Sine?

There's a lot of ignorance about Irish, Gaelic and Welsh, and on here threads tend to get heated.

Posts usually include misspelt names, the wrong meanings, strange name suggestions and rude comments like 'Spell it properly'.

And there is a strange compulsion to give a DC a name that reflects his or her heritage.

Someone will say 'It's unpronounceable' or whatever, and there will be another poster will say that you can teach anyone how to say the name.

I'll admit to not knowing any Gaelic or Gaelige.

I have a Welsh name that isn't overly popular, I know a few with the name but I was usually the only one in any group. Outside a Welsh-speaking environment it is a pain in the arse.

As much as i like my name, I don't like the having it mispronounced or insulted.

Scottish Gaelic and the Irish language -whatever you want to call it - officially, its 'Gaelige' (which is the SAME WORD ) - are very, very, very similar

Lots of things are similar, but they aren't the same. The Irish language is called Irish (if you are speaking English), it really is that simple. IT is NOT called Gaelic. If you're speaking Irish, its still not called Gaelic.

Don't for heavens sake me. If you get the name of someone elses language wrong, and they tell you, you don't tell them to shut up because its close enough. It's incredibly rude.

Where do you live, @toucanem? Do you speak Welsh?

If you don't, I'd pick a name you like as a first name, not necessarily gaelic or gaelige, a welsh middle name, and surname.

The three names you suggested as middle names are more first names than middle names but are easy to spell and say. Ffion will be mixed up with Fionn, Alys with Alice, and Elin with Ellen.
I don't like Seren, seems too modern.

As for a name that has a sort of scottish feel, how about Flora? I think it is lovely.

I like Sine but if the replies on here are anything to go by it will be troublesome. There are nice scottish names you coukd choose instead, should you wish to.

I would have no idea 🤷‍♀️

Ffion is lovely though - why don’t you switch and call her Ffion Sine

Or find something easier. It’ll be a massive pain her whole life.

Orlaith is my friends name though no one can pronounce it correctly from the spelling.

Midsommer - it's interesting, isn't it? And quite widespread. We have a friend from northern Europe who spells her name Anne. Yet she pronounces it Ahnn-uh - the same schwa sound at the end.

I 'm sure that there are mumsnetters who know a lot more about linguistics than I do. Perhaps they can elaborate.

Ah, I never knew that schwa means an 'uh' sound.

*fada.. Oops

Presuming the baby has his surname, I'd go Welsh for the first name - not least because they are much nicer than Sine.

Aine? Pronounced onya, with a fodda on the e

Thanks, Reggie. Much appreciated.
I sometimes feel as if I'm fighting a losing battle - though against what, I'm not quite sure.

Midsomer that's perfectly true, but really it's not that difficult. Just needs a bit of linguisitic empathy. Surely a good thing!

In English, for example, Tina has a similar 'i+n' sound. Admittedly, people have to learn that 'Si' at the beginning can sometimes be 'Sh'. But that's it, really. Then just a little schwa - 'uh' sound - at the end.

Of course people will learn to pronounce it but non-Gaelic speakers will never get it right first time, particularly without the fada. I would have opted for Sine as in maths or see-nay as in Latin 'without' (sine qua non).

It’s Sheena, I went to school with one. I really like it.

@florascotia2 that’s absolutely correct.

Isn't it softer than Sheena, more of a soft 'uh' sound at the end. I like it but I think people could struggle to say it correctly.

For heaven's sake.
Scottish Gaelic and the Irish language -whatever you want to call it - officially, its 'Gaelige' (which is the SAME WORD ) - are very, very, very similar.

They are both classified as members of the Goidelic branch of 'Celtic ' languages, along with the language spoken on the Isle of Man.

Welsh, Cornish and Breton are also related, less closely.

It’s sin with an e on the end. No.

No sorry don’t like it. I’d pronounce sign as well.

Sine would be pronounced sign for me too. Son or daughter of a mathematician.

Sheena, Shona, Sinead. But not Sine.

For me Sine is associated with trigonometry, and pronounced sign.

I thought sign - for a boy

I love the welsh name seren for a girl

It seems that it takes a celebrity - eg Sinead O'Connor or Cillian Murphy - to make Gaelic names 'possible'. But Gaelic is a language belonging to the same 'family' as Latin and French

They're Irish, and Irish isn't called Gaelic. It's called Irish. Scots Gaelic seems to be known frequently as Gaelic, but Irish is not, and it's annoying when non Irish speakers/people call it that.
Sinead and Cillian make Irish names "possible". Although they don't, they were long before either of them found fame.

Reggie That may very well be true, I believe you, but it's rather sad.
It seems that it takes a celebrity - eg Sinead O'Connor or Cillian Murphy - to make Gaelic names 'possible'. But Gaelic is a language belonging to the same 'family' as Latin and French - words are surprisingly close, in some cases. Its spelling has rules, which are not that difficult to learn.
Perhaps it's all the silly 'mystic twilight Celtic' stuff that gets in the way.

but if people can learn how to say Sinead (which is Irish) they can surely learn how to say Sine. It's much simpler!

Yes, but do you want your child to have to educate every single person they ever meet about how to say it, and where its from and why do you say it like that, and say it again for me, and on and on and on.
Because I can tell you, it gets old fast. I'm nearly 50 and sometimes I think the next English person I have to educate will be the absolute last straw.