Caoimhe - can England handle it?

I love this name and prefer the pronunciation Kee-va (heard it in England only)but that is an anglicisation of the Gaelic name. The correct pronunciation (and only one I've ever heard in Ireland) is Kwee-va.

The boy's version - Caoimhin (Kwee-veen) is where the name Kevin comes from, though - be warned

Caoimhe is a lovely name and I would just go for it. Two of my children have similar how are you spelling that type Irish names, but once people have got it they have got it as Joycey says.

BTW - love all the English people on this thread saying it should be Keeva. Most Irish people do pronounce it Kweeva. I think Keeva is more Northern Ireland.

As an irish descendent I think it's lovely to carry on a family tradition. My husband is welsh and we have done Heulwen. As a teacher I know that once a name is heard and spelt it does not pose a problem to classmates or staff and in light of that #3 will be Cian or Aoife.
Go for it if you really like it!

Muffin: That scouse comment brought back so many bad memories of scouse kids on session! But I definately agree, I can't help but agree as my mind now refuses to say it without a scouse accent

Must admit though, I do prefer Keeva pronounciation, I may have to use that name in my writing now, as I have no excuse to add it to my list of favourite names!

Nappyaddict Oonagh (or Una) is pronoucned "Oo-na". The "ar" for an "a" ending is very English to me (Emma as "Em-mar") and is why, although I love the name Cliona I can't bear the way it ends up "Clee-nar" (just like cleaner!) in England.

Pixie sorry for bringing up the queef thing - I think my DH is a bit paranoid about it personally! You love the name so I'd say go for it! Your girl would be a cool kid for having an unusual name!

Maggie Siofra sounds lovely (if I can get over my childhood fear of fairy folk and piseogery!)

Is Oonagh pronounced Oo - nar?

Thank Caitni, my husband is Irish but didnt like any of the irish names I came up with for the children! Its good to know the political undertones to some things!

DH is from Limerick, that link sounds like his Uncle Malachy!

Just agreeing with Caitni there. If you want something like Saoirse without the political undertones, what about Siofra (sheefra) it means fairy. it wouldn't suit my daughter i have to say.

Soccermum Sorcha and Saoirse are two completely separate names.

Sorcha (Surka though different parts of Ireland pronounce it differently) is a very old Irish name, used for 100s of years, whereas Saoirse (roughly Seer-sha but more like Say-or-sha...can't really do phonetics) means "Freedom" and only really became popular because of the republican movement. Saoirse sounds lovely but I'd never give it to a daughter due to the republican connotations (my family in Ireland would think I had turned into an IRA supporter ).

A handy website for pronunciations is this one Baby Names of Ireland as it includes Frank McCourt actually saying the names aloud (very handy but you may need to ignore the Limerick/American twang if you learnt to say the names differently, as different regions/accents tend to say them differently).

Clodagh same idea as Oonagh... Clo-da

Lol at your scouse accent thingy Muffin...

I love the name Caoimhe but we have decided that it will be too difficult in terms of spelling/pronounciation as we don't live in Ireland anymore. Some names I think you can get away with giving a English spelling (like Dervla for example) but not wiht Caoimhe IMO. I have a DD with an Irish name that is not anywhere near as difficult and have to pronounce it several times for people when introducing her.

My mum is called Oonagh.

I like the Irish spelling and the Keeva pronunciation. I don't like the kweeva pronunciation. Sorry to be mean but it maked me think of someone with a scouse accent saying quaver.

How do you pronounce the name Clodagh?

I can tell you, speaking as someone who has lived with Oonagh for the past 42+ years, English people definitely can't cope with that. Does that help?

Personally it doesn't bother me that they can't though!

I'd say keeva too. Kweeva does sound a bit Lion Kingy .

Lyra

I have always pronounced it Sorsha. I think there is a Cusack sister that spells it Sorcha.

I think you can also pronounce it Seersha

How do you pronounce Saoirse?

Going off topic but my favourite irish girls name is either Grainne (Gron-Ya)or Eimear (Ee-ma)

I have never met a RL Saoirse I love the name, first saw it in Michael Flatley DVD! love it

I would say names like Saoirse, Aoife, Clodagh, Niamh, Caoimhe, Róisín and Oisín are some of the easier Irish names to know how to say because they are that bit more popular.

I love it. I would say it Keeva.

I wouldn't. But I've got a Róisín and nobody copes with that and it's snimps in comparison.

Ciava looks a little too much like a bottle of plonk.

Caoimhe is a beautiful name, dont wimp out and go for the Keeva spelling, embrace it!

exactly what MrsEricBana said - and I'm not particularly dim when it comes to Irish names, I thought I was quite good at being able to deal with lots of them, but not that one.

I think this is a lovely namem with such a beautiful meaning, and every Caoimhe I've ever met pronounced it "KWEE-va" (I'm from the south of Ireland). I've lived in the UK for a long time and have worked with a Saoirse, Sadbh, Aoife and Clodagh over the years and people have never had a problem saying or spelling them once they knew how to (and two of them were in sales roles so dealing with new clients all the time)..not sure why she'd have problems learning to spell her own name at school as one poster suggested .

I know Irish girls names can seem strange when someone sees them for the first time (my DH is american and thinks most are odd until he learns how to say them and what they mean!) but I think most people are capable of learning to say them. I'm not a fan of anglicisng spellings as I think it''s an important part of a cultural identity...

But you asked for info and I have to tell you why this is off our own girl names shortlist...my DH says it sounds like queef (which I had to google - Wikipedia) and he is adamant that no daugher of his will be subject to that kind of sniggering from the American side of the family (my sister is also married to a yank who said the same thing about it - they chose Orla instead). So much as I love it we just can't use it!