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Baby names

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Original poster

Spelling of an Irish name

135 replies

HRSC · 21/05/2023 10:54

I am due to have my first baby (girl) in August. My husband is Irish and I am British and we live in Portugal (which is where I grew up and where the majority of my family lives).

We have decided to give the baby an Irish name and now we are discussing the spelling of the name. The name we’ve chosen in Niamh which is easy to say in Portuguese but is going to be minefield for anyone to try and read (or spell!).

Do we stick with the traditional Irish spelling and she has an issue whenever anyone tries to read or spell her name or do we go for a different spelling which can be read much more easily by non English speaking people? (Like Neve or Nieve etc)

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.

What are your opinions on this? My husband and I can’t decide.

*I have a name that Portuguese people struggle to read and it is a pain when I’m booking a restaurant or at at doctors appointments etc so I often just give my middle name which is more translatable when booking restaurants etc)

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Derrymum123 · 21/05/2023 11:24

Niamh with this spelling. People will soon learn how to spell and say it correctly.

DuchessOfSausage · 21/05/2023 11:24

Do they, @briansgardenshed ? Do you mean names from languages that don't use the latin alphabet?

If OP used Neve, that would be changing an irish spelling of a name to a spelling that in Portuguese is the word for snow and not pronounced Nee'v.

PuppyMonkey · 21/05/2023 11:19

TBH I’m not sure about Neve - I think people would mispronounce it Nev to rhyme with Bev.

Would you not consider an easier name. Eg Eve?

briansgardenshed · 21/05/2023 11:15

Other cultures most definitely do change spellings to be easier for their new adopted culture, (especially surnames).

queenofthebongo · 21/05/2023 11:11

Niamh is a beautiful name and should be spelt correctly. Don't change it. People learn pretty quickly, it's not hard.

ColadhSamh · 21/05/2023 11:10

DuchessOfSausage · 21/05/2023 10:59

Stick to the irish spelling or pick another name

Agree, otherwise it is not a traditional Irish name. Spelling in Neve or Nieve and calling it an Irish name is wrong as there is no v in the Irish alphabet. Spell it that way if you choose but then it is not Irish.

Other cultures don't change spellings, pronunciations etc to accommodate those who might have problems, why Irish?

Blogdog · 21/05/2023 11:03

As an Irish person I normally flinch when I see misspelled versions of Irish names however in your situation I can see why not using the correct spelling makes sense. However I think you might be using an anglicised spelling in a country where it would not be taken as such. My Portuguese isn’t great but doesn’t Neve mean ‘snow’ in Portuguese and is pronounced ‘Nev-ah’? Be careful you’re not swapping one problem for another.

DuchessOfSausage · 21/05/2023 10:59

Stick to the irish spelling or pick another name

Luredbyapomegranate · 21/05/2023 10:59

I would probably call her something that works in Portugal and use Niamh as a middle name.

She’s going to be spelling Neve anyway as people won’t recognise it.

IggyAce · 21/05/2023 10:56

I’d go with Neve, the couple I know in England use that spelling.

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