Ruairidh spelling variations

It’s a lovely name. Is it actually pronounced like Brewery without the “B”? If so, quite straightforward.

^ that's the best explanation as to how to pronounce it, I'm in NI and most people who know how to pronounce it, if i didn't know how to spell it I'd probably get it wrong, but we're all capable of learning!

My son has an Irish name and I've not had any issues so far

Go for it OP - Ruairidh is lovely.

I'm Irish (in Ireland) & have a Ruairí. I considered a spelling similar to the Scottish one & discounted it as thought it was a bit complicated - however many people use it anyway!

Even tho the spelling isn't hard, people often mix up the position of the u, a, or i!

It's pure nonsense to talk about all the misery associated with spelling it etc. it's fine. He'll manage just fine - the important thing is it's a name you love & it is linked to your heritage.

I only opened this thread as I was interested lost to know what noise those letters made.

He will have to spell his name out for his entire life unless in Scotland maybe
He will have to tell people how to pronounce it for his whole life,
People will get it wrong his whole life
What a gift you are giving him.
Rory is perfect

@mathanxiety Agree wholeheartedly with both previous posts. OP it's a lovely name, go for it. Im Scottish and pronounce it same way as you.

Putting aside other people's pronunciation, does anyone actually think about the child learning to spell his name?

That is utterly ridiculous.

Children learn to spell their names before they learn anything about phonics. Their brains are not slow, plodding organs. There are hundreds of thousands of Irish people who speak English as their first language who manage to spell their Irish names perfectly easily well before they get to school and start learning Irish orthography. Ditto Welsh, Scottish, and people living all over the UK whose names don't follow English phonic patterns (such as they are - English is notoriously not phonetic).

Honestly, are the people of SE England really that thick?

I would go with Ruairidh. This is your heritage.

It's a gorgeous name, use it.

if people struggle I'd rather they called him Ro than Rory.

im in the SE, we're not all illiterate with an inability to manage anything outside Paul, John & Fred. However, I'd say he'll spend a lot of time saying 'just call me Ru' & I'd get in first with school that it's not Rory!

DS2 is called Matt and is actually really struggling to deal with “say my name”, name pronunciation email footers, which are now mandatory at his workplace. A non-phonetic name has its uses.

Are we going to pretend that English is phonetic? It's a mad language that uses can't decide how gh should sound.

Roo-ray is very weird sounding. Like Hoo-ray.

I’ve got a Ruairidh. I love it.
i live in central Scotland, everyone knows how to pronounce it but it does get misspelled sometimes. We call him Roo a lot.
It did take him longer to learn to write his name than my other kids but he got there by half way through P1!
I wouldn’t change it.

I have a name I need to spell and pronounce with people first time. It's not a big deal. I don't mind and they get it if we're in touch much. I know lots of people in a similar position. I'm always surprised when people here think it's such a hardship
I'd give him the Scottish version - Irish won't look that much easier to people who aren't used to either, and the Scottish one is the one that's meaningful for you.

People will learn how to say any name. Call your son what ever you want.

I still can't spell phoebe correctly !

I also know a Ruairaidh.

Just to add that into the mix...

The name that I never got to use- I love this name!!

Is it pronounced the same as Ruary? Roo ah ree

I had one at my old workplace, who was around 30 years old, so it's a name which has been around a while. My old colleague pronounced his name as Rory. I thought it was a lovely name, though I always made sure to look at the correct spelling before emailing him!

It will get misspelt all the time (voice of experience) and not just by people meeting him for the first time, but by people who know him. People in his extended family.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use it but it's something to keep in mind.

Rory is not a completely different name, it's just an anglicisation, it has the same meaning. But if you don't like it fair enough.

What about Roddy, since its a diminutive of Ruairidh but phonetic in English? Or Rodachan?

roo-ray? I've never known it to be pronounced like that

My nephew, born and still living in London, was going to be called Ruairidh, but due to a series of events ended up a Rory. Both my sister, and he, ended up a bit relieved with that outcome. I suspect there aren't that many Ruairidhs in Ladywell.

It’s a lovely name. Is it actually pronounced like Brewery without the “B”? If so, quite straightforward.

If there’s a subtlety in how it’s pronounced, how much will it annoy you if someone gets it slightly wrong (and keeps doing so)? I remember a lady telling me that she was going to call her new baby Genevieve. “Genevieve! How lovely!” I said. At which point she said no, Genevieve. “Yes, Genevieve”. No, GENEVIEVE she said.

I honestly wasn’t trying to be an arse, I just couldn’t hear the difference between the way she said it and I said it (she was half French and I am from Brighton so I can easily believe that I missed some of her pronunciation).

That’s true but there was no suggestion that OP is planning to teach her child Scottish Gaelic or the phonics that go with that language, which are obviously very different to English.

I'd go for the Irish spelling