Caitrìona, Ùna and Mhàiri

[dunkydunker]

What do you think?

I want something Scottish but not very very obvious (DH is very very far away from Scottish)

Or Ciorstaidh, if you want the Gaelic spelling...

i'm not sure caitriona is right either, now that i come to look at it. although i could be wrong.

LOVE the hamish thing, absolutely love it. but then that's the sort of obtuse ultra-scottishness that tickles me.

thing is about names on MN, you post because you want the straight dope. plenty of people don't know about the Mhairi thing, and imo it's worth learning about as personally i'd rather know before calling my child after a grammatical construct. and of course it won't be wrong all the time... you would at least have the comfort of knowing that every time you gave them into trouble you would be in the right.

Kirsty, Elspeth, Elsie, Fiona, Isla, Heather, Rhona, Morna.

I'm sure some of these will be Wrong though

i wonder if rhona is? haven't come across it. whereas mhairi is gaidhlig 101.

Wasn't there a thread once about someone who wanted to call their son Seamus James?

Which had me muttering James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George DuPre...

I had a friend called Rona, but I think she was named after the island. Whereas Rhona pretty common in the 1970s.

I have a Finbar Seamus ;)
Thank god he was not a girl or DH wanted Gobnait

I admit, I didn't know about the Mhairi/Mairi thing and I did find it interesting.

I know someone called Iain John...now that's just Wrong

Just use Angus or Shona

Poor OP, you only asked about a few names and got a right old roastinghistory lesson from the pedants.

Personally I like Catriona - pronounced Katrina. Although I do know some scottish people who pronounce it cat ree ona. And I think it depends where you are from in Scotland whether names are pronounced a certain way.

How about Mairead? I know someone with that name and she is lovely.

see, if you pronounce that properly it sounds a bit like Myre-itch, which is imo not too lovely.

oh if there's an island called rona btw i'd say that would mean rhona is a vocative.

well thank god there are some ignorant people naming their children Mhairi and Mairaed/Mairead and liking it.

Oh Aitch, no! Broad vowel at the end, so it is 'ut' (dammit, why can't I do a schwa on this keyboard!) not 'itch'. And you were doing so well at the pedantry!

oh GOOD. i am so pleased to have that cleared up. i know a woman of that name and i can't ask her to tell me her name again (gaels are funny about that ime) so was going by how others pronounce it. i myself call her Mye-mumble in the hopes of fudging it.

so it's My-rut? (still not nice, btw).

if you are a weegie you probably know her too, ohbugger...

chipmonkey, it's not an English name....there's no accent in English either, but that doesn't mean you can't spell it with one...

I think Caitrìona, Ùna and Mhàiri are all very obviously Scottish.

I did wonder about Mairead. The one I know pronounces it Ma-Raid with the emphasis on the second syllable. Is that wrong?

that's what i'd thought it should be, thousand, but i'm now wondering if that's more irish?

That's the Irish pronunciation, more or less.

(prior to meeting actual gaels, i mean)

I've only ever known one Mairead, and it was pronounced MY-rud. No idea if that's tecnically right, but that's how she told people to say it

JaxTellerIsMyFriend...maybe the op does not see us as pedants but as people giving useful information and advice. Maybe she will appreciate not having someone running around playgrounds with given names which are just wrong.
Personally I always TRY to spell correctly and use languages in general correctly and I think that applies to most people.
If in doubt I would always ask advice from someone more informed which was, presumably, OP's intention.

maybe she does Mac, maybe she will come back and say "Actually, changed my mind, going to call baby Annabel" This Scottish/gaelic malarky is just too tiring.

I am rather narked today, so not in the mood for proper discussion. Think I will away and do some baking.