Spelling of an Irish name

Exactly what I was going to say.

What surname are you going to give her? Will she attend local schools and grow up fluent in Portuguese?

If you are settled in Portugal and your child is going to grow up there, I would use a name that works well in Portuguese, which probably rules out an Irish name with the authentic spelling. I would use Niamh as a middle name instead.

This. My Irish-named son spent many years growing up outside Ireland and people managed. No major problems.

Caitriona and Caitlín are pronounced differently in some parts of Northern Ireland and in Scotland to how they are pronounced in other parts further South (diplomatic).
Honestly you all need to lighten up and stop being so professionally offended about pronunciation of Irish names.
I see the OP hasn’t returned- you’ve probably put her off giving her child an Irish name at all with the pettiness on this thread.

Even Saoirse has at least two accepted ways to pronounce which Irish people have been known to argue over.

That’s down to accent. The variation is in the vowel sounds and it’s common for vowel sounds to vary between different accents.

Niamh can’t be Neev/ Neve though, because the latter has one syllable and the former… doesn’t.

It’s like saying that Brian is pronounced Brine.

I'd go with Niamh.

In England this won't cause any issues at all as it was popular there too.

In Portugal Neve and Nieve won't help you, because these still wouldn't be pronounced correctly.

Just give her an easier middle name and she can use that for minor daily things like making restaurant reservations.

@knitpicky , many of the names on that list aren't really Irish or Portuguese

Maybe because the actress Neve Campbell pronounces her name Nev (and she's the only person I know of with this name).

@Piggywaspushed , To be honest, I think Caitlin has become such a commonplace name that the new pronunciation is normalised and we have lost Kathleen as an equivalent name..

I think that the normalised pronunciations/spellings of names from other languages usually ruin the names. Someone mentioned Nia upthread - it's a pretty name but the Nee-uh and Nigh-uh pronunciations aren't.
I'll defend the anglicised pronunciation of Richard though - it's been around for centuries.

I imagine you'll have seen this, OP, but just in case you haven't: https://mixedname.com/irish_portuguese_names

Stick to the original spelling or maybe pick another name. Niamh is a beautiful name please don’t deface it (like the English did with everything else Irish)

I wouldn’t make your child’s life difficult. DH cousin has called his daughter Saoirse they live in Geneva. When we visited recently not a single teacher pronounced in correctly and DH can’t remember either! I can’t spell it either without checking several times.

it’s such a pretty babe, just give it her as a middle one .

You'll find a lot of websites and resources dealing with the name Niamh state that NEE-av or NEEV are both correct as well as acceptable.

Neev isn't correct in Irish @DownNative but it is used in Ireland by lots of people because lots of people in Ireland don't speak Irish very well. Therefore it is acceptable there.

@DownNative , says you.
I posted a link to the BC, and it contradicted what you claimed.

If you are claiming that it's ok to call a baby Neve and say it's irish, then don't be surprised if people disagree with you.

Ah, OK. Sounds about right.

@Piggywaspushed , she says it with a slight o,not like ee-OWN-a.

On all the other threads where you obsess over all things Irish you normally cite your sources.

Ah, you're saying Irish based resources would be incorrect too....🥱

Even Saoirse has at least two accepted ways to pronounce which Irish people have been known to argue over.

It's not new. 🤦‍♂️

I think you have to accept there is often no one set form and that name variations occur frequently....

I'm sure it does but I doubt you'd get an Irish person saying Kaet-lyn! To be honest, I think Caitlin has become such a commonplace name that the new pronunciation is normalised and we have lost Kathleen as an equivalent name..

There are still lots of Catrionas in Scotland but very few beyond its borders so the usual Scottish pronunciation is used. I remain surprised that a Scot mispronounces it! Unless I misunderstood how you are saying she says it.

You'll find a lot of websites and resources dealing with the name Niamh state that NEE-av or NEEV are both correct as well as acceptable.

Oh well, if a lot of baby naming websites say so. They're always such a reliable source.

<eye roll emoji>

@IggyAce "Neve" is not an Irish name though. OP's husband is Irish hence choosing the name.

No, they're simply alternative spellings of the same name, Niamh. They are separate from them even in an anglicised form. You'll find a lot of websites and resources dealing with the name Niamh state that NEE-av or NEEV are both correct as well as acceptable.

As for Bruce, if you're Chinese or a HongKonger, yes you'd write the surname first. But since you're a westerner it's considered proper to write in the western manner. Indeed, Bruce ended his letters to his wife, Linda and others as "Bruce Lee". But to his own family in HK would obviously revert to their practice.

Simply put, any name can be written, pronounced and spelled in a range of slightly different variants. There is actually no cultural authority that dictates only one way is correct.

Hence, Niamh, Neve and Naeve all exist as variants of the same name. Its a matter of personal preference amongst other considerations which one a person prefers. Originals usually lead to later variants for various reasons often influenced by cultural meetings between two or more with the native culture.

We are not likely to ever move to Ireland, most likely we will stay in Portugal so this will be something that she will have to deal with for her whole life.

I don’t follow your logic here. You will only have control of this during her childhood. Your child is presumably going to grow up bilingual and potentially with multiple citizenships. She is much more likely to live internationally, particularly within Anglophone countries, than her peers.

I don’t speak Portuguese but if the phonetic spelling to get the correct pronunciation is Nive then you are potentially storing up issues in her adulthood if she moves in contexts where that would be pronounced to rhyme with ‘five’. In your position I would personally use the Irish spelling.

@elvislives2012 , People only need to be told once and it's no big deal.
But it's every person you meet who does not know how to say/spell the name.
Over a lifetime it's a lot of people.

@Piggywaspushed , well she says she's scottish. It probably hurts people's ears to heat Caitlin said as Katelyn too.

You know a Scottish person who rhymes Catriona with Fiona? Oh, that hurts....