How do you feel about traditional Irish names?

Sorry everyone, I explained myself really badly. Also I made a mistake, I thought Irish originally had it's own script ( I mean different characters) , I see from replies that I'm wrong, and I should know better, my mum is Irish. And the "random collection" bit... What I meant was if you take a word like Qi , from Chinese, it's pronounced chi , so it seems odd to me that whoever decided these things chose to translate it from Chinese characters into
this alphabet by giving it a non phonetic spelling
So unless people already know it's pronounced "chi" , they would miss pronounced it as" kwee".

So apologies for sounding l like I thought Irish was a random collection of letters, I don't. Sorryfor any offence caused.

I think theyre beautiful. The only downside is that they are often mispronounced.

Lots of Ayveens in Dublin too I'm afraid.

LC 1987 for me. I loved Irish. Loved the poetry. Loved Stair na Teanga. Loved Stair litríocht. I wish my Irish was still that good.

The Aoibheanns annoy me too. Was wondering if it was a dialect thing as I seem to come across more Ayveens () in NI than in Dublin.

I still know big chunks of that poem!
Leaving Cert 1982...

I agree, you need the aoi to make the long e sound. Don't get me started on all the Aoibhinns who are called A-veen. Anyone remember 'Aoibhinn bheith I mBinn Éadair'?

The -aoi- does indeed make the long E sound, LivLembler, with the slender vowel after the intervening consonant.

The Caolans I knew who pronounced it Keelan were imo wrong (or their parents were).

I like most. Nice sounds, nice meanings.
In London though, I really doubt anybody will be getting picked on for having an Irish name. Even names from much further away just slot in nicely with everybody else. Nearly everywhere is extremely diverse, so won't be anything anybody has never seen before.

Any native speakers on the thread? I would've thought Caolan would be Kay-lun and Caoileann would be Keelin/Queelin. Don't you need the i to make the ee sound (and then adjust the first vowel after the L accordingly)?

(And yeah, what math said in her last post.)

Great post mathanxiety. Says what I feel but more eloquently.

You shouldn't.

It would be interpreted as yet another example of willful British ignorance of Ireland and all things Irish.

The blithe assumption that it would be fine to plough ahead with English phonics would also illustrate British inability to understand why mispronunciation and alteration of Irish names to suit British taste and ignorance constitute an insult to a country that has a good deal of pride in its own native culture, which survived determined and persistent English efforts over many centuries to snuff it out.

If way more than 4 million people in the UK have no idea how to pronounce Irish names then that is shameful. Ireland has a border with the UK after all. Westminster was once the seat of government of both islands. English monarchs ruled over Ireland for 800 years. Why the ignorance? I think Irish people can be forgiven for suspecting that it arises from contempt.

The population of NI appears to be under 2 million.

Way more that 4 million in the UK have no idea how to pronounce Irish names, so by your reckoning we should just adopt English phonics.

The Jewish population of the UK is about 270,000, as opposed to about 4 million of a population in Ireland, most of whom would have learned Irish in school and would be familiar with Irish names, and plenty of people are familiar with Irish in NI and in the UK too - a few million in the UK. One community is definitely larger than the other.

It's one thing to use a name that is written in a script that few can read and a language that few know...

Don't most Jews know Hebrew?

I don't agree that it insults a language or culture to use a name from it but change the spelling & pronunciation. People widely use Joshua & Michael without spelling them יהושע and מיכאל (I imagine no one on MN knows how to say them in Hebrew, too)

It's one thing to use a name that is written in a script that few can read and a language that few know, but I think it's another to change the spelling or pronunciation of names in a language that is learned in school and known and used by people on the neighbouring island as well as many, many people in the UK.

I went to school with four Caolans. I think two of each gender. Every single one of them spelled it differently! But all pronounced Keel-an.

My DC are at school in London and go to school with at least one of the following:

Aoife
Eimear
Niamh
Sorcha
Eildh
Kellan
Ailis
Enya
Ciara
Catriona
Saoirse
Aine
Caoilainn
Siobhan

I think they do have constant problems with them being mispronounced/mispelled etc. but they certainly don't stand out as 'unusual' names and afaik don't get bullied for them. You'll struggle in London to find a school where there isn't a huge range of 'non-English' names. My DC1 has a very traditional English name and that is also often mispelled and occasionally pronounced wrong too!

I'm from Belfast originally but have never heard of a Caolan at home. My family are Donegal though and I know a few from there and also 2 in North Dublin who pronounce it Kale - awn. I guess it is just a dialect thing like Caoimhe being pronounced keeva or kweeva.

We called our DS Connor many, many years ago (he's 25 now!) ..I thought about using the Irish spelling (Connaire), but didn't, and have always regretted it..I think that Irish names are lovely, and you shouldn't be afraid to pick one of it's what you really want

The only obvious way to "angliscise" Aoife is to spell it Efa. Only that's a Welsh name (Eva essentially ) and pronounced more along the lines of air-va.

The Celts are a confusing lot 😉

She won't be the only Aoife in her London secondary.

I went to a school with a Grainne, a few Siobhans, a couple of Sineads and a Roisin. Used to work with a Concepta!

Nottingham is hugely diverse, that's true. Maybe all of East Midlands is.

I don't agree that it insults a language or culture to use a name from it but change the spelling & pronunciation. People widely use Joshua & Michael without spelling them יהושע and מיכאל (I imagine no one on MN knows how to say them in Hebrew, too).

The U.K. Is full of cuties with massive Irish populations, not just "cosmopolitan" London. I was brought up in Nottingham which is full of the boggers.

I'm an Oonagh and didn't get bullied over my name if that's any help.

Got lots of official documents with my name spelled wrong causing major hassles though. Yay.. wouldn't have happened in Cosmopolitan London obvs

Aghh anglicise**