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Baby names

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Original poster

Thoughts on Niall?

36 replies

Linguaphile · 28/04/2013 21:15

Is it too crusty old-man or nerdy? DH mentioned he liked it the other day, so I thought I'd garner some popular opinion. What do you think? For what it's worth, we're having twins, and in the event it turns out to be two boys (won't find out for another week and a half), his brother would be Felix Peter.

Gray would most likely be the middle name (it's a family name), but that's not set in stone.

Other potentials are Maxwell, Robert, or Isaac.

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Nagoo · 28/04/2013 22:00

I like it. But them I liked Allan so who am I to say.

squoosh · 28/04/2013 21:59

Living languages change all the time. Do you think Conor should still be spelt Conchobar? Beside, Ny-ull sounds nicer. Neil is dull with shades of yawn.

ZolaBuddleia · 28/04/2013 21:57

I know a Ny-ul and Nee-ul.

jellybeans · 28/04/2013 21:51

Love it.

OhBuggerandArse · 28/04/2013 21:50

It's a post-colonial pronunciation, deriving from the interiorisation of imperialist cultural perspectives. Wink

Let's hear it for some creative resistance to the spelling and pronunciation systems of the coloniser!

squoosh · 28/04/2013 21:43

Of the 456,843 Niall's I've met in my life they've all pronounced it Ny-ul. So whether it's a mistake or not with Irish spelling/English pronunciation I think it's fair to say that it's now the generally accepted pronunciation.

thermalsinapril · 28/04/2013 21:39

I like it, and I also like your other three ideas.

OhBuggerandArse · 28/04/2013 21:38

It's supposed to be pronounced Neil, Thurlow - the 'nye-all' pronunciation is a mistake caused by reading an Irish spelling with English pronunciation rules.

steben · 28/04/2013 21:35

Love Niall - knew a lovely bloke of that name Smile

Thurlow · 28/04/2013 21:33

Prefer the other 3 names, to be honest. I love Isaac and would consider it myself, if I didn't have a problem with 'S's!

I do like Niall, but I know one at work, and everyone says Neil by accident, which is probably really annoying.

squoosh · 28/04/2013 21:24

Neither old-man nor nerdy. In Ireland Niall is an everyman name like Thomas or James are in the UK. I wouldn't expect a Niall to have a brother called Felix but that's not to say he shouldn't.

I do prefer Isaac though.