Irene

Haha so it was Mrs - its been a long, long couple of decades since I last heard it played to signal kicking out time...

Still think using a name with a known pronunciation and demanding people use a totally unexpected pronunciation is silly. The poor child will spell her life correcting people and spelling her name out.

What's your name?

Irini

Oh that's pretty/ unusual, how do you spell it?

Irene

Eye-reen?

No, Irini, spelt Irene

Oh. Ok.

I know, I know, what was my mother thinking...

www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Irenee

I like Irene / Irenee but I do think if you want it pronounced the second way then Eirene which looks great IMO would be a safe bet? It’s less familiar looking than Irene so less likely to be mispronounced the same.

It was Come on Eileen, not Irene!

I quite like Irene, and the Irenee pronounciation, but I think people will assume the Ireen pronounciation if they see it written down. That said, surely the people that matter will hear the name first rather than see it written down, and anyone who knows her will soon learn the correct pronounciation.

Go for it.

Come on Irene ...

The song they played to signal kicking out at nightclubs in my day...

If you write Irene and say it's pronounced Irene- see you're putting yourself in the same category as parents of Anthonys who insist it's pronounced An-th-on-ee.

Irini or Eirini are both "real" names...

I don't think the pronounciation is any harder than working out which of the various Mayas we know are may-ah or my-ah tbh!

I know an Irene pronounced the way you want (she is Cypriot), she really struggled due to it being recognisable as the Ireen pronunciation and as an adult she always spells it Irenie and eventually has changed it by deed poll to this spelling. It's a lovely name.

Nowadays I'm not sure that people other than those of a certain age would automatically pronounce it in what was once considered the more usual way if they saw it written down. They might if it was one of the more common names at the moment that you wanted to be pronounced differently but Irene doesn't fall into that category, and anyway does it really matter if people say it wrong - it doesn't take much to correct them. When she starts nursery/school those in charge will know how it should be pronounced because you will have told them, and her friends will neither know or care how it was more usually said in days gone by.
FWIW I think Irene said Ireenee is really pretty. I love a name that is not common but not 'off the wall' either and I certainly wouldn't be adding an extra e's to the spelling.

You want a stupid, weird and unusual name not another emma, try stormi the newest Kardashian baby. Or Dream, Reign, Chicago, Saint or North. Pilot Inspektor anyone or Dandelion?

24 girls born and named Irene last year. Been over 20 Irenes born every year since 2009 and over 10 Irenes born every year between 1996 and 2009. So not unusual. Also if it means something to you,use it.

Irene isn't stupid, weird or unusual. Different yes, as its not heard often. Better than been one of 20 Olivias for example. I grew up with a popular name and hated it. Wished for something a little different.

khhoo

The problem isn't how people will pronounce it but rather that you want to give your child a life sentence of a stupid, weird name, that she'll be correcting the spelling and/or pronunciation of on a daily basis.

I grew up with a very unusual name and I'd never do the same to my child.

Irene is beautiful and different.Though as someone said how about Irenie? We have had Maud, Matilda and Edith come back, why not Irene, which in my opinion is better than Maud. Also she will be fairly unique at school.

I like it too but eliminated as knew everyone would pronounce it wrong. It's unfortunate as other Greek names with the ne ending aren't so troublesome - Daphne, Evadne etc.

You could correct everyone you know but she'd get a lifetime of EYE-reen as that's the norm here.

Irene Handel was a great comedy actress. She pronounced it Eye-reen-ee.

Eirene is pretty.

I think of the old song "Goodnight Irene " (pronounced Eye-reen) and in Bristol is known as a song sung by fans of Bristol Rovers at their matches.

Renee with a flick thingy on!!

You mean an accent?

Eye-reen and EE-ren are both rather intuitive / obvious pronunciations.

But eye-ree-nie?

I have met an ee-ree-nee (she's Greek, but eye-ree-nee just doesn't make sense to me personally).

Yes. It's Greek. A lot of people pronounce Nike to rhyme with 'spike' but that is wrong too.

Is Irene-ee the correct pronunciation? I've never heard it pronounced like that, and it sounds awful.

I like it. It was the name of the first Mrs Forsyte in the Forsyte saga and I liked the character, and think the name is pretty.

I know an Irene, but it is pronounced Ir-en-ay and she is spanish. You might get away with Irené or Irenie.

If you go with the Irene spelling you are in serious danger of a Bucket/Bouquet situation I think...

It'd be eye-reen here, and everyone would automatically think of Irene from Home and Away.

I agree that it's in the same category as Brenda and Diane i.e. outdated and not ready for revival

Rena.