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Baby names

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Think very hard about giving your baby an Irish name unless you live in Ireland!

213 replies

sunnydelight · 25/03/2008 04:10

DD is called Aoife. I am Irish and my mum died when I was pregnant so giving her an Irish name seemed very important to me even though I was living in the UK (as well as giving her her grandmother's name as a middle name). Five years later I want to scream. No, she is not called EeTHa, or A-o-fie. I have a smile permanently pasted to my face explaining that of course I wouldn't expect anyone to know how to spell or pronounce such a strange name, but it is pronounced Ee-fa. I even write it phonetically in brackets when I fill in forms now. I remind her swimming teacher (with a smile on my face) every week, ditto the guy who runs the gym club. I am glad that I am not allowed to watch her ballet class so I don't have to listen to what they call her. We have just had a friend around (first Aussie playdate so every excited) and her friend's mum called her EeTHa throughout. I have already explained how to pronounce it so resorted to the usual "mirror it back the correct way" every time. No deal. Don't do it to your babies, please don't do it

OP posts:
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Buda · 26/03/2008 17:13

Oh God - Peig. It was RIVETING stuff.

stleger · 26/03/2008 17:12

No, Peig is definitely

winniethewino · 26/03/2008 17:10

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WatsTheStory · 26/03/2008 17:07

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stleger · 26/03/2008 17:05

Peig is kind of Paig! Verging on Peg. It was an Irish language biography which made the current tragic bios seem fun, and the bane of schoolkids until it was removed from the Irish course recently.

MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 17:01

But it didn't feel like a sacrafice winniethewino!! I did what I wanted to do, for the reasons I explained. I love my children's names. They work in England, Ireland, Australia, NZ, SA.....

I'm not suppressing my Irish side either, my kids are learning gaelic, irish dancing....

There's nothing for me to feel sad about!

winniethewino · 26/03/2008 16:49

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MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 16:36

Winnie the wino, to be honest It doesn't actually bother what other people call their children; whether that's Mohammed or Mairéad. That's their choice, their business, their perogative!

I was explaining why I wouldn't have chosen Irish names for my own children, living as I did at the time in the UK.

I actually really do like to encounter diversity! I do, really but I don't want MY children to be the diverse ones!! IYKWIM.

Lmccrean · 26/03/2008 14:18

dd is eva, but gets called aoife very very often! (we live in n.ireland)

branflake81 · 26/03/2008 14:07

I think it's not unreasonable for people to have difficulty with a name which is not spelled phonetically in their language. As an earlier poster said, it's not an "English/Irish" issue per se, merely that in all other languages the succession of letters AOIFE doesn't make immediate sense.

belgo · 26/03/2008 14:02

How do you pronounce Pieg?

stleger · 26/03/2008 13:32

Peig - now that would be a great name to re-introduce!

zephyrcat · 26/03/2008 12:11

How do you spell Christie as an I rish name? When I had DD3 there was a lady in the bed opposite who had called her DS Christie but with an Irish spelling and it sounded lovely but I've never remembered how she spelt it... think it started Croi....

AHLH · 26/03/2008 12:00

My middle name is Jamaican (my dad lived there for many years). Even I can't remember how to spell it sometimes, but I have had job interviews on the basis of them wanting to ask me about my unusual name. At least my first name is fairly traditional and English. Planning short, traditional names throughout for mine!

My nephew is called Matthew but is half French and lives in France. None of his French friends/family/teachers etc can get their head round prounouncing Matthew and he has become Matthieu by default, much to my sister's annoynance.

PuppyMonkey · 26/03/2008 11:40

I'm 41 years old and have had to live with an oddly spelled Irish name all that time (obviously). Yes, you do get fed up having to spell it out and yes it does cause headaches when "official" type offices spell it WRONG and you have to have it done again, eg. University grant cheques, driving licence, passport.

On the other hand, everyone remembers it once they know, it becomes second nature!!

Long live weird Irish names.

But thank goodness for more common surnames (in my case, anyway).

winniethewino · 26/03/2008 11:30

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sunnydelight · 26/03/2008 10:32

Wow, I've just come back to this (I'm usually in the wrong timezone for lively debate!) and am surprised by the number of responses.

Don't get me wrong, I do absolutely adore Irish names (funnily enough Caoimhe was my first choices but I thought that would be too hard for people to pronounce), I just don't understand why people insist on pronouncing it the way they think it should be pronounced after you've told them.

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keevamum · 26/03/2008 09:18

Ninja just wanted to say how lovely your daughter's name is and good for you for keeping the irish spelling...how old is she now? Also just out of interest what names are you thinking of for DC2?
We opted for an english name for DD2 using my husband's family for names. So I feel we reflected both of our heritages for our ch and feel having a family name myself this is important to keep our history alive. Sorry if that doesn't make much sense am a bit brain dead this morning.

Swedes · 26/03/2008 09:18

It's nothing to do with it being an Irish name and everything to do with the fact that her name is not a bit phonetic.

Your thread should be - if you want a simple life make sure your child's name is a) simple to spell with no variations (Freddie of Freddy)
b) If its spelling isn't phonetically obvious (eg George) make sure the name is sufficiently well-known for you not be asked its spelling constantly.

I had a friend called Aoife as a child. She is now called Ginny

princessosyth · 26/03/2008 09:11

When we have another one it will be called Aoife if a girl or Rory if a boy.

Aoife is becoming more common so hopefully people will learn how to say it soon!

belgo · 26/03/2008 09:09

An irish relative of mine is called Kathleen - born in Ireland 50-60 years ago and given the english spelling

MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 09:09

It was!

JodieG1 · 26/03/2008 09:08

If that was to me then thank you

JodieG1 · 26/03/2008 09:07

Names vary and change over the years and obviously in Ireland names will be more true to the origins in regards to pronounciations but I've always said it Kate Lyn and have loved the name for a long time.

The "norm" for us is Kate Lyn as I've never heard a child with a differently pronounced version of it. I've seen people online say it differently but not in my life.

MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 09:05

Your children's names go well together.