I didn't think this name would be so unpopular

I know Worcester is Wuster, because I have heard some one say it, and I presume Ayr is Air.

@eggandonion How do you pronounce Salisbury?

I(irish) would have pronounced it Salisbury

I lived in England so have an advantage, but most Irish people can pronounce Salisbury without an is in the middle, or Worcester without ces, or even Llandudno or Ayr.
Dara is a nice sibling name for Cillian (or an alternative spelling is available!)

I'd have guessed Silly-an
Only ever met one Killian and he spelt it with a K.

It's not Kill-Ian, it's KILL-ee-un.

'Cill' is a church or a monastic cell in Irish -- you see it in a lot of anglicised Irish placenames, though 'Kil' can also be derived from 'Coill' which is Irish for wood. So Kildare is from 'Cill Dara', meaning the church of the oak. Ballinakill (Baile na Coille) is 'the town of the wood'.

It's not necessarily about knowing everything about a neighbour, it's being respectful enough of the neighbour to learn their names when they tell you how to pronounce them and not telling them that they're ridiculous for not considering YOUR understanding of the alpabet when naming their children.

The arrogance of it!

If your family moved to Russia would you name your children Russian names so that they'd be instantly read correctly or would you pick the names that feel good to your own ear?

I thought it was silly-an too so kill-Ian sounds really savage.

Kill Ian.

@hayfevered I agree that alot of people in the UK know very little about Ireland. But also that alot of people in Ireland know very little about England.

I'd be extremely surprised if a single person in Ireland couldn't name the British PM, or was labouring under the delusion that the entire UK was ruled from a government sitting in Cardiff.

@hayfevered I agree that alot of people in the UK know very little about Ireland. But also that alot of people in Ireland know very little about England.

The point is - should people know about their neighbouring country? I think that most neighbouring countries are pretty unaware of their neighbours. What about countries in Europe that have five neighbouring countries.

X-posted with @isabellerossignol.

I would say sill-ee-an but once corrected would be ok.

@Annamaria14, where have I suggested they should? And I don't know why you are making a particularly flimsy straw man argument about knowing the names/locations of counties. I'm talking about basic things like not knowing that Ireland and Northern Ireland are not the same political jurisdiction and that Ireland is not in the UK. I had to convince three different people, including a manager, at a Jobcentre when I first moved to England, that, no, I couldn't just use my home NI number from the ROI 'because it's all the same, isn't it?'

Do Irish people know everything about England ? No they don't.

I don't expect English people to know everything about Ireland but something as basic as the fact that part of it is part of the UK (whether anyone agrees with that or not is a whole separate issue) and part of it is very much not seems to come as a shock to an awful lot of people in England.

When you're asked what currency we use in N Ireland, or what do we have instead of the NHS, or (my favourite) if we have debit and credit cards here, it's mind boggling.

I think I'd be pretty good at that English counties quiz, but I admit I'd struggle with the counties in Wales and Scotland.

I suggested Ian as I didn't think kill would be likely and it's already part of lo name. As particular as my mother was about our names and spellings to the point of giving relatives a row, it doesn't impact on school friends. We all got both affectionate shortening, those who thought they were being funny and those at school who were just nasty. As men, my brothers had no problems but I've not been so lucky, again it was people thinking they were funny and some just nasty. My parents were upset and apologised when they found out about it decades later. They just loved the names.

@Hayfevered why should English people know everything about Ireland?

Do Irish people know everything about England ? No they don't.

I am in Ireland right now, and one of the things that me and my Irish flatmate did ti alleviate the boredom, was an English county quiz online. We both got about 20 per cent right.

Do you know where all the counties in England are on a map? Why do you expect neighbouring countries to know everything about each other?

I would have mispronounced it too. It is odd though that your family keep mispronouncing it after you’ve corrected them. Are they usually a bit thick?

You'd be surprised at what people don't know!

After more than 20 years living in England, believe me, I could not be surprised by what some English people do not know about Ireland.

eggandonion

@Sooverthemill I suppose I'm a big fan, so I've seen a lot of his film and theatre work. It's a great name!

I actually think it's the adults that are the problem when it comes to name teasing not the children. I hear far worse things on mumsnet about names than you ever hear in the playground. Kids generally dont actually care about names at all!

Teasing? Why would a Cillian be any more likely to get teasing than any other name??
Genuinely want to know!
William is popular and shortens to Willy but doesn't seem to stop people choosing it and nor should it!
All names rhyme with something or can be linked to someone unpleasant. There isn't a name out there that cant be teased if someone wants to tease that child and it's not like Cillian is a ridiculous name, it's an Irish classic and very popular in Ireland which really isn't very far away!

Northern Ireland placenames , like Knockagh or Ahoghill or Lough Neagh or Ligoniel an advantage on learning how to pronounce Irish names. Coupled with high intelligence, and the ability to ask how to pronounce a a name, and remember the answer.

Love cleaning my kitchen with Kill it - Bang

To those saying that seeing a c to start the name they would say sillian explain why you would not pronounce Cathy as Sathy

There is one rule that can help your child, especially when he is attempting to decode longer, multisyllable, words. The "Rule of c" covers the pronunciation of the letter "c", indicating when "c" stands for the /s/ sound.

The rule is: The letter c represents /s/ before the letters e, i or y; otherwise it represents /c/.