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Baby names

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Original poster

Solamh

66 replies

AuntDympna · 11/02/2022 11:58

Inspired by the thread on Sullivan, I'm wondering what people think of this Irish / Scots Gaelic name. It's used to mean Solomon in the bible. As a functional word means prompt, ready, quick, dexterous.
The genitive form is Solaimh or Solmhan.

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Marlena1 · 12/02/2022 07:54

I'm Irish and would guess Sul-av. I think it's quite nice. Reminds me of the word for light in Irish.

Original poster
AuntDympna · 12/02/2022 07:54

@ConasAtaTu1 "lawve" would be right for lámh (hand) - in Connacht and Munster. In Ulster "lámh" is "low", like English "allow". "Lamh" without an accent isn't a word, but in ollamh (professor) and solamh (prompt, quick) the stress is on the first syllable, just like in solemn.
You might be from Ulster but your Irish isn't - "conas atá tú?" is a Munster greeting. In Ulster it's "cad é mar atá tú?"

OP posts:
Original poster
AuntDympna · 12/02/2022 07:45

@romdowa "Solamh" is the translation for Solomon in the Bible. It's in Dinneen's dictionary. It's not ever said to be the origin of Súilleabháin or Sullivan, so you wouldn't have seen it.

OP posts:
romdowa · 12/02/2022 03:56

The Irish for sullivan is Súilleabháin. Pronounced sull-eh-vawn. I've never seen your version and I went to school with several people with the surname.

Kanaloa · 12/02/2022 03:23

I prefer Solomon, which I really like. Think you’d get a lot of pronunciation issues with this and he’d end up getting called solemn a lot. Partly because of the spelling of his name but mostly because he’s just had to explain his name for the five millionth time at Starbucks.

LizzieAnt · 12/02/2022 03:09

I agree with mathanxiety that the o in Solamh is a different vowel sound to the o's in olive or hollow.
It's probably better represented by a u in English than by an o...

ConasAtaTu1 · 11/02/2022 20:55

@AuntDympna madness to use this! Even the Irish people on the thread can’t agree!

For me Lamh is pronounced Law-ve so I would pronounce So-Law-ve so I disagree with both your pronunciations!!

I’m from Ulster.

BurnDownTheDiscoHangTheDJ · 11/02/2022 20:49

Not knowing how to pronounce it with my clumsy English tongue, my mind Immediately went to Salome, the head on a plate and the gristly Oscar Wilde play.

Solamh
Anoisagusaris · 11/02/2022 20:44

Which is obviously not how I pronounce the mh in Solamh or how I pronounce hollow 🤣

Anoisagusaris · 11/02/2022 20:43

@AuntDympna I would say something like ‘sow-ra’. My Irish is rusty and was never brilliant in school.

Original poster
AuntDympna · 11/02/2022 18:58

www.teanglann.ie/ga/fuaim/Ollamh

This has the pronunciation of "ollamh" in three dialects. "Solamh" is the same with an s at the start. Single or double l makes no difference.

OP posts:
Moonshine5 · 11/02/2022 18:55

OP Nope
It's a swing and a miss.

Original poster
AuntDympna · 11/02/2022 18:53

[quote Anoisagusaris]@mathanxiety I’m Irish and I pronounce the last sound of hollow as an ‘o’. No matter how many times I say Solamh or the mh sound, I can’t get it to resemble hollow. Wrecking my head now Grin[/quote]
How do you say "samhradh"? Do you say "savra"? I say "sowroo".

OP posts:
taxidermissy · 11/02/2022 17:15

I quite like Suleiman . Which is the Arabic version.

caringcarer · 11/02/2022 17:11

Just give your kid a name people don't have to ask how to pronounce.

Anoisagusaris · 11/02/2022 16:26

@mathanxiety I’m Irish and I pronounce the last sound of hollow as an ‘o’. No matter how many times I say Solamh or the mh sound, I can’t get it to resemble hollow. Wrecking my head now Grin

Drybird2020 · 11/02/2022 15:53

@SatinHeart

No-one's going to know how to pronounce that OP. Solomon is nice but doesn't really have any nice shortenings.
Sol seems the natural way to abbreviate Solomon. And Solan and Solamh.
ufucoffee · 11/02/2022 15:48

I'm Scottish and wouldn't have a clue how to pronounce it. Use the traditional spelling and save your child a lifetime of having to spell out their name and tell people how to say it.

mathanxiety · 11/02/2022 15:43

I am Irish and would pronounce it with more of a schwa sound for the O - more like the first syllable of Sullivan.

Sulliv, or Sulluwh

mathanxiety · 11/02/2022 15:36

Wrt 'rhyme'...

Solamh has a V sound at the end which is very soft. So soft that it is almost glided over.

Depending on whether you glide over the soft V sound or not, the name can be pronounced to rhyme with olive and also hollow, so Soliv, and also Sollo. The O sound of hollow is more of a schwa than the Home Counties O sound.

Hollow and olive don't rhyme; nobody is claiming they do.

Fleur405 · 11/02/2022 15:19

I’m Scottish and would have guessed the pronunciation with So-leev but have never heard or seen this name. I think your DS would spend his whole life explaining how to spell/pronounce it and answering questions about it’s provenance. Unless you have a particular connection (being a Gaelic speaker for example) I would be unsure about this (as someone who has spent her whole life explaining how to spell/pronounce my name and answering questions about it’s provenance).

RussianSpy101 · 11/02/2022 15:14

Which one is it? Olive and Hollow don’t rhyme?

legalseagull · 11/02/2022 15:13

@AuntDympna

Solamh rhymes with olive or hollow.
Eh?
Anoisagusaris · 11/02/2022 15:12

Olive and hollow don’t rhyme???

I can pronounce it but haven’t heard it as a name before.

emmathedilemma · 11/02/2022 15:08

@AuntDympna

Solamh rhymes with olive or hollow.
so there's 2 possible pronunciations? Soliv and Sollow?