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Original poster

Irish names?

36 replies

coffeeforthewin · 11/11/2020 20:43

Suggestions for Irish names (including pronunciation) for boys and girls?? ☘️

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nildesparandum · 12/11/2020 20:42

My name is an Anglicised version of an Irish name, it starts with a K and has been mentioned on here.My grandmother who had Irish ancestry chose it.

SionnachRua · 12/11/2020 20:21

Oat is still correct though - the letter k isn't used in the Irish alphabet. The sound /k/ is used but that isn't the letter now is it?

Katela18 · 12/11/2020 20:18

I have a Clodagh (Cl oh da)

Always get comments on how pretty it is

SenCallec · 12/11/2020 20:10

@Oatbaroatbar the sound /k/ occurs frequently in spoken Irish, written with letter c. The Irish devised the Anglo-Saxon spelling system, using letter c for sound /k/. I think letter k may have come from Norse.
Others may disagree. I m'óige do bhiodar cinnte. Le gach eolas tigeann abhras.

Smallsteps88 · 12/11/2020 17:27

I love giving my English friend some old Irish names (the ones with loads of letters) and watching his face as he tries to work out what they are Grin much amusement.

LizzieAnt · 12/11/2020 17:16

@olderthanyouthink
Well, older Irish names did have more letters. For example, Órfhlaith developed into Órlaith and then Órla. People still use the older Irish forms of names as well as the more modern ones - it's just a matter of personal preference.
However, the letter k wouldn't be used....so I'm not sure how your name came to be - it's probably an anglicised version, I suppose. It's lovely your nan chose it for you though. Hope you like it.

olderthanyouthink · 12/11/2020 15:24

@LizzieAnt yeah swap a C fit a K and then sprinkle in some more letters for the hell of it 🙄 I'm one of 3 with my name ever on the English birth, deaths and marriages

Smallsteps88 · 12/11/2020 15:19

K isn't much used in English is it?

more than it is in Irish Wink

Oatbaroatbar · 12/11/2020 15:06

@SenCallec what do you mean? K is a pretty widely used letter in English.
I’m confused by your “ Wincing at "no k in Irish” but then saying K isn’t used much in English Confused

SenCallec · 12/11/2020 14:42

[quote Oatbaroatbar]@SenCallec aren’t those the anglicised versions?
Eg Keira is definitely the English version of Ciara, same with Kathleen /Caitlin?[/quote]
I don't know that it's English so much. K isn't much used in English is it? Whatever happened those are familiar and much loved spellings, and in a polyglot society quite practical.

SionnachRua · 12/11/2020 14:00

@SenCallec

Wincing at "no k in Irish". The spelling is just an indication of the spoken word. Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names. There aren't "right" and "wrong" spellings.
Yeah, no mate. The Irish language doesn't contain the letter k. No ifs or buts about it, simply isn't there. Any K names claiming to be Irish are at best Anglicised from the original spellings.
Anoisagusaris · 12/11/2020 13:49

Kayleigh is not Irish!!

Oatbaroatbar · 12/11/2020 13:45

@SenCallec aren’t those the anglicised versions?
Eg Keira is definitely the English version of Ciara, same with Kathleen /Caitlin?

Smallsteps88 · 12/11/2020 13:42

Not really sure what your problem is @SenCallec but you seem a bit obsessed. Do you have a K name you thought was Irish?

SenCallec · 12/11/2020 13:29

I love these soft-sounding names @coffeeforthewin

Keira
Kayleigh
Kathleen
Fraochan (okay I made that up, it means "wild one" and is the usual word for a blueberry. I think it would be okay as a name. I'm sure others will have strong views.)

Kennedy
Kelleher
Kevin
Cahal

LizzieAnt · 12/11/2020 13:22

@SenCallec

Wincing at "no k in Irish". The spelling is just an indication of the spoken word. Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names. There aren't "right" and "wrong" spellings.
There exists both original Irish language names and the anglicised renderings of those names though. The anglicised version may differ from the original in spelling, pronunciation or both. "There is no k in the Irish language" is a perfectly factual statement.
MikeUniformMike · 12/11/2020 13:03

Irish surnames were anglicised as part of the deliberate destruction of irish culture.

Smallsteps88 · 12/11/2020 12:51

Wincing at "no k in Irish".

Not sure why, you just look a bit silly pulling faces. There’s no k in the Irish language. It doesn’t exist. So if you see an “Irish” name with a k in it, it’s actually an anglicised version of an Irish name.

Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names.

They’re new, anglicised spellings of the original names. There’s no two ways about that.

MikeUniformMike · 12/11/2020 12:29

@SenCallec, they are anglicised spellings of irish names.

Ireland was part of the Empire once.

SenCallec · 12/11/2020 12:14

Wincing at "no k in Irish". The spelling is just an indication of the spoken word. Keira, Kelly, Keenan are Irish names. There aren't "right" and "wrong" spellings.

Original poster
coffeeforthewin · 12/11/2020 11:33

@wtftodo @Oatbaroatbar thanks so much for the suggestions! I agree with regards to spelling making it a pain!

@Oatbaroatbar thank you, of course I'd look in to any names of interest in to more detail, previously when hearing/seeing Irish names I've like the sound and uniqueness of them, I tend to prefer softer sounding names.

@SionnachRua Liadáin is lovely!

@SenCallec baby names, thanks for the thought :)

@MikeUniformMike thanks for the thought.

OP posts:
MikeUniformMike · 12/11/2020 10:23

If you have to ask for suggestions and their pronunciations, then perhaps best to choose a name you are already familiar with.

If you are looking at lists online or asking on here, you may get suggestions that are misspelt, or mispronounced, or just not Irish.

SenCallec · 12/11/2020 09:10

@coffeeforthewin are you naming a baby/ pet or writing a novel? I can't guess why you'd ask for Irish names in general.
Saoirse and Tadhg have highly charged cultural context which it might help to be aware of.

Smallsteps88 · 12/11/2020 08:22

@olderthanyouthink

"there is no K in the Irish language"

For real?! FFS more evidence than my nan is talking shit when she says my name is Irish! She just got Kreative with spelling and wont admit it

I’m afraid so.

Lots of Irish names were anglicised out of necessity way back when it wasn’t safe to speak the language. And also there was the forced anglicisation. Unfortunately many of them have never made it back in their original forms and the English version has been accepted/assumed to be the right spelling.

pallisers · 12/11/2020 00:59

I think Fiona was created by Walter Scott

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