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Baby names

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

Original poster

Ruairidh or Rory

84 replies

smiler389 · 04/04/2013 17:29

Pronounced the same....roar ree
hubby is a Scot, live in England.

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YeahBuddy · 04/04/2013 18:33

He is 17 months op and his twin also has a Celtic/gaelic name. I knew about the difference in pronunciation but we just say it how you would say Rory because it flows better with his middle name and I tend to use both names together. Poor kid is going to hate me when he goes to school GrinGrin

meala · 04/04/2013 18:31

Eilidh is not pronounced with a "sh" sound. It would be like Ailie or Ay-ley.

BalloonSlayer · 04/04/2013 18:27

so how come the dh in Ruairidh is pronounced "ee"

and the dh in Eilidh is pronounced "sh"

if Gaelic is entirely phonetic?

[gonna regret asking this emoticon]

Bunbaker · 04/04/2013 18:26

How do you pronounce Eilidh?

Helspopje · 04/04/2013 18:23

V surprised by the responses - I wouldn't have dreamed of using the anglicised version!
Then again, i did name my DD2 Eilidh and we have no intention of ever heading back north of the border.

Catchingmockingbirds · 04/04/2013 18:17

I know a couple of Ruairidh's but their names are pronounced roo-ry. I love the spelling but if your dc will be staying down south you should probably go with the second spelling.

forgetmenots · 04/04/2013 18:16

And aye, weebarra. Well said.
English has the most bizarre spelling system of any language I've encountered. Ruairidh for a Gaelic speaker is entirely phonetic.

forgetmenots · 04/04/2013 18:14

Agree with dancemom. Ruairidh for me but then that's because I'm of the 'I have a dead common name that no one can spell' brigade. Might as well get the damn name right, and if it's roh-ry you want, spell it Rory, if you want the other pronunciation - got to be Ruairidh!

GW297 · 04/04/2013 18:13

Rory

thermalsinapril · 04/04/2013 17:58

I'd go with Rory as I'd find it too annoying to have everyone spell the other version wrongly.

BourbonsAndTea · 04/04/2013 17:58

I used to know a Ruaridh. He was very proud of his name.. maybe a little precious.. and insisted it was pronounced Rou-ree. I also remember someone joking that his parents might have sneezed while signing the birth cert. Having said that I like the more unusual Ruaridh spelling Smile

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 04/04/2013 17:54

DH is Irish, but we went with the anglicised Rory for DS2. Unfortunately, thanks to that sodding racing car, it is often spelled Roary around here. Gives me The Rage it does

weebarra · 04/04/2013 17:51

Yes dancemom, was going to say that there's a little bit of a difference between the two.

beanandspud · 04/04/2013 17:51

I love the traditional spelling and we had it on our list (DH is Scottish but we live in England).

In the end we decided that since we were unlikely to go back to Scotland DS would have a lifetime of HmmConfusedHmm and went for something completely different.

ithaka · 04/04/2013 17:51

I was going to say - I wouldn't pronounce Ruairidh and Rory the same.

We have a Ruari in our family. We are Scottish, but it is spelled Ruari - so pronounced Roo-are-ee, but easier to spell than the Gaelic.

Thewhingingdefective · 04/04/2013 17:50

I like Ruairidh best. I have already baggsied it for DS3 if we ever have one. Roo for short.

dancemom · 04/04/2013 17:48

And yes I'm a Scottish Gaelic speaker!

dancemom · 04/04/2013 17:47

Ruairidh isn't pronounced as Rory though

Ruairidh is pronounced Roo-are-thee or Roo-are-eee as its Gaelic

If I saw Ruairidh I wouldn't pronounce it like Rory.

weebarra · 04/04/2013 17:44

Vivienne - not bizarre. Gaelic.

BalloonSlayer · 04/04/2013 17:44

I know someone with a grown up son called Ruairidh and she told me he is so fed up with no one being able to spell his name that he has given up and just spells it Rory.

However, I have noticed that Rory seems to be being used as a girl's name in the US (like Robin) so if that bothers you, you might find the other spelling useful.

Viviennemary · 04/04/2013 17:42

Not that bizarre spelling. It would be a nightmare.

weebarra · 04/04/2013 17:40

I love Ruairidh and know a few - couldn't use it for DC3 as DH is dyslexic and would have issues with the vowels!
People will have problems spelling it but unless your DS is going to be called Tom someone will always have difficulty with it!

Original poster
smiler389 · 04/04/2013 17:39

We're quote keen for him to have a sense of his Scottish heritage but we will be staying down here most likely. His middle name will be very English. Thanks for the comments! Had seen the Irish spelling too and several others!
Especially thanks Yeahbuddy. How old is your Ruairidh?

OP posts:
Bunbaker · 04/04/2013 17:39

As everyone else has said. It wouldn't occur to me to pronounce Ruaridh as Rory.

bassingtonffrench · 04/04/2013 17:38

rory is a lovely name. I couldn't cope with the other version though.

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