Is Aoibhe a step too far in the UK?

Jaysus, the spellings Orfhlaith and Orlaith are archaic and anachronistic? Says who? I presume this is just your opinion AThing because there is absolutely no truth in what you are saying. You don't like old Irish spellings of Irish names. Fine. Whatever. But don't pretend that anyone who chooses the correct spelling of a name (I.e. spelling an Irish name in the Irish language! Imagine!) is somehow out of touch or burdened with 'fancy notions'. Mother of God, arrogant much?

Nordy? :)

I pronounce it Gobnit.

Orla is not an anglicised spelling.

It's the standard spelling in Irish.

Maeve is anglicised (no v in Irish)

Finola is anglicised (the Irish name is Fionnuala)

But Orla is Irish. Just a more simple, modern spelling than Orfhlaith, which is archaic and anachronistic.

My parents gave me and my brothers old/odd names - and did not spell them as they are pronounced in English - not phonetic spelling - we have grown up with an English pronounciation of our names, it is such a shock when someone pronounces my name correctly.

Dd has an Irish name (dh is Irish) it has a Scottish connection which isn't obvious - we used the anglicised spelling - people with certain accents still struggle with it because of the combination of letters. I think her name is becoming more popular but it is still fairly uncommon.

I like Orla, if I ever had another girl that would be my first choice, even though I like the Irish spelling I would go for the anglicised spelling, just because I have lived with the annoyance of having to explain my name all my life.

I say gub-nitch too. Even less attractive. I think you might be on to something there AThing!

Wikipedia says 'The main centres of devotion to Gobnait are Inis Oírr (Aran Islands), Dún Chaoin in West Kerry and Balleyvourney near the Cork / Kerry border'she was from Cork.'

My thoughts and prayers are with the Gobnaits of Cork, Kerry and Inis Oírr. Life won't be easy!

I presume Gobnait was some local saint somewhere in Ireland. People could be very loyal to their local saints no matter how butt ugly their names were.

Baby Gobnait - it really doesn't get worse than that!

Gubnitch is how I say it.

I just can't believe that is how it is meant to be said.

There must have been a different name once that got misspelled or something and it was somehow transformed into a bizarre ugly name.

How could anyone look at a tiny little baby, minutes old, so new and precious and delicate and think "you are Gobnait"?

:o

OK, that's not good. Perhaps it means "beautiful ethereal maid of the hills"?

It sounds like it means "mouthy old bat".

It doesn't sound melodious from anyone's voice Quangle!

It's pronounced Gub-nut, with a short u in the 'nut'.

CounselorTroi is your mother, ummmmm, fond of her name?

How do you say Gobnait?

I'd say Gob Nate. It doesn't sound pretty, I confess, but maybe in Irish it comes out sounding melodious.

My mother is a Gobnait.

I like Grainneog for a scruffy long-haired little urchin too! good doggie names. keep 'em coming!

Oh gobnait is a good name for a dog I thnk. My friend is trying to re-name a rescue dog. I will suggest that. I think she'll like it. she was thinking of something along the lines of Beryl.

Gobnait is in a special class of UGLY all by itself. I've never met one in real life.

I forgot about Grainneog!

or Grainneog (hedgehog). My sister is Grainne, we called her 'ugly hedgehog' . We were lovely :)

Loving the idea of 'fancy notions'!!

Squoosh are you me? My sentiments exactly. Gobnait followed by Grainne are my least favourite Irish names. I think Gobnait sounds like gobdaw as in ' you're a right gobdaw'

I do find it funny that names like Aoife and Orla are fashionable in England when to my ears they're about as hip as Karen and Sharon.

Ugh not Gráinne, my least favourite Irish girls name ever, well, after Gobnait.

It sounds far too like gránna (grawna) which means 'ugly'.

Bugger... was really starting to like Bronagh until someone upthread pointed out the meaning!

I think that the work/professional issue is more likely to be email than anything else. I would imagine that people with names with very (to an English eye, which does matter if you live in England) different/unlikely sort of spelling will have problems getting email addresses misspelled and therefore not received.

It doesn't really matter if people mispronounce or misspell names on occasion in the general scheme of things, but getting emails wrong is a major nuisance.

I have an unusual name, which people generally pronounce OK, but I always have to spell it, and for email purposes I always double check they have it right. I have missed important emails on a number of occasions. My name is very unusual but follows the same sort of rules as a number of other more common names, I think the problem with some of the names talked about on this thread is that the spelling/pronunciation combos are so unfamiliar to an English eye that there is nothing to help someone coming across them.

I know that when I worked with a Siobhain I had to think about her consciously as both 'shevaun and siob-hain' to hold both the spelling for email and the pronunciation for talking, and that's a pretty easy Irish name.

Thank you, that's lovely! I once knew a Grainne by email and had often pondered!