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Baby names

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

Fiadh

90 replies

SmugairleRoin · 28/09/2015 12:23

Pronounced Fee-ah, this means deer in Irish (also an archaeological cooking pit depending on who you listen to). Thoughts?
I do think it is pretty but worry it'd sound like Thea/Fear in some accents, plus it did shoot up the Irish baby name charts.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Sunshine511 · 30/09/2015 10:06

*a

Sunshine511 · 30/09/2015 10:06

Completely agree with you. I was referring to if the child chose to live a country other than Ireland. Hence the reason the previous sentence says "If she were to end up living in another country..."

For example, someone going by the name Fiadh, may have to spell their name out on a frequent basis if they live in any country other than Ireland. Someone going by the name Kathryn, Catherine or Katherine may have to spell their name out on a frequent basis if they live in any country. That was the point I was making.

An Irish child with an Irish name living in Ireland? I doubt they'll have any issues with pronunciation or spelling. As you said, it's w standard name Smile

SurlyCue · 30/09/2015 09:30

"As someone else said previously, you can have a very standard name which has a few different spellings and forever have to spell that out too"

A very standard english name. Fiadh is as standard in its language as john is in its language. It isnt a difficult name.

Sunshine511 · 30/09/2015 09:01

I think the fact is, some people don't mind spelling out/repeating their name on a frequent basis and others do. There's no telling how a baby might feel about it when they grow up. Some people are confident, some are insecure. There's no right or wrong with this. All a parent can do is choose a name which they feel is right for their child. As this is an Irish name, for an Irish child, living in Ireland, I think it's a beautiful choice of name. If she were to end up living in another country, in all likelihood, she won't mind spelling it out, but I suppose there is no knowing for certain. As someone else said previously, you can have a very standard name which has a few different spellings and forever have to spell that out too x

BoldFox · 30/09/2015 08:44

It's insecurity Mathanxiety imo. All the lmc, new mc are terrified of making a gaffe. And I named my children in the eye of that storm! I had started to buy in to it. :-/

To deviate from that respect for The British Class system is a kind of rebellion that signifies degeneracy. ("Conor is a bold boy name")
Choosing to honour your own country rather than paying respect to the UK class system is seen as a deal breaker! called your child Niamh? You've no class obviously!

Also, paradoxically, not all nationalities are held up the same level of scrutiny. If you're French say, you could have been brought up on an HLM with no education at all but in England/Britain, that outranks being an Irish person. You could call your child Magaly or Arnaud of you wanted.

MythicalKings · 30/09/2015 06:57

I have a very Welsh name, with Welsh spelling, and grew up in England. I have had a lifetime of, "What?" "How do you spell that?"

I would love it if I was living in Wales but living here, less so. It's annoying.

mathanxiety · 30/09/2015 06:27

Jumping on the 'Shauna, Kerry, Alannah Hmm' bandwagon seems superfluous but I am tempted.

My conclusion from the many comments I see on MN regarding bullying, piss taking, etc. about names is that there must be a great many really obnoxious people in Britain. Hence the bending over backwards to make sure names 'work' in British culture, regardless of how unfashionable they may be in France or Turkey or Ireland or Norway or whatever other culture may be present in the family, and also all the angst about 'posh' names vs. names that signify that other thing.

SmugairleRoin · 29/09/2015 19:55

Haha work away Pallas, glad you like it! I don't imagine you'd run into many of them outside Ireland either - but it seems to have exploded up the charts here.

OP posts:
PallasCat · 29/09/2015 19:29

Smugair I think this name is so beautiful! And I love a nature name. Gorgeous choice.

If it is of interest, I'm not Irish and hadn't ever seen the name before, but if I'd seen it written and not heard it, I would pronounce it as you've written the pronunciation.

I've half a mind to add it to my own shortlist... Wink

Sgoinneal · 29/09/2015 16:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Secondtimeround75 · 29/09/2015 16:24

I thought wrongly that the op loved the name but not the spelling.

