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Baby names

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

Original poster

Mobhí (boy)

64 replies

Aiwo · 05/06/2016 14:27

I thought we had settled on a boy name months ago but then my DH throws this out in his crisis that the boy name isn't 'priestly' enough.

So thoughts?
(We don't live in Ireland)

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AuntJane · 09/06/2016 20:27

I worked out Mo-vee. However, as The Jungle Book film is due out any day I think people might mis-hear it as Mowgli.

Spidermanpushups · 09/06/2016 15:55

I think I know what he means by Priestly, , although I expressed it as a kind of ecclesiastically inspired classic :-p (women are more verbal :-p) i WAS an irish person living in London when I had my DC and I wanted Classic names, but classic in a solid ''catholic'' way. Not in a royal classic way, which bored me. I'm Irish but not even catholic, however, i liked Pope names like Domenic, Louis, Gregory, Peter, Columba. Also, Donal, Donald, Manus, Inis, Skye, things that had a slightly abboty / monky island vibe

Original poster
Aiwo · 09/06/2016 13:56

squoosh
You mean my darling husband? Yep that is him.

OP posts:
squoosh · 09/06/2016 13:42

Is this the guy who wanted to call your daughter Concepta/Honora/Attracta or something along those lines?

Original poster
Aiwo · 09/06/2016 13:36

Sorry it has taken me an age.

As to the spelling: that is the way it is written in DHs martyrology.
We aren't bothered that much about the issues of having Gaelic names in the UK, we want a Gaelic name and realise they can come with issues

Priestly: if my DH ever lost his job he would do well choosing names for nuns, that is very much his taste: old fashioned, not that used and better suited to a convent (in the last millennium) than Tescos.
Priestly was the only thing I could come up with as a descriptor for the same sort of feel for a boy.
He has thrown a spanner in the works because the baby is due in a matter of weeks

OP posts:
LunaLoveg00d · 09/06/2016 08:35

But I think most people unfamiliar with Irish names would say 'Moby'

Yes they would - I would. Unfair to compare it with Siobhan and Niamh which are in much more common usage.

MrsSpecter · 08/06/2016 22:41

No its not the name murphy in Irish. Two different names.

WuTangFlan · 08/06/2016 22:05

So if it's "MUH-vee" rather than "MOH-vee", it's the Irish version of Murphy (or Murphy is the anglicised version?)?

hollyisalovelyname · 08/06/2016 18:47

Very near St. Mobhi Road in Glasnevin is St. Canice's Road.
Canice is pronounced Caniss ( as in hiss)

1horatio · 08/06/2016 17:18

Just out of interest, "priestly"?

hollyisalovelyname · 08/06/2016 16:51

MoeVee
It's sn Irish saint's name
There is a Mobhi Road in Dublin.
There are so many different cultures with their associated names that I don't think it matters anymore. People can be taught how it is pronounced. If it bothers you that your child will have to keep correcting people re it's pronounciation then don't use it.

mrsschu · 08/06/2016 16:41

I would know how to pronounce it but frankly it sounds awful. It's the name of a road to me!

squoosh · 08/06/2016 16:22

Father Brian D'arcy? He's very trendy.

Vriksasana · 08/06/2016 16:19

lol at looking for a priestly baby name! who's the baby daddy? bishop Eamon Casey :-p

Vriksasana · 08/06/2016 16:12

oh hang on, there's a st mobhí in Glasnevin, isn't it a cemetary though?!
could be wrong. I wouldn't like if people said ''oh yeh like the cemetary?"

Vriksasana · 08/06/2016 16:10

Another who had no difficulty reading it as mo-vee (it follows the rules nicely so I don't think Irish people would pronounce it wrong, they just probably won't have heard it before).

soundsystem · 08/06/2016 16:07

I like it! I'm not Irish or in Ireland and I would automatically have pronounced it with a v sound, because of Siobhan. People manage all sorts of names once they've been told so I wouldn't be put off by that. Can't help with suggestions that are more "priestly" though, I'm afraid.

DreamInterrupted · 08/06/2016 11:05

I would have thought it was Moby with yoonique spelling, but I'm not Irish.

nooka · 05/06/2016 23:31

While I understand that it follows the same rule as Siobhan I didn't think it was an Irish name when I saw the title, so I'd not think to pronounce it that way. Once told I could make that connection but I certainly could imagine it being at least a little annoying to always have to explain.

My sister was given her name day saint as a middle name. When she was registered for school the headmistress (a Catholic nun) advised my mother not to use it. Not all religiously inspired names are that great!

MrsSpecter · 05/06/2016 22:48

Ugh. Hmm zero point in even trying to reason with ^that.

BertrandRussell · 05/06/2016 22:47

And which is so unusual that two Irish speakers on here have never heard of it and seem to disagree on how it should be pronounced!

Go for Patrick. In Irish if you like.

Hockeydude · 05/06/2016 22:39

Er MrsSpecter I did absolutely not say the names Shouldn't be allowed. You quoted half of the paragraph i wrote, cutting off my actual point, which was that: I have no idea why people create obstacles for their kids (with difficult names). People can name their kids whatever they want, I just don't understand why they would choose a name that a significant proportion of people will query the pronunciation of.

LadyAntonella · 05/06/2016 21:57

I'm Irish and would have guessed mo-vee but that is probably because I don't speak Irish (if Irish speakers think that is incorrect).

SucculentSoul · 05/06/2016 21:54

I'm in Ireland and I haven't heard of it not would I know it was pronounced mohvee. I would have guessed muhvee too. Anyway I don't like it.

villainousbroodmare · 05/06/2016 21:48

Hey Stokes! Grin I'm amazed it took 40 posts to query the spelling of this name. When I was in secondary school (in Ireland) our classes were named after saints, and I was in Rang Móibhí. That's the only context in which I've heard the name. A Google search produces the school in Glasnevin, which spelling drops the fada on the o.
As OP has typed it, it disobeys caol le caol agus leathan le leathan and it would also be pronounced MUH vee as opposed to MOH vee.