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 a listen and see what you mean.

I think in reality these are genuinely hard to pronounce really well unless you are an Irish speaker actually, so almost anyone outside of Ireland gets it a little but wrong anyway

We have briefly trawled through Dh's Mums family in Ireland and there is not one trad Irish name and the lot in USA have a lot of Eileens and Kathleens but no trad names either - what a bunch of philistines!

Why do people say Gaelic and then scots gaelic and Irish gaelic? They are two entirely different languages, FFS!

Also, you can't compare stealing and changing Irish names to French ones, unless I missed the 8 centuries of occupation of France? Leave out names alone, yiz wrecked the language enough!

Hmm, don't get me started on my first name I could answer to about three/four different ones at any given time esp when in the North of Scotland.! Actually kind of like it so I wouldn't about it too much Gaelic is a bugger.

PS my mum was born in the Isle of Lewis and Gaelic was her first language.

Eileen and Kathleen are anglicisations of Eibhlín and Caitlín, which are diminutives of Eve and Katherine in Irish.

Eileen with the leg might be Eibhlín na coise (like Éamon an Chnoic from the song) if you wanted to be poetic, or 'Eibhlín leis an gcos' if more literal.

My DH's SIL is a native Irish speaker, teaches in an Irish language school and has never so much as mentioned the supposed atrocity of our DD called Sorcha, which we pronounced Sorsha. But she is a really nice person. Maybe she laughs at us behind our backs?

I am Scottish and for me, Sorcha is pronounced Sorsha - any Sorchas I have known have pronounced it that way.

I had never even heard of this Sorka, Surika pronunciation, so to cast another light on it - if I met Sorcha and I was told to pronounc it Surika I would be more likely to inwardly giggle at what would seem a silly pronounciation to me.

Species8472, maybe it is not that important to her

ithaka - yes it makes sense to me too - I do really think this could be the Scottish variation as this seems to be where the majority of sh Sorchas are living!

Personally I would not give a child a name that differs hugely from how it is spelt, just a lifetime of people not feeling confident to say it - I so think that the sh pronunciation makes the most sense for the UK

It also seems that in our family anyway that the use of trad spelt and said names is not at all common - as has been said they are the anglicised version (we all know historically the reason for this) but i wonder why our family are not embracing it now and calling their children Irish names.

Ha Maryz - Not only do I have a Sorcha, but I also have a Conor! I'll tell him that, forthwith, he must change his spelling to....(what was it?)....Chonchubhair. I'm not sure he will go for it, though.

I, who have never met a Sorcha-pronounced-Sorsha in my life just met one today. In my office. From Dublin. I laughed out loud, and then directed her to this thread.

She said she has spent half her life (at home, not here in the UK) telling other Irish people that it is a real name. I wonder if it is a Dublin/regional variation thing.

I'm from Dublin and its not done here. Her parents must not have a word of Irish!

my 'regional variation' argument blown out of the water then!

love the name Stoirin ! My Donegal Nan used to call me that!

Looks like my dd will be taking her chances no matter how we spell it and no matter where we live - how strange sqweegie?

Just going to prove that one should do as one pleases when it comes to naming children (unless hyphenated, perfume names etc)

I'm also from Dublin. It sounds the epitomy of west Brit. You have the right to be wrong, Pinky...

Disclaimer: I have read only the first and the last two pages.

BUT

Isn't Sóirse (pronounces more or less as you want to pronounce Sorcha) George????

I'm Irish and live in the UK. DD is Sadhbh which we love but here in England, people are really not confident about how to pronounce it when they first see it written down....however once they get it (rhymes with five) they are really complimentary and genuinely interested in what it means and the wonderful stories of Irish mythology that accompany it. There is a lot of cultural resonance in old Irish names which I am very proud of and some really lovely myths and legends attached too, makes for a great talking point and makes DD unique, proud of her heritage.

In this instance, if we were to take a vote, I would also say sur-i-ka and not the soft sha, that simply would never occur to me.

George is Seoirse ('shorsha').

Near enough, though...

But it does seem pretty evenly split doesn't it - there seem to be so many Sorchas with the soft sha - mind you given the caitlin situation (oh which, as an apparently uneducated oik I was completely unaware) I guess it is par for the course with converting Irish names into something easier to pronounce.

Mamsnet - near enough is never good enough: if this thread has taught you nothing else then surely you know that now!

In the case of Caitlin pronounced Kate-lin, the fada on the last i of Cáitlín has been ignored. That fada lengthens the i to its long form in Irish ('ee'); '-ín' is a suffix indicating a diminutive. The fada on the a is also ignored. That changes the a from a short A to a long AW sound.

So Caitlin/Ketelyn/Catelyn/Kaitlin (pr 'Kate-lin') is actually a new name and not just a misguided effort to render an easier pronunciation. It misses the pronunciation of the first element of the name and ignores the meaning of the second.

What is soft about 'sha' that is not there in the correct Irish 'cha' pronunciation? It's not a throat clearing sound, but very soft and sibilant.

Maryz.

pinkytheshrinky, you should print off this thread to keep for your dd's treasure box. She'll get a kick out of it when she's forgiven you for fucking up her name she's old enough to appreciate it.

Surely the mixture of responses here is enough to make you consider this more carefully, OP? Do you really want your child to have to spend "half her life" explaining/defending her name?