Sorcha... pronunciations?

[pinkytheshrinky]

I know that for the most part this name is pronounced Sor-kha but I met a nice older lady years ago who was a Sor-sha - I do really like this name and it is top of the list for my new dc. What do you think?

I do also have two other dds with Irish names who's spellings have been Anglicised so I do have form for this....

I had an Anais in my nursery class pronounced "Annay" Now that really is awful!

Yes there is one in my older dd's class - and she is a fucking little monster too

Is this pronunciations because of the perfume anais anais? Is it really like calling a kid Chanel?

I assume the parents are Anais Nin fans. Or Noel Gallagher fans.

I knew you'd be here 'shecutofftheirtails' u know what?ur right about people's offensive attitudes to Irish culture but your going about it in the wrong way

I always wonder if people have read Anais Nin when they use that name. I think more likely the perfume and they think it sounds sophisticated or something.

And imagine being such a big fan of Noel Gallagher you named your kid the same? Now that is improbable.

I have a French neighbour. Her next door neighbour has a grown up daughter called Genevieve, pronounced jen-e-veeve. I admit that until I spoke to my French neighbour, it never occured to me that it was wrong even though I did Leaving Cert Honours French. My French neighbour winces at the pronunciation every time her neighbour talks about her daughter.

I went to school with a girl called Aoife but it was pronounced A-fa (instead of E-fa which is the correct pronunciation), I remember knowing it was wrong and hearing her telling people "my mam just likes it that way".

I think you'll get away with it in the UK but your dd will always have to explain her name.

Noel Gallagher is playing here in Dublin soon in the Olympia and it's sold out. It is a small venue, admittedly, but there are still lots of fans out there...

I think Jen-e-veev has become quite a standard anglicised pronunciation now though, in the same way as Charles/Sharl.

I think that's the OP's argument though, isn't it? That she's just anglicising the name Sorcha.
still doesn't make it right though becuase she knows better now

Sort of like Caitlin I suppose?

IT IS SCOTTISH EVERYONE - JUST TO REMIND YOU ALL

and don't mind Noel Gallagher just not enough to name my child the same

We know a few Caitlins, what is wrong with Caitlin?

Nothing wrong with it, just that it is usually pronounced Kate-lin in England/America now.

I know a girl in Holland called Aoife ponounced A-fa too

How should it be said? All the caitlins I know are pronounced Kate Lin

Now Caitlin REALLY bothers me! The first time I heard it was in the US in 1988 and an American couple had a little girl adopted from Korea and told me she had an Irish name, which to my ear sounded like Kate-Lynn. I said "Oh, I haven't heard that name before" and then they spelled it Caitlin.

But now this horror has come to Ireland and uneducated IRISH people who should bloody know better are calling their children this and pronouncing it Kate- Lynn. Awful awful awful.

So how should it be pronounced?

Someone actually from Ireland might need to correct me but the actual pronunciation is like "Cotch-leen", the anglicised version is Kathleen.

In recent years Kate-lin has become popular in England/America.

Kind of like Genevieve being pronounced "Jean-vee-ev" in French but "Jenna-veev" in English.

I see - I know three of them (Catholic school you see...) and they are all Kate-Lins - I had no idea at all this was wrong

Just goes to show you................

Maybe we should be setting up a special pedants' corner for this stuff? I'm glad to be in good company here

Caitlin SHOULD be either Caitlín - Kathleen (but with the th pronounced the way Irish people say th) OR Cáitlín -Caught-leen with a bit of a ch sound (the English ch sound)after the caught bit. I don't think the second one would be easily pronounced by anyone who doesn't speak Irish.

To me, this is in the same category as Coleen. Why o why would anyone do this? As Maryz said, if you like the sound of Kate-Lyn, fine, no worries, but please for the love of god just spell it that way.

But the caitlin thing has really caught on no? Bloody hell it makes my crime against language (which apparently I am not now committing) look very minor...

The Kate-Lyn thing has hugely caught on with a certain type of person in Ireland too AND YOU ARE COMMITTING THE SAME CRIME,young lady!.

I have a Sorcha pronounced sha. My Scottish Gaelic teacher friend confirms Yoko's definition. I got hammered on here before for saying the the second syllable was a soft consonant but the two forms of Gaelic are different languages. My friend's hackles are up if I pronounce her beloved subject Gaylic that is the Irish language and Galic is Scottish. It's a beautiful name and my DD has grown into it with dark red hair and Celtic colouring hope there won't be one in every class in a few years time.

Flip it! Call her Victoria but spell it Bhuictoria. (no V in Irish!)

My DS1 has an old traditional name, which has a number of regional spellings. Even though we chose the correct one for our area, I'm always having to spell it. I joked when he was born that he would never be able to emigrate- far too many consonants!

I think you should do what you like! I love the name Sorcha, this discussion surely shows that names travel and pronunciations change, it's the way things are. Go for it!