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Baby names

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Original poster

Ruari/Ruairi?

35 replies

Lllll12 · 26/06/2021 12:53

We are due our son in November and will be calling him Ruari/Ruairi (pronounced Roo-ree) but we are in two minds about how to spell it! We know the Irish spelling is Ruairi, however, living in England we think spelling it Ruari may make it easier as it looks more phonetically correct. Any opinions? Does anyone have a Ruari? Thanks 😊

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Polly291869 · 22/02/2023 06:29

Aww, congratulations! Lovely update, OP. And a great name.

Original poster
Lllll12 · 15/02/2023 23:34

Just an update! We now have a 14 month old named Ruairi James. We call him Ru for short 😊

OP posts:
NoddyMcdoddy · 28/06/2021 21:19

forvo.com/word/ruair%C3%AD/

heyyellowyellow · 28/06/2021 11:35

I’m Scottish and mum to a young teenage Ruairi. We went for the Irish spelling to avoid the dh spelling challenges of the Scots version.

Pronunciation is Roo (as in kangaroo) ray.

It’s a beautiful name and I’m so glad we chose it for my now big lad.

ILoveShula · 28/06/2021 11:26

Ruari is just wrong and nobody will get it right.

LizzieAnt · 28/06/2021 10:25

Thanks very much @SeanChailleach.

SeanChailleach · 28/06/2021 09:38

Had to look it up in "Irish Names" by Ó Corráin and Maguireso found that there are two names:
Ruaidrí: Ruaidhrí, Ruairí, "great king, red king"
and
Rudraige: Rudhraighe, Ruaraí. "In the earliest texts this name seems, in fact, to be a tribal name and it is, perhaps, possible that it became confused with Ruaidrí."

SeanChailleach · 28/06/2021 07:28

@LizzieAnt
It is the "The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names of Ireland
Kay Muhr, Liam O hAisibeil"
Out 1 July

Drunkenmonkey · 27/06/2021 22:16

Love this name. We discussed this at length as well. In my opinion you should definitely spell it Ruairi. Either spelling is going to need to be spelled out to people so you might as well choose the correct one.
My son is friends with a Ruaridh (Scottish) I much prefer Ruairi though.

LizzieAnt · 27/06/2021 21:45

That sounds interesting - though it's bound to be distracting too SeanChailleach Smile What's the name of the book?

SeanChailleach · 27/06/2021 20:21

I don't know. I'm trying to write and stop getting distracted by fascinating names. There is a book coming out next month about Irish surnames might have some answers.

LizzieAnt · 27/06/2021 17:14

Ruiri from Old Irish, (the language written up to 10th century) meaning overking, in one text it is glossed "ró-rí". You can read about it here: dil.ie/35747

I wonder if this is really the same as the modern Ruairí (older versions Ruaidhrí, Ruaidríg etc) @SeanChailleach?
The meaning given for Ruairí is usually red (haired) king, not overking, rua always meaning red in the sense of russet or rust-coloured as opposed to bright red.

Rua also has a secondary meaning of fierce/strong/wild/valiant, though I'm not sure how old this meaning is.

kimlo · 27/06/2021 12:34

I've known 2. One was spelt Ruaiaidh the other a different way. I had to look up the spelling each time I had to write it down but thats not an issue.
The first time the parents said it's pronounced Ru (as in Ruby) ree.

SeanChailleach · 27/06/2021 12:23

Some other spellings are:

Ruaraidh

Ruaidhrí (Dinneen's 1927 dictionary. He says also Raidhrí and Reidhrí which I've never seen)

Ruiri from Old Irish, (the language written up to 10th century) meaning overking, in one text it is glossed "ró-rí". You can read about it here:

dil.ie/35747

The second r in "Ruairí" is "slender", so a native speaker would produce it like tr, dr, thr, zr, z, or, in Donegal, y. Or maybe like the g in French "rouge".
In practice many people use a "broad" r and consequently some spell the name "Ruaraidh".

BasiliskStare · 26/06/2021 18:19

{shock] DS has a great friend called Rory - never thought about the spelling ( not scottish ) But I think a nice name

LizzieAnt · 26/06/2021 18:15

@NoddyMcdoddy

Its pronounced Rur-ree, don’t know anyone who pronounces it Roo-ree.
Most people I know pronounce it Roo-ree or Roo-ah-ree - I'm in Ireland. I guess it depends on accents. Link to the Irish (language) pronunciation below. There's a fada on the last i too, but not everyone uses it. forvo.com/word/ruairí
Original poster
Lllll12 · 26/06/2021 14:31

Thanks for all the polite comments! Suppose the pronunciation will change slightly depending on accents but rur-ree and roo-ree are pronounced very similarly from where I’m from. We will go with the Irish spelling, thanks for the help! 🙂

OP posts:
myfuckingfreezer · 26/06/2021 14:25

@Roseability18

I’m Scottish and Ru and Roo sound the same to me! And yes I would pronounce it Ru-ree and have known many (though spelt the Scottish way). I think the Irish spelling looks a bit easier though! Lovely name.
Agree but roo and rur don't!
Roseability18 · 26/06/2021 14:14

I’m Scottish and Ru and Roo sound the same to me! And yes I would pronounce it Ru-ree and have known many (though spelt the Scottish way). I think the Irish spelling looks a bit easier though! Lovely name.

Minkymandy · 26/06/2021 14:09

Love Ruairi. I have a boy in my class who uses this spelling and I love it. Lots of people spell it wrong and he will have a lifetime of correcting people but I spend my life spelling my name for people. It's not that big a deal. Scotland and pronounce it Roo-ray just to add to the mix Grin

MunsterThyme · 26/06/2021 14:08

Stick to the Irish spelling. It’s not that tricky for English people to pronounce once they know how to say it, and without the two ‘i’s’ it doesn’t make sense in Irish.

Original poster
Lllll12 · 26/06/2021 14:05

In my northern accent roo and ru are pretty much the same sound! Pronounced like brewery without the b☺️

OP posts:
BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 26/06/2021 14:00

With the spelling, I think it'll probably have to be spelled out a lot anyway so you might as well go for the correct spelling.

Iggi999 · 26/06/2021 13:57

I have never heard it with a roo not a ru sound so imagine most people will call him thay, worth thinking about if it annoys you!

MindyStClaire · 26/06/2021 13:56

Ruairi, dropping the i isn't possible in Irish so stick with the correct spelling. Smile