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Original poster

How do you pronounce Gobnait?

41 replies

Thatextrainch · 25/04/2017 19:12

I'm fairly familiar with Irish name pronunciations but this one has stumped me. A quick Google suggests 'Gob-nit' but is it really that simple as it's fairly English phonetic.

I'm meeting a Gobnait tomorrow and don't want to make a twat of myself.

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mathanxiety · 25/10/2020 07:15

YY to a-BEE-gail Grin
The Missing Link.

Felicity88 · 24/10/2020 23:48

I would automatically assume gob nate.

LizzieAnt · 24/10/2020 23:26

Really? That's interesting, thanks Smile

SeanCailleach · 24/10/2020 23:05

@LizzieAnt you're probably closer than you think. Bee in Old Irish is "ab" so Abby would be a great name for a beekeeper.

LizzieAnt · 24/10/2020 12:54

@mathanxiety

I don't think there's any actual link between Gobnait and Abigail apart from the letter G.

It could be that this tenuous link was sufficient to warrant 'Irish College Name' status, and it snowballed into 'Gobnait means Abigail'. But it doesn't.

A-bee-gail? Grin Maybe not.
marriednotdead · 24/10/2020 08:44

@Chiliprepper

Not very seasonal but always reminds of this song m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbejNNCTr7k

Some pronounciation clues in there too OP Grin

My absolute favourite Christmas listening, was exactly what I thought when I saw the thread title Grin
Camogue · 24/10/2020 08:39

@mathanxiety

I don't think there's any actual link between Gobnait and Abigail apart from the letter G.

It could be that this tenuous link was sufficient to warrant 'Irish College Name' status, and it snowballed into 'Gobnait means Abigail'. But it doesn't.

Yes, exactly. There were always some fairly tenuous connections. Ditto in French, where I became Marie-Yvonne for fairly arbitrary reasons, being called neither Mary or Yvonne or anything resembling them.
Camogue · 24/10/2020 08:35

@MaudGonneMad

I quite like it! A grand Wesht Cork name.
Absolutely! Don’t mess with a Gobnait.

And didn’t St G. save Ballyvourney from brigands and plague, armed with only a trusty swarm of bees?

mathanxiety · 24/10/2020 07:38

I don't think there's any actual link between Gobnait and Abigail apart from the letter G.

It could be that this tenuous link was sufficient to warrant 'Irish College Name' status, and it snowballed into 'Gobnait means Abigail'. But it doesn't.

LizzieAnt · 24/10/2020 00:44

I've only ever heard it said Gub-net.
There's a social enterprise in Sri Lanka named Gobnait - it produces raw honey Smile

tazzy73 · 24/10/2020 00:06

Gobnait: The Irish for Abigail.

I have an Abby, the odd teacher used to call her Gobnait while doing the roll. She used to tell them her name was Abby, not Abigail.

Love most Irish names, this is not one.

SeanCailleach · 23/10/2020 15:28

It's a funny one. The spelling is Old Irish. A modern Irish spelling would be gabhna. The Italian name Gabbana has the same meaning of "smith/ craftsman".

midsomermurderess · 23/10/2020 14:36

It's the bee connection that makes me rather like it, but it would be a bold choice for a child, I think.

SeanCailleach · 23/10/2020 13:01

Thanks @mathanxiety you have solved a mystery for me. Gavin and Gabnat are family names and my auntie asked me years ago why. I was thinking "gamhain" which means "cub" but yep it's that name.

mathanxiety · 23/10/2020 05:35

In Irish mythology, Gobnait was the wife of the blacksmith god, Gabhan (pronounced Gowan)

She is a patron saint of ironworkers. Evidence of smithing and iron working has been found at the Ballyvourney site associated with her religious community.

mathanxiety · 23/10/2020 05:32

Deborah = bee in Hebrew.
St Gobnait is reputed to have kept beehives and to have saved her convent's cattle by setting a swarm of bees on a cattle rustler.

SeanCailleach · 22/10/2020 22:42

The name sounds better in native speaker Gaelic than learner Gaelic.
For complicated reasons the name would often be pronounced with either an "n" or a sound like a French rolled "r" instead of the initial "g". The final t will also change somewhat.
So vaguely like
Gawbnat
Nawbnut
Rawnitcha

Ha ha now you are none the wiser!

SeanCailleach · 22/10/2020 22:26

@cavabienmerci how does Deborah relate to Gobnait?

MikeUniformMike · 22/10/2020 20:03

I like it.

IdkickJilliansass · 22/10/2020 18:10

It just reminds me of gobshite 😋

mathanxiety · 20/10/2020 22:13

Thank goodness you weren't thinking of foisting it on a baby

I know one who left Ireland for Germany and reinvented herself as Ingrid 🙂

IdkickJilliansass · 20/10/2020 21:08

Gaabneyt

Blossomdeary · 26/04/2017 14:00

Hideous indeed!

FeedTheSharkAndItWIllBite · 26/04/2017 13:55

I always wanted to be called Assumpta.
Somehow my Presbyterian parents didn't agree

Aww! I wanted to be called Vera. OR something with a hyphen... No, my parents didn't agree either. Although, Assumpta is pretty. And my Italian grandmother would be over the moon ;)... Although, I think I prefer Assunta.

Chiliprepper · 26/04/2017 12:55

Not very seasonal but always reminds of this song m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbejNNCTr7k

Some pronounciation clues in there too OP Grin