Ruadhán as a name

The advice to be mindful about how “difficult” it will be for people to spell and/or pronounce a name is only ever issued on here when it’s an Irish/Welsh/Scottish name being suggested.

I’ve noticed it time and time again over the years I’ve been on Mumsnet.

Haven’t rtft and this might have been mentioned, but an Irish writer called Seamas O’Reilly wrote a parenting column in the guardian and his son is called either Ruadh or Ruadhan - first I’d heard of the names and I’m Irish - but his kid is 7 or 8 now (similar age to mine is only reason I remember!) and I’ve heard of a few since, so I think popularity is increasing. Rowan, Roman and Rory are all really popular where I am in London so that tracks.

Ignore the people saying it will cause issues - so what if someone thinks it’s Rua-dan first time - it will take one correction or won’t matter.

I know two children called Ruan and they were both named after Ruan Pienaar, the South African rugby player.It's a beautiful name and I'm hearing it mentioned locally as a GAA players name.
There seems to be a variety of pronunciations but I suppose it's a matter of deciding which you prefer.

I like it but you sound like a right treat.

Ruadán mac Fergusa Birn, also known as Rowan, Ruadon, Roadan, Ruadhán, Rodon and Rodan

An Naomh Ruadhán sin? 😂
Ní maith liom an t-ainm leis an litriú sin. Is fearr liom Ródan.

This. I think one of the worst ones I had was my name misspelt on a document that was distributed to a whole department and it was a misspelling that sort of made sense but looked like a place name (something similar might be Marton if your name was Martine) .

@Lifeasitis91 , ... my friends son is called Tadgh and no one could prounce his name ...
Not surprised nobody knew how to say it with that spelling.
Tadhg is a different matter.

I have a very Welsh name and from age 2 I was raised in England.

A life time of having to spell my name.

If you're in Ireland - then go for it.

In England - please don't it becomes so tiresome.

Ruadhan is redhaired one, ruadh means red ☺️

I like the Munster and Connacht pronunciation Roo-awn, but á is pronounced differently in Ulster. It sounds more like Roo-an there, so more like ruin to my ear and I don’t really that pronunciation of the name.
It may be like that in Scotland too? I’m not sure.

So it depends where you are to an extent OP.

To all those who are going to say it's hard to spell please save your breath. If you had your way everyone would be called James Smith and if they weren't they would be forced to change their name to it. Have some confidence with names that aren't in the Top 5 each year please. By the way clearly the parents of this learned Saint weren't worrying about spelling when they named their son it.

Get over yourself.

There are plenty of unusual names which don't require a spelling lesson. The fact you don't acknowledge this says a lot.

It's not your name. It's someone else's name. They are the one who is going to have to live with spelling it. Not you.

My son has an unusual name. We picked it because it was unusual AND it didn't have issues with spelling. That was my criteria. Not one or the other.

I do like it I and I’m Irish in Ireland and I’d never seen this name before so I wouldn’t automatically know how to pronounce it correctly. To my ear it’s a nice sounding name. I honestly find some Irish language names very harsh sounding and they wouldn’t be my thing but to each their own.

I'm Irish. I would not call a child Ruadhan unless I lived in the gaeltacht.

If it’s Irish rather than Scottish the accent, called a fada, goes in the other direction, so it’s Gearóidín (sorry).
Maybe you could use the equivalent English form Geraldine if you wanted to sometimes? I’m Irish and know people who switch between the Irish and English forms of their name depending on the situation or the social group they’re with. (They just need to remember to book plane tickets etc in the form of the name their passport is in!)

I do like it but the pronunciation maybe an issue. Is it the Irish version of Rowan? Would that be an option?

my background is Irish. I’ve got a cousin who has a name that has an Irish spelt name that has a much more common English version (like Sean/Shaun) . Like me he was born and grew up in London. He recently had a baby boy (well his wife did!) and they named him the English version of a name that has a Gaelic spelling alternative. He constantly had to spell/pronounce his name and didn’t want that for their child.

im not mad at attempts to Anglicise Irish names (like shivaun or Neve) but at least with my cousin’s baby it’s a genuine name (like Patrick v Padraig.)

Like Ruan Rouine
Haven’t seen your spelling and don’t love it but up to you.

My name is Gearòidìn. My mother was Irish but I am not. Nor do I live in Ireland. Nobody (except for Irish folk) can spell or pronounce my full name. Please do not saddle another poor child.

If you've any Scots in you, Ruadh is also lovely.

It's a beautiful name, although if you're not Irish/of Irish heritage I'd not do it because that would be cringey.

I’m Scottish and I like it. It’s pronounced differently here. However, I have a basic knowledge of Gaelic so would know how to say it, most wouldn’t. The kid will end up being called Roo all his life.

Gorgeous

Only if you are Irish (or Scottish). Otherwise - why?

I like it. But why not Rowan? Quicker than explaining how to pronounce it

I love it but have only experienced it for boys with strawberry blonde hair/ red hair. Does red hair run in the family or does the meaning not matter to you?

Is it not Ru un?

I'm not fussed on the Roo sound. I like the full name but not the Roo shortening