to pronounce the name ‘Ciarán’?

[Mummy2Sienna]

I’ve heard ‘KEER-on’ all day on Radio 4, and just now ‘’Keer-ON’. (It’s the Irish spelling of ‘Kieren’ and pronounced as such).

Don’t the BBC have people to teach them how to pronounce names? I can think of a couple of famous Ciaráns. It’s not THAT unusual a name!!

No it's not pronounced differently in different areas. It's an Irish name with a fada. It is pronounced KeerAWN in Ireland. That is the correct pronounciation.

Do you think so? Most people don't really understand IPA properly at all, as far as I've experienced, you always have to say things like 'ɔɪ' as in 'voice', and then you might as well go back to writing things like keer-AWN. Plus Irish IPA has loads of superscripts that English IPA doesn't, so even if someone's got the hang of English IPA there's a whole other system to learn.

But if you think it would help, then Ciarán, to me (Irish by birth, English accent) is ciəˈɾˠaːn̪ˠ, and Kieran is ˈkɪərən. The first syllable is the same, the second is different, and the stress is different.

It's not the most common way in Ireland, it's the correct way. If the spelling in Ireland says Kieran , we say "keer in" if its spelled Ciaran with a fada, we say "Keer Awn"

Think of the word "record"
If someone broke a world record it's pronounced REH-cord
If you're going into a studio to record it's re-CORD

Or consider
PHO-to-graph vs pho-TO-graph-er

@FallingAutumnLeaf I should have tagged you above

How is Caoimhe mispronounced in Belfast exactly? Do you mean using the ulster Irish dialect? Keyva? As opposed to queeva?

Sorry, that was for @Coffeerum

Depends on the spelling and fada etc - brother of mine of Ciarán - keer-on, friends brother kieran - "key-urn" but quicker lol.

Clearly never been to Ireland, very very popular here,regardless of age or generation

I'd personally feel quite a wanker saying Keer awn in an attempted Irish accent instead of Kieran. I think that's what the newsreaders are trying and failing to do and it's coming out "Kier-on". If it was the name of someone I knew then I'd try to pronounce it how they did.

People pronounce my name with different emphasis on syllables and different vowel sounds across the world (and slightly different consonant sounds in its original Hebrew).

How is Caoimhe mispronounced in Belfast exactly? Do you mean using the ulster Irish dialect? Keyva? As opposed to queeva?

I'm not the poster you're responding to, but it's not 'mis' pronounced. Just different dialects. Key versus Que

OP I have noticed and wondered the same thing

I've never heard it pronounced keyrin.

My brother had a friend called Kieran, it was spelt the Anglisiced way of Kieran, and was pronounced Keer-un.

I wouldn’t have a clue how to pronounce it. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of the name.

But surely you've come across the Anglisiced version of the name... spelt Kieran.

I don't know any in RL but I'm a big fan of Ciaran Hinds.

Ciarán is said differently in differently dialects of the Irish language.
In the south and west of Ireland the án at the end of the name gives an awn sound (like in awning). However the emphasis put on the two syllables of Ciarán is different in different areas as pp have said.

In the west it's like this
forvo.com/word/ciarán/
while in the south it's Keer-AWN with the second syllable having much more emphasis. In the south Kieran (anglicised spelling) is said as Keer-an, ie differently to Ciarán, without the emphasis on the second syllable and an instead of awn. However, anyone I know from the west of Ireland says Kieran the same way as Ciarán, both are said with awn endings here (in my limited experience anyway).

In the Irish of the north of Ireland á is pronounced differently, so án does not give the same awn sound as in other dialects. You can hear this difference in another word linked below
https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/gr%c3%a1n

we know exactly how to pronounce it thanks very much... if there's a fáda on it (& there is) then phonetically it's Keer-awn & if not then it's Keer-in (Kieran) HTH

@LizzieAnt your little recordings sound right to me.

DH is a native Gaelic speaker, grew up in the Gaeltacht in Donegal and that northern pronunciation is how everyone in his family says it.

That's good @Lizzieregina. I love the teanglann website for pronunciations, but unfortunately it doesn't include names (unless they happen to be words as well, eg saoirse).
I'm very far south so I find Donegal Irish the most difficult I'm afraid. Your DH is so lucky to be a native speaker!

I know several English Ciarans who pronounce it KIER-un, and just one who pronounces it Kier-AWN. And various people from Northern Ireland have said upthread that they pronounce it KIER-un where they live. There are two established pronunciations.

Sigh. Some people seem unable to see síne fadas.

Yes, maybe they do. But at this point, it’s an established alternative pronunciation over here.

Just as very fewer English Deirdre’s pronounce their name “Deer-dra”.

You’re misunderstanding me. Ciaran and Kieran are homonyms. Are you saying that people are pronouncing Ciarán (with fada) as Ciaran/Kieran, with a schwa?

Oh yes I am misunderstanding you then - no, the people pronouncing it Kier-un don’t use fadas. I am not sure about the one who pronounces it Kier-awn - he’s a work colleague, I will have to check what he writes in emails.