sound made when you talk backwards IYSWIM.

DaisyBD · 22/10/2012 16:34

Perhaps all Niamhs have a tendency to become Noodles, we have a Niamhy Noodle (sing.) and I know a Neve who is also a Noodle. Smile

3boysgirlontheway · 22/10/2012 15:22

It's funny here in Ireland Niamh is the name of someone in her 30's like Tracey or Susan would be in the UK. I could not imagine a little girl called Niamh.

qumquat · 22/10/2012 14:02

Just caught up with the whole thread. I know it's pronounced nee- uv by many Irish people, but I feel like if I did this I'd just be faking an Irish accent iykwim. I'd feel similarly odd pronouncing the r at the end of Emer, even though I know it's how it should be pronounced.

qumquat · 22/10/2012 13:54

I teach lots of Niamhs (catholic school), I don't think anyone struggles with the spelling or pronunciation these days. A couple of them are spelled Neve, which I don't like.

SomethingSuitablyWitty · 22/10/2012 13:46

Well, I have always prounounced it Nee-uv and then when I went to college, I met several Niamhs who pronounced it Neev, and who were from other parts of the country (Dublin,Tipperary) and were genuinely surprised to hear it said differently. So anglicisation or not, the 'Neev' pronunciation is common in Ireland too.

squoosh · 22/10/2012 13:31

Mrs Wolowitz, those websites you have cited are both American, Americans are fond of doing wild and wonderful things to Irish names so I really wouldn?t trust them on this matter.

And it?s not of a matter of agreeing or not, Niamh is an Irish name and in the Irish language Niamh is a two syllable word. Neev definitely is an anglicisation. And as for you saying Nee-uv is much less common, well that's just not true. English Niamhs seem to be called Neev but all Irish Niamhs I've met (and it's a very common name in Ireland) are Nee-uvs.

It would be like me naming a child Katie but insisting it?s pronounced Kate.

This is how it is pronounced

bamboostalks · 21/10/2012 19:50

I have Niamh Elizabeth too. It's v popular now, in the top 50 or something so I do not think it will be like Aiobheann or Granuaile in terms of unfamiliarity.

Apparentlychilled · 21/10/2012 19:25

Sorry, that was meant to be I've only ever heard of it "knee-v". If you're a native Irish speaker w a strong (to my Dublin ears), the vowels in the middle are slightly elongated which makes the "mh"/"v" sound appear to be emphasised (if that makes sense! Anyone who went to the Gaeltacht and remembers how bean an ti pronounced it will understand what I mean!)

AThingInYourLife · 21/10/2012 19:11

You would never stress the last syllable.

Apparentlychilled · 21/10/2012 19:03

I'm Irish and i've ever heard of it pronounced "knee-v" (if that makes any sense). If you were a fluent Irish speaker with Irish as your 1st language, you might emphasise the last syllable, but that's pretty rare, even in Iteland.

AThingInYourLife · 21/10/2012 19:02

It's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of fact.

Irish pronunciation is very regular.

That lots of Irish people don't know how to pronounce Irish words properly doesn't change that.

Neev is not a correct Irish pronunciation of the word Niamh.

Any more than Keen is a correct Irish pronunciation of the word Cian.

You can decide that you don't care how the name should be pronounced in Irish, but you can't declare an obviously wrong pronunciation right in a language you clearly don't speak.

Ultimately the name Niamh had been anglicised and even many Irish speakers (including me at times) go with Neev when speaking English.

But the point stands - people think it is easy to say, but in fact that is because it is so commonly mispronounced.

NettoSpookerstar · 21/10/2012 18:56

My Irish Doctor pronounces it Neeve, and always comments on how it's great I spelled it properly, and not phonetically.
I do know an adult Niamh, who is Nee-uv though.

krisskross · 21/10/2012 18:52

just to say there were 2 niamhs in my class at school (and one nieve) and one pron it neeve and the other pronounced it niaff (rhyme with piaf) so not sure pronounciation is fixed.

cuillereasoupe · 21/10/2012 18:50

You're all assuming that baby Niamh will want to live in the UK her whole life...

MrsWolowitz · 21/10/2012 18:45

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AThingInYourLife · 21/10/2012 18:37

It can be either way.

But one is wrong.

In all dialects.

Really.

squoosh is right - Neev is a common anglicisation.

AThingInYourLife · 21/10/2012 18:28

It's only regional in the sense than people in some regions don't know how to pronounce Irish words.

MrsWolowitz · 21/10/2012 18:26

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AThingInYourLife · 21/10/2012 18:26

"I'm sorry but I don't think they do. UK people pronounce it Neeve when it's actually meant to be pronounced NEE-uv."

It should be pronounce NYEE-uv (narrow n sound).

But yes, definitely 1.5 syllables.

MrsWolowitz · 21/10/2012 18:19

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squoosh · 21/10/2012 17:27

Anyone who can read Irish can see it's a two syllable word. I'll call the Neeve pronunciation a commonly used anglicisation. As it does seem to be a popular pronunciation in the UK.

squoosh · 21/10/2012 17:24

I'm fully Irish.

MrsWolowitz · 21/10/2012 17:20

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MrsWolowitz · 21/10/2012 17:20

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