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Baby names

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

Irish Boy Names

84 replies

RaisedByPuffins · 18/03/2019 13:22

Help needed for DS2 due in a couple of weeks!

Husband is Irish, I'm English and we live in London. We already have a 3 year old boy called Cuilean (pr. Quillan) and are totally stuck on boys names for this one. We want to give him a fairly unusual but not too hard to say Irish name. Particularly as we live in London so lots of lovely names won't work so well without the accent.

The spelling is less of a thing as I have a very dull/ordinary name that has 3 spellings so I always have to spell mine as do so many people I know Claire/Clare Sara/Sarah Rebekah/Rebecca etc.

We like but are not totally in love with:

Diarmuid
Ferdia
Lorcan
Donnacha
Tiernach

Middle name will be Thomas and we like but can't have:

Cillian
Colm
Ronan

Any suggestions gratefully received!

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Calloway · 29/03/2019 11:08

I don't doubt that people have called their daughters Naoise, but that still doesn't make it a girls' name. Same as calling your daughter James (as is becoming a trend) doesn't make Jamea a girls' name.

Keener · 29/03/2019 09:47

I'd assume anyone who used it for a girl didn't know their Irish myth, though. Naoise is one of the sons of Uisneach in the Táin, and the lover of Deirdre, who Conchobhar Mac Neasa also fancies, which sets off all kind of skulduggery -- so it would be a bit like calling your daughter Romeo, in terms of being named after a famous doomed male lover.

The only reason we ended up not using it for DS is that, if mispronounced, it sounded too like the Indian girl's name Nisha, and we lived in a very Asian area (in the UK) at the time.

Oddly, I don't like Laoise at all, possibly because the two I know are awful.

TheLoneWolfDies · 29/03/2019 08:54

keener no I'm thinking of Naoise alright, although Laoise is a bit nicer.
I just searched it in on facebool out of curiosity and almost all girls came up, 2 boys and thats from a long list (not friends obviously I just searched the name to see)

Keener · 29/03/2019 06:23

You are maybe thinking of Laoise, Lone. DS was almost Naoise.

Marlena1 · 29/03/2019 03:50

Oran
Cian
Rian

GlitterGlassEye · 28/03/2019 23:33

Aidan is Irish, not Aiden as told to me by my Irish midwife as that’s my ds’s name.

Calloway · 28/03/2019 23:28

And yet whaddyaknow, the fact remains that it's a boys' name.

Naoise was the husband of Deirdre in Irish mythology.

Irish Boy Names
TheLoneWolfDies · 28/03/2019 23:21

Calloway well i have never met a boy named Naoise in my whole life living in Dublin.

Calloway · 28/03/2019 23:10

Why are people saying Naoise?

Probably because it's a boys' name.

willwinlottery · 28/03/2019 22:45

I like Declan and Fiontan

TheLoneWolfDies · 28/03/2019 22:34

Why are people saying Naoise? Naoises a girls name and half of the ones reccommend are surnames.

Keener · 27/03/2019 11:35

SYLLABLE.

Keener · 27/03/2019 11:35

First syllabe of tiger but with a soft 'T' sound.

MindyStClaire · 27/03/2019 11:20

Naught if you're going to get so worked up, at least spell the names right. Grin It's Eoin and Eoghan (and I totally get what the PP was saying about Eoin Keating sounding a little like the pop star).

Exhausted18 · 27/03/2019 10:57

Or rather, like Tiger without the "er" I should say

Exhausted18 · 27/03/2019 10:55

Tadhg is pronounced Tygh. Like the first syllable of tiger

evaperonspoodle · 27/03/2019 10:45

I met a Daithi once it is my favourite name ever. How is Tadhg pronounced?

autumnkate · 27/03/2019 09:46

Seamus is lovely and I love Tadhg but it seems to be difficult in England

Keener · 27/03/2019 09:45

That's true, Carpet -- and names with a soft D sound nowhere near as nice when pronounced with a hard one.

CarpetGate · 27/03/2019 09:33

Tiernan.

Donnacha or Donnagh are gorgeous, but English people don't have the soft "D" required to pronounce these names (put the tip of your tongue almost underneath your top teeth to begin the D).

Exhausted18 · 27/03/2019 09:27

Sorry OP, missed the part where you said you didn't want fadas!! Colm? Or Feargal?

Nuyearnume · 27/03/2019 09:26

How about Oisin,Darrach or Fionn

scratchbass · 27/03/2019 09:25

@Bluerussian Any Ruairi I know doesn't pronounce their name Rory, it's more roor-ie rather than roar-ie.

I'm no good at phonetic spelling Smile

Exhausted18 · 27/03/2019 09:22

If you like Ronan how about Riordán (Reer-dan) or Rúadhán (Roo-awn)?

I also love Damhán (Dah-van) and Ciaran, they are top of my list if I ever have a boy.

Bluerussian · 27/03/2019 09:17

Ciaran
Sean
Declan
Ruari (pronounced Rory)
Patrick of course
There's another one I've forgotten, I'll come back with it if no-one else does.

I like Irish names.

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