Is Aoibhe a step too far in the UK?

DolomitesDonkey you pronounce it Graw-nya. And someone up the thread asked about Clodagh? Its Clow (as in show or grow) dah.

I came here poised to say (as another one with an unpronounceable Gaelic name) that yes, Aoibhe is definitely a step too far in the UK.

But if you grew up in a Gaeltacht and have an Irish-speaking background that changes things a bit - and really, as the UK becomes more multi-cultural everyone becomes more used to unusual spellings/pronounciations; I'll have a reasonable stab at some Polish names, for example, that I wouldn't have had a chance at being able to pronounce 20 years ago.

Gráinne

Either Graun-yeh or Graahn-yeh (Ulster dialect)

How would I pronounce Grainne please?

Tara
Shannon?

I'm a scot with two Gaelic names. I've spent my entire life spelling them out and pronouncing them - mostly for the humour of others.

The English simply cannot pronounce a particular sound, it's not in their language. In the same way the a in cat does not exist in Dutch - where people pronounce my name correctly.

Can't go wrong with Sarah and James!

Back to OP, I like Roisin and Clodagh.

ps, and I don't see any anti-irishness on this thread! spare me! what i see is some first generation irish people hardwired to the absolute core as we are with common sense and practicality running up against some fancy notions. I often observe on these threads that people who are married to an irish person, or who have irish parents, they want to use the Irish spellings because it feels ethereal or something (?)

My name is Jenny, I'm a hundred percent Irish and I can't be doing with fancy notions. Also, on a serious note, I wanted my chidlren to be able to reveal or (not reveal as they saw fit) their ancestry. OFTEN the mothers feel a strong connection to Ireland at the time of naming their child but it's entirely possible that their child will grow up feeling 90% english, and, oh yeh, ps, my mum's irish.

lolling at Maze y

How do you pronounce Clodagh?

It looks awful written down but i'm guessing its pretty when spoken.

What about Maze-y? :o

#irishprisonnames

haha ! and funnily enough, I ruled out Joy as a mn for a similar reason. Couldn't get 'de joy' outta me hed.

I showed your names to my Irish parents and they have no idea how to pronounce most of them!

If I am honest, I am really not keen on the archaic spellings of most of these names. To me, they look ugly and most people would struggle to pronounce & spell them. I say that as a sister of a Siobhan, and even this very common name gets mis-spelled & mis-pronounced on a daily basis.

"I really liked Clodagh but an english friend's reaction to it put me right off it. She said 'what, like the ring?"

:o

Reminds me of (English) DH ruining the name Laoise for me by saying "as in Port Laoise (prison)"?

Athinginyourlife, I couldn't agree with you more wholeheartedly. Choosing to spell Irish names that have a well-established simplification in a more complicated fashion, when you are living outside of Ireland, it is a bit misguided dickish. I can get to grips with Maedhbh but there are several different legitimate Irish spellings, and only one English form, so yes, I would pick Maeve every time.

I really liked Clodagh but an english friend's reaction to it put me right off it. She said 'what, like the ring?' and I thought 'what ring, a Clodagh ring, what?' and then I realised what she meant! I went right off Clodagh then. (for use in the UK that is) It's a beautiful name though.

My DH is a dubliner and felt that a Gaelic name would be really hard work for kid in the UK. I really really wanted to call DD2 Roisin, but used it as a middle name instead. I regret it, but every grown up Roisin I've met since has said I did the right thing!

Sive is an alternative spelling for Sadhbh if you like the name but your DH worries about the spelling

"You are calling the correct spellings of Irish names 'pointlessly complicated'?"

No. I am not.

I am calling the use of archaic spellings (Orfhlaith, Iarfhlaith etc) pointlessly complicated.

The modern Irish spellings of those names are Orla and Iarla.

I also think the recent fashion for taking standard English names and giving them Irish spellings a horrible affectation.

There have been generations of Irish women called Emily. Eimile doesn't even sound like Emily. Terrible.

"Are we really heading towards the anglicisation of all Irish names"

:o

I really get a pain in my face listening to people who never speak a word of their 14 years of school Irish whingeing about anglicisation.

Irish barely exists as a spoken language in Ireland. That's the anglicisation that matters.

This sentimentality about archaic spellings of names is part of an admission that Irish is just a dead piece of cultural junk people wheel out to brand themselves as Irish.

"So all traditional and, yes, proper, spellings should be allowed to die out of usage."

You mean like what happens in most languages?

I'm going with yes.

Otherwise why not ditch the Roman alphabet and start using the old style dot séimhiús?

That's the "proper" spelling after all.

Not Sadhbh, but Sadb. Not Niamh, but Niam.

Well one good thing is that since having this in my active convos for the last couple of days, the name Aoibhe looks completely normal to me now!

Perfumedponce I think AThing means that in some cases it isn't necessary, whereas some names need it - which I think is true. That doesn't mean people shouldn't use the older (richer? :) ) spellings in my book - and it certainly doesn't mean they should get crap on here for doing so, but there's a similar thing going on in Scotland where people spell English names using Gaelic phonetics to Gael it up a bit which can be confusing for everyone!

Agreed blackblackblack, and perfumedponce. Depressing.

I totally agree with you too AThing (I'm going for Orla I reckon and I agree with you about the older variants not even being needed in Irish), but if it was a name that needed the Irish spelling I wouldn't even mention it on here, such is the tone of the chat.

Found your post quite depressing, AThing. You are calling the correct spellings of Irish names 'pointlessly complicated'? Are we really heading towards the anglicisation of all Irish names in case, shock, the person might meet someone who is unfamiliar with the name or spelling? So all traditional and, yes, proper, spellings should be allowed to die out of usage. How depressing to think that this is what an self-proclaimed 'Irish speaker' would advocate.