Baby boy names Ruairidh

A lovely name.

People on here that keep saying it's the same as Rory - it's not. It's pronounced differently.

So Chinese,Vietnamese, ?African Portuguese?, Arabic.

It is unusual that all names are spelt so simply. In a diverse group one would expect to see many different spelling systems.

@Blackberriesandcobwebs , what's the difficult to spell Welsh name?

DNephew is called this but they opted for the english spelling (nearest pronounciation) as the gaelic spelling is one of the trickier names to spell and nigh on impossible to remember. He'd spend his whole life spelling out his name. Not with Rory.
Also have a niece with a difficult to spell welsh name which got shortened to a nickname fairly quickly!

I have to spell my full name every single time, on the phone.
So, when it came to my son, I made sure he had a (not so) common name with a very common spelling. He only has to spell his last name. 😀
It works both in English and in our ancestral language.
I wouldn't choose any alternative spellings for any child unless there was a strong reason (grandparents names, for example).

It’s not quite Rua-ree - the emphasis is slightly more on the Ru, the a is pronounced softly and quickly, and then the ree follows with less emphasis. It’s not an easy one to pronounce properly or spell - the vast majority of us don’t speak Gaelic up here so the vowels would probably get mixed up.

No everyone doesn't have conventional names but they're all easily pronounced.

Ie Matsadeemo
DanDan
Trang
Ibreez

Even though these names are African or Asian descent, they are as they're read.

Ruairidh I feel is giving a child a difficult life when ,yes people learn to say a name , but every new set of people have to be taught again and again.

That's not far off.
It is Rua-ree.
The first i is silent. It's there due to an Irish/ Scots Gaelic spelling rule that says if the consonant has i or e one side, it has to have i or e the other. Pretty sure the Gaelic pedants on here had a lengthy and illuminating discussion about whether "Ruaridh" is more correct spelling.
The dh on the end is silent. Because Scots Gaelic is different to Irish, which spells "rí" (king) like that.
It means "red king" which means "high king". "ró-rí" also means "high king" and the two words merge.
Pretty sure "ró" in this word historically rhymes with SouthEast English "raw" not "row".
I took a quick google and noticed some of those "how to say" channels giving out wrong pronunciation. Which is a tiresome development.

I would pronounce that Ru air id

It's gorgeous! I worked with one (Irish fam, in England) everyone learnt the spelling quickly enough. He pronounced it Rory

If this is true it is ridiculous and it sounds a horrible place to work. Does everyone there has an conventional English name?
Where i worked there were a variety of names from different cultures (as there are at my grand children's school now) and no one batted an eyelid they just learned how to pronounce the names. Usually people only need telling once and Ruairidh isn't difficult to pronounce anyway.

Great name if you are in Scotland but setting him up for a lifetime of spelling issues.

It should be pronounced "rooree" but tends to end up being "rowree" (as in rowing a boat) by people not familiar with Gaelic.

I love it 😀

I wouldn't let that put you off. If you love it.
I think it's a lovely name and it's not difficult to pronounce once someone is told.
It's like other Irish names Niamh, or Siobhan , Meadhbh, the spelling is different but people soon learn how to say and spell them

So you work with a shower of ignorant, socially inept nitwits?

To me Ruairidh and Rory are the same beautiful fabulous gorgeous name. Love it however you want to spell it.
AFAIK the dh at the end makes the i long, ie you need a fada without it.

I love Ruairidh. However if you live in England or if he ever moves outside of Scotland you/he will need to be prepared to Anglicise his name.

Rory/Rudi are no comparison really.

This

I mean unless you go for a very simple well known name like John or Emma then you may have this anyway.

I have a pretty simple first name, easy to say and spell, that is not that common but well known because of a celebrity. But for some reason people find it hard to hear, especially over the phone, so there's always confusion, some alternative is written down. I also have 3 letter surname but the last letter is often misheard. So I end up spelling the whole thing every single time.

So I wouldn't base decisions on a name that is hard to spell because there are so many variations of simple names you may end up spelling it out anyway.

Variations of Ruairidh are very easy to pronounce anyway.

I know of a sibling pair named Ruairi and Sadhbh.

Rur-ree and Si-ve :)

Lovely name, I’m west of Scotland so there were plenty of them at school and university when I was there years ago.

Unfortunately MN is quite English focused so you will get a lot of the comments being like “omg I couldn’t possibly ruin my child’s life with a name they have to spell.” However if you like it go for it!

I had a colleague at work with this name and without knowing, i thought his name was pronounced Rye-o-Rid. it literally led to a breakdown at work, people refused to email him, talk to him because of the huge breakdown is understanding how to pronounce his name. I think as a consequence, he was always a loner. sadly

Yes, they may have anglicised the pronunciation for simplicity. On the other hand, lots of Irish people don't speak much Irish, so it's also possible they have always said Rory for Ruairí. But it's not how it should be said in Irish iyswim.

The Clare in County Clare is from a word meaning plank apparently.

@JumpinJellyfish , I'd say pretty much the same to anyone who was naming their child one of the names you listed.

Louis appears often on here with someone saying it's pronounced Lewis in most of the world or somesuch.

In the UK nobody is going to look at a name like Claire and think 'How do I say that?'. Claire will probably get 'Clare' a lot.

If someone wanted to name their baby Chláir, then I'd say the same, Chláir will get 'Clare' a lot.

Chláir shouldn't be difficult to say because people are familiar with Chloe, but the fada will get missed out a lot. (I don't know if Chláir is of the same origin as Clare)

Thanks, I stand corrected! I guess the two Irish Ruairis I know in England have maybe anglicised their pronunciation to make it 'easier' for people 🤷‍♀️. I do find a lot of people in England assume Ruairi is pronounced Rory, but are unfamiliar with Ruairidh.