Aodhán or Aidan

I always think it's really sad when mixed nationality couples end up giving children the father's surname and a name that is clearly from the father's country/language. What about the mother?! I feel strongly that names should reflect both sides of a person's heritage. Ideally two surnames, but if baby is going to have one parent's surname then it should be a first name from the other parent's country/language - or at least something that works in both.

If you were both Irish, or if you lived in Ireland, it would make more sense to use an Irish first name as well as surname. But you're English, and you live in England. I would use a first name with a spelling that both English and Irish people can spell and pronounce. Give an Irish middle name if you want, although baby is already having his father's Irish surname, so if it was me I'd choose a middle name from the mother's side of the family.

Both Déarbhíle and Shánnón come from a deep desire to be as Irish as possible without actually speaking a word of the language and so as many fadas and silent letters are thrown in as possible. Déarbhíle's daughter has some random consonants in her name but I'd best not post it.

Shánnón is a character in World of Warcraft, apparently. Who knows what language it is.
Déarbhíle i ndáiríre? I wonder where they got that from.
There is no authoritative source for first names in Irish. Only Ó Corráin and Maguire, which has only a small selection, fewer than a thousand although they say 12,000 were recorded in early sources.

I see all sorts of nonsense “Irish” names here in my part of NI. Facebook names are another level.

I just thank the Lord that Americans haven't discovered fadas yet. So far, they only tend to go to town on the GHs.

I have an Aodhan and Iove it. We live in England but are from Ulster. We pronounce it Ay dawn but with our accent it can come across as Ay Dun. Yes, it can be difficult for people to recognise or pronounce but once people get used to it there are no issues. My son loves his name and it does not bother him. I am a teacher and teach lots of children with names from around the world. I often have to ask them for help to pronounce their names for the first time, so I really do not understand the obsession with Irish names and highlighting all the difficulties one might experience having one.

Aodhán is easy to pronounce too. Even if someone had trouble saying it as it is said, I’m not sure why that would translate to them anglicising the spelling.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry my post obviously refers to Aodhán 🙄

There is a typo however in my post- make instead of name.

I prefer sound of Aodhan.
They are each pronounced differently in my part Ireland. However I do think Aidan is English version of the name.

Spelling aside, Is it possible to actually pronounce it completely correct in different English accents? If the actual sounds in the make aren't easily made by native English speakers, you can't really complain when they anglicise names.

Well Déarbhíle pronounces it Dervla, but yeah, dare-vee-la is the way it reads to me.

Let's not touch shaw-nohn

Yeah something like that. Dare-veeluh and shawn-own?

Putting fadas on Shannon seems especially bonkers when it's not even as Gaeilge.

How would you say those?

Jar-veel-eh?

Shawn-oohn?

Déarbhíle and a Shánnón. Oh Lordy!

I have found that some NI people tend to favour extraneous fadas and sometimes go for more 'authentic looking' spellings, that are anything but. I've met an Órlaithí and an Éoin.

I know a Déarbhíle and a Shánnón

I think it is like the difference in pronunciation between Kieran and Ciarán, to me Aidan and Aodhán are similar but different.

SoupDragon, the misspelling thing happens even with an Irish name in Ireland. The tax office 'corrected' my surname on their system, I don't know whether intentionally or accidentally. I'm just leaving it because I suspect I would tumble into some sort of bureaucratic black hole if I tried to fix it.

I think it's sad when the anglicised version becomes mainstream

I get told I'm saying my name wrong, or that my name is somerhing else, because they can't be arsed to listen

An easier life for who? Shall we just stop using Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish names so that the English don't have to bother asking/learning how to say them????

@idiotmagnet, they don't learn to say them though, and they usually just anglicise them.

I say that as someone with a name that gets 'anglicised' and feel that my lovely name sounds awful when it happens.

Aedán is another version from Old Irish that might cause less debate and confusion.

The pronunciation of d/dh can vary across the country. Pádraig is a another example - the d is completely missing in some dialects and distinct in others.

In general Irish pronunciations are softer and rounder than the English equivalent and the emphasis can land differently. To an Irish ear pronouncing a name spelled “Aodhán or Aedán” as “Aidan” will sound very flat.

Aidan

Is that person from NI? I have found that some NI people tend to favour extraneous fadas and sometimes go for more 'authentic looking' spellings, that are anything but. I've met an Órlaithí and an Éoin.

It must be to do with not learning Irish in school but very much wanting to strongly identity as being Irish so making it up a bit as they go along. This isn't dig at people from NI, just an observation.

Yes, very much this. I see all sorts of nonsense “Irish” names here in my part of NI. Facebook names are another level.