Rory or Ruaridh

[CalaLilly]

I love this name and would go for Ruaridh in a flash if I still lived in the homeland... but now that I'm south of the border I think my baby will have an easier time at school/ learning to spell if he is called Rory? It's still a nice name and has celtic routes, despite no authenticity!

Aren't they two different names? Every Ruaraidh I've know has pronounced their name as Ru-ray not Ro-ray.

Personally I much prefer Ruaraidh and that pronunciation.

I prefer Rory to Ruairidh and it's a very common spelling in Ireland.

Another vote for Ruairidh, especially if you are Scottish. People will easily learn how to pronounce and spell his name.

I know little (and older ) Niamhs and Siobhans and their names have never been any problems here in the UK.

I have a Rory, and we considered the gaelic spelling. We didn't go with it in the end, because although DH is Irish, we live in the UK midlands and I just figured the constant spelling would get on my/my DS's wick. As it is, he keeps getting cards/invites addressed to 'Roary', like the racing car

I much prefer Ruaridh to Rory. But then I'm in the homeland and surrounded by Caileans, Aonghus', Coinneachs...

I would always go for Ruaraidh or, perhaps, Rhuaraidh, which, if memory serves me correctly, is the vocative. people will learn to spell it properly after a while.

I don't like Rory at all but Rhuaraidh was always a name that I wanted to use. OH vetoed it every time.

I know a Ruaridh and he is known as Rory :) It's a lovely name but hard to spell if you don't do it regularly. :)

What about Ruairi? My best friend in primary school was called this.

Acceptable Irish spelling anyway, not sure about Gaelic. Losing the dh might make it a bit less complicated for Sasannachs :o

Ruairi is a compromise and is modern Gaelic (Ruaraidh is old Gaelic).

My parents ar Irish and we have several Rorys in the family - over several generations.

I would choose Ruaridh over Rory, especially given your ds's Scottish roots.

Would it not be Ruaraidh, rather than Ruaridh?

It was Ruaraidh when I learned Gaelic, but that was in the dark ages and some spellings have simplified over the last few decades.

There is a difference in pronunciation as well, in that Ruaraidh has 2 vowel sounds, or 1 1/2, in the first syllable. So, RU-a-Raidh not Roor-ay or whatever.

I would pronounce it RU-a-Raidh. In a teuchy accent

People learn how to spell! And with other more 'normal' names, spelling needs clarification anyway (Catherine/Kathryn, etc).
As the owner of one such name, I think it is nice to spell it out and have the explanation 'it's Irish/Scottish/whatever'. Go for what you like!

I know someone who has a Ruaridh and he has given up and calls himself Rory as no one can ever spell it and it causes him no end of boring hassle.

I prefer Rory anyway.

I like the name too and am also of Scottish extraction but think I would go for the anglicised version.

I don't like the fact that ruaridh rhymes with brewery (also don't like the ceilidh eilidh combo).

I accept that this last point it just me being wierd though.

"Would it not be Ruaraidh, rather than Ruaridh?"

See- even I don't know how to spell it properly!! I'm leaning towards Rory. Hubby has a Gaelic name but has lived in England his whole live. Friends/ people he knows are generally OK with it (though some consistently spell or pronounce it wrongly) but it's a pain with anyone who he meets for the first time or speaks to on the phone. Lots of people assume it's his second name... but then they spell our Mc-surname wrong too! We both want to give our children Gaelic names but don't want to make things hard for them.

I think Rory Mc is still quite cute...

This is why I don't have a DS named any of these variants; love the name but could not agree on the spelling. The Doctor Who character is Rory so I suspect that's going to be seen as the "mainstream" spelling.

I've got a Rory because of my experience of having a name spelled the gaelic way.

If you hear my name then you'll write it down wrongly. If you see my name you'll pronounce it wrongly - don't much care having had 38 yrs of it, but I was disinclined to do the same to my son given that I didn't really have a preference spelling-wise and preferred the pronunciation "rory". With any gaelic spelling he'd have been called "roory" in Scotland most likely.

Noone's spoken gaelic in my family for generations so I wasn't too bothered. Obviously others feel differently and an anglicised spelling might grate if you have a gaelic background.

Are you deep-dyed Irish/Scottish and/or do you live in Ireland/Scotland? If neither then Rory it has to be.

Definately Rory -much easier life for the lad over here! Really love this name

I prefer the spelling Rory.

My little boy is Ruairi. I'm Scottish and did consider the various Rhuairidh/Ruairidh etc combinations but felt that the Irish spelling gave the correct pronunciation without so much of the spelling headache. To me, this spelling of Ruairi is practically phonetic - Ru-ay-ray with the 3 syllable sound already mentioned by previous posters.

Rory is a nice too but I think the sound of Ruairi (whatever the spelling, lol!) reminds me of a gentle breeze :-)

Fiona

I like Ruaridh, but I also live in Scotland and so names like this aren't a problem here.

How about another Scottish name that might be easier to pronounce in England?

I have a Struan. I don't know how English people would say it, but up here it's said more like 'Strewn' especially here in the Highlands.