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Baby names

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

Original poster

how do you pronounce these baby names?

105 replies

lunavix · 11/08/2006 22:04

kian/cian and niamh?

to the best of my knowledge it's kee-an
and neem?

Is this right?

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themildmanneredjanitor · 29/01/2008 11:42

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Broodymumof2 · 29/01/2008 11:41

Hi my gran was Niamh and is pronounced "Nee-ve" but american relatives of mine have named their baby Niamh after my gran but they pronounce it
"Ni-ema" which i thought was nice and different.

Tigerschick · 23/01/2008 09:20

I wonder what lunavix decided on in the end for her dc??

Sanguine · 23/01/2008 09:06

Oops, never noticed the other three pages on this thread

Sanguine · 23/01/2008 09:04

I think it's pronounced "gronya" but I'd defer to someone Irish...

Personally I don't think anyone should be thinking about naming their baby anything they can't pronounce and/or spell themselves!

branflake81 · 22/01/2008 14:57

I'm Welsh and have a Welsh name....people generally pronouce it right but spell it wrong. Some of these names are really nice - except Aoife (ee-fa), I don't think that sounds nice at all.

3andnomore · 20/01/2008 09:55

oops never noticed the outdated dates, lol

MinkVelvet · 20/01/2008 09:54

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3andnomore · 20/01/2008 09:50

Just out of interestest how is Maeve pronounced then?

Love the name Niamh (Neve) and most certainly prefer the irish way of spelling.

LoveAngel · 18/01/2008 16:53

There are also differences in pronounciation between various parts of Ireland, which complicates things even further. Roisin is often pronounce 'Roh-sheen' in N.I, but 'Row-sheen' in southern Ireland.

I love Irish girls names - Siobhan, Aislinn, Caoimhe, Niamh, Saoirse, Maeve - lovely

mamasin · 18/01/2008 16:48

Grainne is Graw nya and Caoimhe ought to be pronounced Cwee vah.
Emphasis on first syllables please!
Caomhin is nice for a boy
Cwee veen.
Next?

Jbck · 24/08/2007 19:13

Caoimhe is my first choice for a girl but DH thinks she'd spend her whole life saying my name is Caoimhe & you pronounce it Keeva which kind of defeats the purpose.
OTOH I think to spell it the way it sounds just to make it easier for others kind of defeats the purpose.
Still love it tho' & I'll use my wiliest of womenly wiles on him.
You never know where your children will end up living so you can't always pick a name that will 'suit' where they live.

BrownSuga · 24/08/2007 18:12

i think the mh is v. my niece is called Mhairi, pron, vahri

Tutter · 24/08/2007 18:11

lemonaid - indeed

a teacher at my primary school once wrote the word 'GHOTI' on the blackboard and asked us how to pronounce it

it is (of course) pronounced 'fish'

gh as in cough
o as in women
and ti as in caution

he did it to demonstrate how difficult it must be for other nationalities to learn english

Tutter · 24/08/2007 18:11

lemonaid - indeed

a teacher at my primary school once wrote the word 'GHOTI' on the blackboard and asked us how to pronounce it

it is (of course) pronounced 'fish'

gh as in cough
o as in women
and ti as in caution

he did it to demonstrate how difficult it must be for other nationalities to learn english

emj23 · 24/08/2007 18:08

Is Killian spelled Cillian usually? There's an actor called it and I thought that must be how you pronounced it.
And I've been wondering how Grainne was pronounced for ages, ta very much!

skidaddle · 24/08/2007 17:41

yes Grainne is GRON-ya and Mairead is Muh- RAID

skidaddle · 24/08/2007 17:40

we were going to call this baby Aoife if it was a girl but he is a boy, think I will have to have another baby now because i just love the name so much

Quite like Killian for a boy, Killy for short(BTW dh is irish) - any opinions?

McEdam · 24/08/2007 17:39

Grainne is pron. Gron-yuh AFAIK, at least that's how the only person I've ever known with that name (who was Irish) said it.

elan · 24/08/2007 17:19

Of course it's not cruel to give a child a name they will have to pronounce and spell. I would much rather have an unusual name than something uninspiring and common. I love thefact that so far I've never met someone with my name. Shouldn't a name be unique?

zaphod · 02/08/2007 20:44

You can also spell it Sive. Cian is kee-un.

nappyaddict · 02/08/2007 20:42

are we there yet how is it pronounced?

emj23 · 02/08/2007 15:05

There was a Mairead at my school but it wasn't pronounced 'Mar-aid', it was 'My-red'. I think pronunciations get changed over time by people not knowing what they're meant to be anyway, there was some actress a few years back called Gillian something, pronounced with a hard 'G', like gills on a fish. Weird.

hermykne · 02/08/2007 13:27

cian = keen , as in are u keen, i have 2 living near me.

arewethereyet · 02/08/2007 13:07

Anyone have any opinions about Sadhbh (means sweet or wise in Irish, as far as i know)? Is it cruel to name a child something that she will always have to spell or explain the pronunciation of?

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