Lots of lovely Irish names.
I used a few myself Wink

BoldFox · 29/09/2015 15:09

Well, I spent my life spelling my ENGLISH sur name in Ireland. It's no biggie.

MyNameIsRonnieFuckingPickering · 29/09/2015 14:37

Irish names would be things like Shauna, Kerry, Alannah

Grin

Oh dear.

Sunshine511 · 29/09/2015 14:13

I too spent my childhood and early adult life with a surname that required constant spelling out to people and, to be honest, it didn't bother me whatsoever.

I know that some people, however, can find this very frustrating. I think it's fair for someone to say that this bothered them growing up. Some posters would find this information useful.

A lot of my family are Irish and living in England and to be honest, I don't think they mind spelling their names out either.

I just don't like to see people being criticised to this degree over their personal view. Each to their own, and all that.Smile

Liomsa · 29/09/2015 13:56

I entirely agree, Sunshine, but this exact thing comes up depressingly frequently, and specifically about weird, difficult, out there Irish names, and the assumption that they need to be made palatable for a certain type of English people, who cannot, apparently, be expected to grasp a name like Fiadh.

Incidentally, I have only ever encountered these people on here, never in my almost 20 years of living in England with my own 'unpronouncable' Irish names, and a husband and son likewise. People have attempted, or misspelled, understandably, and I have corrected - as I have myself mispronounced and been corrected on other names foreign to me - and it is fine.

Sunshine511 · 29/09/2015 13:46

I think Irish names are beautiful with the original Irish spelling. That's my personal view. I also think we are all adults and all individuals so we are all entitled to our own opinions and shouldn't be bashed for these opinions.

The OP talks about concerns with pronunciation in different accents. I think it's fair for someone to point out possible difficulties with spelling etc in different parts of the UK. Especially given that the poster has brought up the issue of pronunciation.

There is no need to be unkind to each other. Everyone is free to have their own views and to post them on a public forum, so long as they're not offensive.

Liomsa · 29/09/2015 13:34

Helpme, you don't seem able to think outside your monoglot, monocultural box, despite a lot of people patiently explaining things.

It's a pity you feel your childhood was made complicated by a foreign name, but I assure you that not everyone feels such a craven desire to be called something unremarkable. I have an Irish first and surname which are unusual even within Ireland. I have lived outside of Ireland most of my adult life and my name has not caused the slightest bother. Perhaps there are people who would be crushed by having to spell their name for a medical receptionist, but that sounds frankly mad to me. My son has not only an unusual Irish name but also both my and his father's Irish surnames and his friends, doctors, teachers etc are coping just fine. He has friends/classmates who have Indian, Polish, Danish and Somali names. People manage.

Shauna, Kerry and Alannah are not traditional Irish names, they are names that some English and American people think sound vaguely 'Celtic'. And do you realise how Little Englander it makes you sound that you seem to believe the OP is invested in choosing a name 'because it has unexpected pronunciation (to English people)'? She's Irish. Fiadh is as phonetically unexceptional to Irish people as Emma.

SmugairleRoin · 29/09/2015 13:16

No, that's not really what I'm after. I simply like the name as is and am asking opinions of it, from people in general. Their nationality etc doesn't matter. If I get a lot of "eh? Can't pronounce that" back then that's something I'll take into account.

Sinead etc are names popular enough in my age group in Ireland so aren't runners for me just because of that - same way English people mightn't want to name their dd Claire if they grew up with a lot of them and it feels dated to them.

K doesn't exist in the Irish alphabet so if I was picking an Irish name purely because I wanted something Irish it wouldn't be for me. But I'm not doing that - I just happen to like Fiadh, not because it is Irish.

I see the point you are making, I just don't agree with selecting names purely because they are easily decodable/pronounceable to English speakers. As a teacher I see lots of interesting names from around the world and I like that. And tbh, kids bully for any reason - hair, glasses, accent, weight. Whatever they can latch onto to be cruel yo someone with, they will.

