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Baby names

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

Original poster

Irish girls names

185 replies

JedBartlet · 10/04/2017 15:39

Orla
Tara
Clodagh
Alannah
Cara
Una

I want a nod to Irish heritage without having something difficult to spell or pronounce for people in the UK - voice of experience!

Thoughts on the above, or any other suggestions that fit the bill?

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Chavelita · 19/04/2017 10:16

I really like Siún, despite the fact that the only one I know speaks in breathy cutesy baby-language in her late 30s.

GolderAndWiser · 18/04/2017 20:21

Siún is just shoon, not shewen.

FacelikeaBagofHammers · 18/04/2017 19:49

Siun (shoo-en)

FacelikeaBagofHammers · 18/04/2017 19:48

Sive (purposely avoiding the Irish spelling here)
Siobhan is lovely too

Dlpdep · 18/04/2017 19:45

Well I had 3 guesses and none of them were right. It may be Celtic rather than Irish and make more sense phonetically in Scottish maybe. The Keil bit I would pronounce 'kel' to rhyme with the Irish word for football - peil. Throw in a fada on the e and I'd give you Kayl like Kayleigh. The Irish for keeley as a surname would be Cadhla. I'm sure for her it is a lovely name and I don't want to take from that, but Irish it ain't.

Chavelita · 18/04/2017 19:40

Keileigh is about as Irish as Chelsea-Mae. Grin

Not that there aren't people in Ireland calling their offspring Chelsea-Mae.

itsyouitsalwaysbeenyou · 18/04/2017 19:33

This reply has been deleted

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squoosh · 18/04/2017 19:02

Well I'm not so liberal with my spelling that I would approve of Keileigh! We all have our line in the sand 😉 I'm assuming it's pronounced Kay-lee but who knows......except Keileigh's parents who created the name I suppose!

Quiltsalot · 18/04/2017 19:02

I love Eimear/Emer, it was on my list for ds and a good friend subsequently called her dd that. Ashling, Orla, Clodagh too. Dara - except I prefer as a boys name. My friends dd is Fiona which I think is most likely or Scottish origin rather than Irish but certainly is still a name used a lot in Ireland over the years and has Gaelic origins. Ciara, Aoife, and Cliona (Cliodhna), Maeve I like too. Aideen. Sadhbh (you could use Sive). Etaoine (Etain).

Dlpdep · 18/04/2017 18:49

Do you know, I think that's actually what my issue is. I agree with you that there are probably thousands of Kevin Kelly's in Ireland and if I were to come across one I'd assume they were Irish. The Keileigh to me looks like what you are referring to.

squoosh · 18/04/2017 18:38

And don't start me on people who give their child an 'English' name but zhuzz it up by giving it an Irish spelling to make it seem more authentic.

squoosh · 18/04/2017 18:36

But has Ciara not been anglicised at some point along the way too?

Kevin Kelly for example is an Irish name to me even if the purists are appalled and think he should actually be called Caoimhin O' Ceallaigh (can't do fadas on my phone).

Dlpdep · 18/04/2017 18:25

Horses for courses. Keira might 'sound' Irish but it's not an Irish name - Ciara is. By all means, people can take Irish names and anglicise them in any way that they want for pronunciation or other reasons, but when I see them, and I suspect most other Irish people see them, they do a bit of a Hmm. It's like spelling Pierre 'Peeair' - and the reaction a French person would have.

squoosh · 18/04/2017 18:15

Yes I get that, they're anglicised but they're still Irish names. Like most Irish surnames have been anglicised. I think it's a very narrow viewpoint to think something has to be written in the original Irish to be Irish.

Dlpdep · 18/04/2017 18:09

Well, not exactly. Caoimhín is the Irish name for Kevin, Kavanagh being the anglicised form of Cavanagh.

Original poster
JedBartlet · 18/04/2017 18:07

squoosh They are anglicised versions of an Irish name though.

OP posts:
squoosh · 18/04/2017 17:47

No but Kevin is still an Irish name. And Kavanagh.

Dlpdep · 18/04/2017 17:40

I'm not sure if that would be pronounced as Kelly, Kylie or Kayleigh, but there is no K in the Irish language.

itsyouitsalwaysbeenyou · 18/04/2017 10:43

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Original poster
JedBartlet · 18/04/2017 10:38

Saorla is a maybe, I do like it but I foresee spelling and pronunciation issues.

Have been mulling over Roisin and Roise over the weekend and they're both rising up the list.

So I think my revised list in order of preference is

Roisin/Roise
Orla
Ciara
Eimear/Emer
Una
Clodagh

OP posts:
MitzyLeFrouf · 16/04/2017 18:26

I gather pronounced 'Noo-ahla', but it's still says 'floral pinny and twenty decades of the Rosary and the men get the best of the roast' to me.

Definitely! 😂

Even the luminous beauty of Christy Turlington can't rehabilitate Nuala for me. She will always be the pursed lipped biddy who has a fixation about the sinful heavy petting that goes on at the local teen disco!

Cleebope · 16/04/2017 09:50

Yes that's the one, but have seen different ways of spelling it. It's a lovely name. saorla.

MrsDustyBusty · 16/04/2017 07:24

Soirla should have been Seorla pronounced Sairla, without an sh sound.

Do you mean Saorla?

lizzieoak · 16/04/2017 00:26

Puppymonkey - I was surprised he didn't know the name but thought maybe it was an indication of how people would mess it up. I still think Oonagh is lovely though and I'd use it for sure.

Cleebope · 16/04/2017 00:26

But Erin is still a beautiful and Irish sounding name whereas Ireland is just awful. Shannon is equally awful in Ireland although it has a nice sound (apologies to anyone called Shannon or Ireland).

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