I didn't think this name would be so unpopular

...and if the entire world can pronounce the Eilish /Eilis in Billie Eilish I cant see why Cillian is such a puzzler ...

Silly An

It's lovely but that's the problem with Irish and Welsh names, no one this side of the border can pronounce them.

The problem is not with Irish names that people can't pronounce.

The problem is people who won't pronounce Irish names.

What is so odd about a name that rhymes with Gillian?

Seriously, if English people can manage Persephone and Penelope they can do Aoife, Cillian, Deirdre, Domhnall, and all the rest of them.

we aren't used to saying Irish names in England

Kind of amazing considering the nearly 1,000 year old intimate ... connection (for want of a better word) between England and Ireland but there you go.

His cousin worked in my local supermarket, and as someone said Cillian is the Irish equivalent of a name like Ben!
But now you know, would you keep pronouncing it wrongly? Especially if it was the name of a baby in your family? Or would you call the baby by his name, which i think most people would!

The Cillian Murphy thing is weird because I've known who he is since 28 Days Later (which was 2002!!) and I've never heard anyone say his name!! In my head I've always read it as Silly-un, until a thread like this one enlightened me a few months ago.

How are you all hearing his name said so much??

I would say Killian but only because I've heard of Cillian Murphy.

It's lovely but that's the problem with Irish and Welsh names, no one this side of the border can pronounce them.

Have you set him up for a lifetime of mispronunciation? Yes, probably.

If it's one of those wonderful Irish names like Grainne and Siobhan it's probably pronounced 'Ralph'!

@YesThatIsMyRealName people change their surnames to make them more English too.

My grandad came from another european country to England in World War 2. He was escaping the Nazis. He completely changed his surname from his orginal surname to an English surname. I have that made up English surname .

I feel a bit sad that our original surname was thrown away, but I know my Grandad felt that he had to change it to fit in, because English people were so un accepting of foriegners. It makes me sad

Hard C.

My Dd insisted she had met a child in Belfast called Wee Urn. She was actually called Erin.

that's priceless.

My Dd insisted she had met a child in Belfast called Wee Urn. She was actually called Erin.

Tbh i would have pronounced it c(s)illa-ann, probably my english genes! I dont know anyone with the name and havent heard it pronounced, however its easy to grasp the pronunciation once youve been told and the people who matter will soon master it.
I really like the name, but unless you live in Ireland you may have correct its pronunciation more than once. A close colleague often spoke about her daughter , on-yah. I asked how it was spelt and never in a million years would have guessed aine!

They have been verbally corrected many times, Bathsheba

Have they only seen it written down - in that case it’s an understandable error.

I had the opposite - we told my MIL THAT DD2 was Kirsty and she spelled it Kirstie on the card.

Surely once they have heard it said as Kill-I-an they will automatically change they way they say it.

"I think it's seen as more acceptable to sneer at Irish, Welsh and Scottish names. I know people who wouldn't vocally sneer at Wiktoria or Tomasz, but would at Alys or Tomos."

East Asian too. So much so that most Asians have an "English name" which they use when abroad, which I just find sad.

it can make people feel stupid, then resentful

Same thought, expressed differently.

...it causes anxiety in people when they don't know something that they feel they should.
alexdgr8

This is an interesting comment.

The poster is talking about an inferiority complex. Maybe this is the chip on the shoulder that results in refusal to say a name properly? They are presented with something new, and experience it as an insult because it is new and therefore someone is teaching them something.

It's like sullen teens who resent school and take the efforts of a teacher to teach them as a personal insult.
there is a lot of defensiveness which is almost aggressive. (To use alexdgr8's words about responses on this thread.) I think that analysis applies to those who refuse to pronounce the name correctly.

The idea that this personality problem should be pandered to is very odd though.

By this point many people in England can pronounce Sadiq Khan and Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak, plusThierry Henri and Cesc Fabregas it's a weird concept that people are aghast at names from Celtic neighbours.
But there you go!

"Do English people get anxious about Polish, Pakistani, Somali, Lituanian, French names? Or just Irish and Welsh and some Scottish?"

I think it's seen as more acceptable to sneer at Irish, Welsh and Scottish names. I know people who wouldn't vocally sneer at Wiktoria or Tomasz, but would at Alys or Tomos.

It's because it's Irish we aren't used to saying Irish names in England I like aoife but over here I know most people will say it wrong so I've decided against it.

I know its pronounced kill e un but only because of cillian Murphy if I hadn't heard of him and found out it was an Irish name I would be saying sill aswell. One of them ones you either know or you don't. Either way it's a name

Mil,in Belfast, thought I should call my ds Cyril.

i think some of this is getting off topic / making sweeping assumptions.
there is a lot of defensiveness which is almost aggressive.
i was answering the OP : yes, in my experience this name is unheard of here in england. no , i and most everyone i know would not know how to pronounce it. i can see why most would attempt something akin to cyril. that also is pronounced differently in eastern europe i believe.
the question was about here, so i answered it.
i made no comment on whether it was acceptable nor am i frightened by names from other countries. i simply tried to answer the OP.
some of you don't seem to believe my answer. cheerio.

Domhnall Gleeson seems to be doing Ok despite his complicated name.I was on a thread a while ago where posters swooned at Eoghan Murphy, unsuccessful minister for housing. Irish threads do wander a bit.
I don't think Irish relatives, even elderly ones, would be that confused, as they had the National language bet into them. They coped with Peig, Padraig Pearse, Niall Quinn, Eamon de Valera et al. Cillian is fairly easy.
Do English people get anxious about Polish, Pakistani, Somali, Lituanian, French names? Or just Irish and Welsh and some Scottish?