OP posts:
Helpmeoutofthemaze · 29/09/2015 12:58

I actually do think that (eg) a couple where one's English and one's French often try to pick a name that "works" in both languages. There have been many such threads on here.

Eg eng and French couple might choose Lucie, Amelie

My Turkish friends, both Turkish but live in UK chose Leyla because it works in both countries.

So people do actively want their dc's name to be recognisable in all the places they currently live/are from/have links with.

If OP is in Ireland and doesn't intend to spend time living in England then I think that should have been stated in the OP. Due to the fact that the largest proportion of MNers by country obviously is England (due to the size of it's population relative to the other UK nations), it should have been stated that it was the opinions of people living in Ireland she was after, not the majority of posters. (If indeed that is the case).

In the event that the OP is after a name that "works" in Ireland and the rest of the UK, I personally don't think Fiadh is it. Irish names would be things like Shauna, Kerry, Alannah etc if you want them working easily in both places.
Or if you like the names simply because they have unexpected pronounciation (to English people) then I'd go for something more recognisable like Sinead, Niamh, Oonagh which more people have encountered. But on my original point, I know someone with Oonagh as a middle name (in England) who was highly embarrassed by it (yes, due to pisstakers and bullies of which your dc will encounter many) and she would never tell anyone her middle name and then it became a thing, they would not stop asking her. Etc

chrome100 · 29/09/2015 12:34

Really dislike. Sorry.

SmugairleRoin · 29/09/2015 11:13

The UK comprises NI and Scotland though - so there are, in theory, people in the UK who are used to Celtic names. I think the issue is I see these reactions to Celtic names only, and not say Somalian or Chinese names. But anyway.

If people have difficulty pronouncing it then obviously thats fine and something for me to bear in mind - but I won't anglicise just for the sake of it. And I have an unusual name too!

Sgoinneal has it exactly though, it's not directed at you, just a general frustration and thank you for your feedback on it, I appreciate it all Smile

OP posts:
Sgoinneal · 29/09/2015 08:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

villainousbroodmare · 29/09/2015 03:46

Also I think it's worth making the distinction between a name that is not necessarily intuitively/ phonetically spelt but is technically easy to pronounce once you know how to do it, like Fiadh, and a name that is genuinely very difficult for non-speakers of a language to say. I live in South Africa and I have a friend called Xola Nqobile. That's two clicks which most people outside of southern Africa (and most whites within it) would really battle to enunciate. Obviously click sounds and other sounds unique to various languages are terrific, and I'm not for one instant advocating that they should be avoided, but I just wanted to draw that distinction.

SurlyCue · 28/09/2015 22:59

It is because I have decades of experience using a name with an unusual spelling

But fiadh isnt an unusual spelling. It is the spelling! No-one is going to ask why an irish word is spelled exactly as it should be are they? Its not the same as Mary being spelt May-ree.

Helpmeoutofthemaze · 28/09/2015 22:55

The reason why I think names should be simple is not because I am stupid or only like English words as some posts imply. It is because I have decades of experience using a name with an unusual spelling. People take the piss, ask you "why?" (which you can't answer as you obviously didn't name yourself!), ask you to spell it out, spell it incorrectly, take the piss out of the pronounciation etc. This is what people have done to me, this is my experience, whether some posters like it or not. It's just fact!

In fact all the posts disagreeing with someone's opinion are pretty pointless anyway because the OP has asked for people's opinions. My opinion is just that and won't change because people disagree with it. If OP wants to disregard it, that is fine and her choice. But it will still be my opinion!

Mumsnet is a UK website, although anyone can post. But it is a UK website. If the OP was after only a subsection of opinions, she could have written that she was interested in the opinions of people living in Ireland only. But since she didn't, I'm assuming everyone's opinion is welcome. Apart from mine.