Sullivan

Murphy is more Smith than Jones. It is the commonest surname in Ireland.
O Sullivan is the 4th most common but is no 1 in Cork and Kerry.

Sully is a great name 👌

I know 2 Murphys. I think it is sweet.

Seeing as this zombie thread appears to have been resurrected, @Moomoo36, did you have a boy or a girl?

My Sullivan is 10 next week - I don't think I've ever cared whether people like his name or not, or if they don't like the meaning of the nickname Sully.

Most people don't ever think these things when they meet a person with that name, they just see the person in front of them.

I dislike the name Mildred. But I'm 100% sure if I met a baby Mildred I'd think "awwww" isn't she lovely, not "eww her name reminds me of the word mildew".

The connotations of a name are not the reality of a name.

Not on the wind up. Just that I put a reply saying my son is named Sullivan - then literally the next post was yours saying "Just horrible".

hes not horrible that’s not what I said but a monster is a monster that some people find scary. im autistic. i think differently and nobody should just assume something and a opinion is a opinion. Ppl tonight are on the wind up 😭

I happen to think that the character "Sulley" is actually a lovely character. I have not once encountered anyone that has thought he was a horrible "monster".

Sorry just reminds me of sully and I don’t want kids getting bullied over sully my little monster

How rude to call it "just awful" when people have commented saying their babies have this name. Whatever happened to "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all". Rude.

Just awful. Sully would probably be a nickname. He is probably not a big blue monster

We have a Sullivan - Sulley for short. He really suits his name and I love it.

”Get out and don’t sully my door again!”

But plenty of more appropriate surnames. Are there any in your own family OP that you could take a shine to?
Friend of mine had their grandparents’ surname as a middle name — Sterling/Stirling which I rather liked.

I know of one, he’s about 8.

I have a 9 year old Sullivan. We love his name, he loves his name - if you like surnames for first names its fabulous!

I for one was pointing out that you certainly shouldn't leap to the conclusion (apparently without a shred of evidence 😁) that Sullivan comes from the name Solamh!

A pp had said that Sullivan was originally a first name like many Irish surnames. That's true for Murphy, Shea, and curiously, Macdara. Sullivan or the Irish Suileabhán doesn't seem to have been used as a first name. Solamh has.

The Sullivans, (of whom I might be one ;) ) have a story about someone called Súile Levan. To add to the mix.

That the original meaning of Ó Súileabháin is the cause of some controversy and dispute is not in question.
There are stories that are fun. People want to weave wonderful stories around their names.

I think it's nice, OP. I'm related to O'Sullivans and I think it's a nice first name too. I'm Irish but I don't mind the trend of using Irish surnames as first names. I think names like Reilly as first names can be nice. My favourite boy's name is MacDara.

That the original meaning of Ó Súileabháin is the cause of some controversy and dispute is not in question.
However, I imagine súil was considered an element of the name before a certain Englishman happened along, but haven't time to look into it properly now. Remember though that the O'Sullivan stronghold was in West Cork/Kerry, an area where Irish language use survived considerably longer than in many other parts of Ireland. People would have been quick to correct what they saw as an incorrect interpretation of their name. Most people today, including Irish speakers, believe the name incorporates súil - but I admit it's hard to be certain that's right when the rest of the meaning is lost/disputed.

Anyway, I for one was pointing out that you certainly shouldn't leap to the conclusion (apparently without a shred of evidence 😁) that Sullivan comes from the name Solamh! Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire 😅

I like it.....but then both of my DC (daughter and son) have first names that are traditionally surnames so I don't find it weird. They are both adults now and both like their names as they've never met anyone with the same name. My first name is a surname too. It's never bothered me.
My friend has a 'Sol or Sully' from süleyman - they're Turkish. I really like it.

Lol at big furry one-eyed monster.

The idea that "Suileabhán" is based on an element "súil" meaning "eye" seems to come from an 20th century Englishman who went to Ireland and learnt Modern Irish.

The Second bit has variously been proposed as "súile bán", "súilDhubhàn", and explained as blind, darkeyed, one-eyed, and hawk.

The "súil amháin" explanation is late 20th century. It's poor idiom - being one-eyed, in Old Irish, was "lethrosc". "Leath-shúil" would be the modern equivalent.
"Amháin" didn't exist as a word until long after the name Suileabhán appeared in texts. Nemmá was the Old Irish word for "amháin".
Maidin mhaith!

I have the most adorable nephew named Sullivan, he goes by Sully. I love it

The Monsters

I love it but I live in Ireland where it’s a very common surname so I don’t think it would work well here.

I did that. All my dc have my maiden name as a 3rd name.