Irish Boys Names - Donnacha or Conor

[SquealyB]

DH and I are expecting DC1 in January. We don't know whether we are expecting a DS or a DD.

We have a girl's name we love but we are struggling a bit with our potential boy's name.

I am Irish but live in London, DH is English and we are keen to reflect our baby's Irish heritage. DH loves the name Conor but I am concered it is a little over used. We both like Donnacha (pr - Don aka) but I am concerned this might be a bit too unusual and am not sure what people will make of it in London.

Any thoughts??

[atthewelles]

I doubt there's a school in Ireland that doesn't have at least a dozen Conors. It was totally out of fashion when I was young but really took off again about fifteen years ago.

[AThingInYourLife]

English people won't pronounce the ch in Donnacha.

Or the broad D.

Or the initial u rather than o sound.

It's Dhunucha, so not sure how you get Don as a nickname.

I wouldn't touch a name like Donnacha unless I was living in Ireland.

And both sides of the family were Irish.

[undercoverdad]

A friend of mine called her boy Donnacha, and I always thought it looked like a girl's name, for two reasons - "Donna", and the fact that it ends in "a". I came across this thread while researching the origins of the name, and while I agree that it's a lovely name, I wonder whether it might be perceived as girly in England.