Too difficult?

[Sunshine28]

Hi ladies - just wanted to get your thoughts on our potential girl's name. We are thinking of Saoirse - means Freedom in Irish - and is pronounced Searsha/Seersha.

I am Irish but living in the UK and just wanted to check what you ladies think - is this going to be far too difficult for people to pronounce and too much hassle for our little girl as she grows up or do you like it?

We also really like Isabella (Bella) but I am all too aware that it is very popular at the moment....

Would be great to get your thoughts...

Ta x

It sounds beautiful. I much prefer it to Isabella (far too popular). Go for it!

It's very pretty, and I think it's becoming increasingly familiar in the UK. If you tell people how it's pronounced they should have no problem.

Personally, I think it would be a pain to grow up with a name that you have to constantly spell and correct people's pronunciation of. But that's because I'm painfully aware of dd being saddled with a complicated foreign surname - it drives me round the bend and I've only been married for five years [missing nice simple monosyllabic maiden name].

You probably don't want to know this, but we know 5 Saiorses- 2 are 15, 2 are 10 and 1 is 6. Various spellings, including 2 Sorshas. And we live in SE England.

The only names that appear more often among my dcs friend's are Emily and Connor.

And we only know 2 Isabellas!

I think the film of Atonememt did a lot to familiarise the UK with the name Saorise.

Beautiful name. I love it.

It's a bit awkward
It is pretty
I don't know any for good reason
I find most Irish names a headache if spelled the Irish way
You will hear pointless "debates" about the right way to say it
Popular names are popular for good reasons; There is nothing wrong with names that are easy to spell

Would any English person dare call their child "Freedom"? And if not, why not?

Love it! We also live in the UK, I am Irish and DD is Sadhbh - once I've spelled it, talked about the mythology etc people love it and it's very easily pronounced (once you know how) - people never forget her name. I know 4 Isabellas and no Saorises (here, I do at home)

It's a lovely name but I think there would be spelling/pronunciation difficulties, if you're not living in Ireland. Isn't it quite a 'political' name as well? (I appreciate that might be the reason you want it though!)

Beautiful name. I don't know any (but know loads of Isabellas). The ONS statistics (2010 list) shows all the names given last year - I'd be surprised if Saoirse was high on that for the UK.

I know a Siobhan and once you're told how to pronounce it, you remember.

"Would any English person dare call their child "Freedom"? "

I know several Libertys.

"There is nothing wrong with names that are easy to spell"

No, nobody has said that. The issue has to do with the name Isabella being used by thousands of girls already - to many this defeats the purpose of 'naming' i.e. 'identifying' someone.

It is a very political name in Ireland, though.

""There is nothing wrong with names that are easy to spell"

No, nobody has said that. The issue has to do with the name Isabella being used by thousands of girls already - to many this defeats the purpose of 'naming' i.e. 'identifying' someone."

By that reasoning, the best thing to do would be to give each child a unique number at birth!

Seeker, don't you think that there is a middle ground solution - there are thousands of lovely, classic, easy to spell/pronounce names to choose from once you look beyond the top 100 or even top 250.

Absolutely. I bang on about that ad nauseam! But I think people are too scared of the "popular". Perhaps they don't understand what the statistics mean. For example, we only know 1 Isabella, but 5 Saiorses!

I was just musing why "Seersha" is deemed to sound nice but "Freedom" sounds so dull. Use of Liberty is a good point, I know one (only one). But I think Liberty has been slagged elsewhere on MN with the ch-word...

What I honestly think, OP, is that it's too personal a decision to ask a bunch of Internet strangers about. Apart from the fairly weird or outrageous ("Stoner", "Tallulah does the Hula", "Precious Kuntz" or "Clippetydodah") If you like a name just use it. People will get used to it (soon enough). And super-common names have advantages, too.

My sister's name is Saoirse. I love it! Lots of people can't spell it or read it at first. You tell them, they write/say it. Problem sorted. She's actually called 'Freedom' for a reason and there's a bit of a story behind it, so it's a good conversation starter. I'm a big fan of unusual names, so I would have no hesitation in going for it. My own name is probably as unusual as you can get while actually being a 'real' name. I have never had an issue with spelling or pronouncing my own name. Surely most people have to spell their names to people filling in forms, etc anyway.

Goodness that caused quite a debate ;)

I think Saoirse had quite a political meaning in Ireland up until a few years ago, but in more recent times, it has become a lot more popular and has moved away from this. It was 18th most popular in Ireland last year.

Anyway, as someone mentioned, the decision is obviously up to me and my partner but it has been really insightful to get your thoughts on this. No doubt we will discuss it more this evening....

xx