Page 2 | Niamh or Nola?

Amdal1 · 2021-11-14T22:57:01+00:00

Which do you like better? The middle name will be Lisa for sentimental reasons. We like both but I’m concerned that Niamh is quite common now but on the other hand Nola may be too unusual! Thanks for the help!

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GreyhoundG1rl · 15/11/2021 20:04

Horrendous spelling. It's Irish, not English, it's totally different.
And if it took you three years to learn to pronounce it you're clearly way outside the norm. The vast majority of normal people learn far quicker.

Elisemum · 15/11/2021 19:59

Niamh is an awful name, I’m sorry. Horrendous spelling and no one in the world except Irish and English can ever pronounce it. It took me 3 years to learn how to pronounce it.
Nola - very nice! But Nola Lisa sounds very bad together I’m afraid.
Marnie - nice but your husband is right, people will confuse it it Barney - so a NO.
If you really want to go for Irish names why not Shannon or Leah

Muttly · 15/11/2021 19:50

I love Niamh as a relatively unusual “Eve”name which are obviously otherwise very common.

IsThePopeCatholic · 15/11/2021 19:46

Niamh is a great name. I don’t like Nola.

thewhatsit · 15/11/2021 19:30

I like both names.

I’ve always loved the name Niamh (and surely most people can pronounce the name, it’s hardly unheard of?). Nola I like a lot and normally I think middle names are irrelevant ..l still kind of do in this case too because Nola Lisa, as much as it sounds pretty bad, it won’t be sad 99% of the time… but it would give me pause.

HandScreen · 15/11/2021 18:54

Both gorgeous names, but I think Nola is more beautiful.

Shasha17 · 15/11/2021 18:49

Definitely not Nola Lisa.

Niamh is lovely and sounds much better with Lisa.

Maulstick · 15/11/2021 11:28

They're very different styles of name, OP -- or are you thinking of Nuala, rather than Nola? (Unless Nola is a traditional name in Scotland...?)

I prefer Niamh to either Nola or Nuala, personally. Nola either reminds me of New Orleans, or the female lead played by Scarlett Johanssen in one of Woody Allen's worst films.

OrangeAndYellowAndBlue · 15/11/2021 11:25

I have a Niamh. It's very well-known now, and we've had no trouble with anyone mispronouncing it or misspelling it. (The only person I've met who wasn't sure how to say it is my colleague who's not from the UK.)

For me, it strikes the right balance between well-known (everyone seems to know a Niamh) and not too common (never been another one in her nursery or school). It was low in the top 100 for years, and now just a bit outside the top 100.

I vote Niamh!

Original poster

Amdal1 · 15/11/2021 09:21

Thanks everyone, DH much prefers Niamh anyway so he’ll be happy! We live in the Scottish highlands with Irish roots so Gaelic spelling isn’t a problem for people here.

The other option I really liked was Marnie but DH hates it, he thinks people would confuse it for Barney

OP posts:

MrsBungle · 15/11/2021 09:18

Niamh is so much nicer than Nola.

TLIMSISNW · 15/11/2021 09:16

I have a Niamh. Some people mispronounce it but it’s easily corrected. I’ve never had a problem finding named items. It’s not super uncommon at all.

LizzieAnt · 15/11/2021 09:14

forvo.com/word/niamh/

LizzieAnt · 15/11/2021 09:12

How could anyone not pronounce Niamh its litro Neev

As girlmom21 said the pronunciation isn't obvious from the spelling unless you speak Irish (in which case it's very obvious).

The other thing is that it's not actually properly pronounced Neev. It's NEE-uv. A lot of people do say Neev, and it's quite often said like that in Ireland too, especially in some areas. But it's a bit of a mispronunciation all the same.

Of your choices, I much prefer the name Niamh OP.

girlmom21 · 15/11/2021 08:39

How could anyone not pronounce Niamh its litro Neev
Yeah it's fine once you know, but don't pretend you've never seen it written down and pronounced it as Ny-am.

I hate the name Niamh but neither option works with Lisa so it depends whether you'll just call her by her first name or whether you'll use both names.

DoodleBelle · 15/11/2021 08:36

Prefer Niamh

TuftyMarmoset · 15/11/2021 08:34

@NuffSaidSam

Definitely Niamh.

Nola sounds like an acronym for something (it autocorrected to all capitals so maybe it is?!)

It is, for New Orleans.

I agree, definitely Niamh. Lovely name.

MrsBertBibby · 15/11/2021 08:26

Niamh, definitely.

It's a pretty well known Irish name in England, IME.

LiJo2015 · 15/11/2021 01:47

In England - niamh not common so I think difficult to pronounce.

The other name - awful.

CouncilHousedAndViolentBaby · 15/11/2021 01:33

@Codswallop20

I absolutely hate the name Niamh. Is stepdaughters name, and I love her to bits but it's never a name you can buy on a badge or a hairband and no one can pronounce it properly. It's a big fat no from me

How could anyone not pronounce Niamh its litro Neev

CouncilHousedAndViolentBaby · 15/11/2021 01:32

Niamh is lush😍

toastofthetown · 14/11/2021 23:49

@Codswallop20

I absolutely hate the name Niamh. Is stepdaughters name, and I love her to bits but it's never a name you can buy on a badge or a hairband and no one can pronounce it properly. It's a big fat no from me

The OP hasn’t said where she is. In Ireland Niamh will be absolutely fine. Even in England and Wales it spent 16 years in the top hundred names and is still in the top 150. It’s not rare and the pronunciation is simple enough that if someone hasn’t come across it before it’s easily corrected.

toastofthetown · 14/11/2021 23:44

Niamh Lisa sounds much better than Nola Lisa. Agree with pp about the Mona Lisa coming to mind. Nola is also an abbreviation for New Orleans, Louisiana.

Codswallop20 · 14/11/2021 23:18

I absolutely hate the name Niamh. Is stepdaughters name, and I love her to bits but it's never a name you can buy on a badge or a hairband and no one can pronounce it properly. It's a big fat no from me

GreyhoundG1rl · 14/11/2021 23:15

How about Finola?