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Original poster

Thoughts on Niall?

36 replies

Linguaphile · 28/04/2013 21:15

Is it too crusty old-man or nerdy? DH mentioned he liked it the other day, so I thought I'd garner some popular opinion. What do you think? For what it's worth, we're having twins, and in the event it turns out to be two boys (won't find out for another week and a half), his brother would be Felix Peter.

Gray would most likely be the middle name (it's a family name), but that's not set in stone.

Other potentials are Maxwell, Robert, or Isaac.

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squoosh · 28/04/2013 21:24

Neither old-man nor nerdy. In Ireland Niall is an everyman name like Thomas or James are in the UK. I wouldn't expect a Niall to have a brother called Felix but that's not to say he shouldn't.

I do prefer Isaac though.

Thurlow · 28/04/2013 21:33

Prefer the other 3 names, to be honest. I love Isaac and would consider it myself, if I didn't have a problem with 'S's!

I do like Niall, but I know one at work, and everyone says Neil by accident, which is probably really annoying.

steben · 28/04/2013 21:35

Love Niall - knew a lovely bloke of that name Smile

OhBuggerandArse · 28/04/2013 21:38

It's supposed to be pronounced Neil, Thurlow - the 'nye-all' pronunciation is a mistake caused by reading an Irish spelling with English pronunciation rules.

thermalsinapril · 28/04/2013 21:39

I like it, and I also like your other three ideas.

squoosh · 28/04/2013 21:43

Of the 456,843 Niall's I've met in my life they've all pronounced it Ny-ul. So whether it's a mistake or not with Irish spelling/English pronunciation I think it's fair to say that it's now the generally accepted pronunciation.

OhBuggerandArse · 28/04/2013 21:50

It's a post-colonial pronunciation, deriving from the interiorisation of imperialist cultural perspectives. Wink

Let's hear it for some creative resistance to the spelling and pronunciation systems of the coloniser!

jellybeans · 28/04/2013 21:51

Love it.

ZolaBuddleia · 28/04/2013 21:57

I know a Ny-ul and Nee-ul.

squoosh · 28/04/2013 21:59

Living languages change all the time. Do you think Conor should still be spelt Conchobar? Beside, Ny-ull sounds nicer. Neil is dull with shades of yawn.

Nagoo · 28/04/2013 22:00

I like it. But them I liked Allan so who am I to say.

OhBuggerandArse · 28/04/2013 22:06

Conor is a spelling that derives from the kinds of changes living languages go through, so that's completely different. Nye-all is a pronunciation that comes from people who don't speak or understand the language they're reading. It's a dead language pronunciation. You'd be giving your child a dead name. Actually not a dead name, a zombie name. Bwah hah hah .

CounselorTroi · 28/04/2013 22:10

Niall = Neil? Like Niamh?

OhBuggerandArse · 28/04/2013 22:21

Yep.

forgetmenots · 28/04/2013 22:46

OhBuggerandArse is correct, but even the Irish Nialls I know are all Ny-ull, happy to accept it's a going back and forth of anglicisation and then re-use in Ireland, even though I'm usually a stickler only because it sounds nicer than Neil, or Nee-all as it is in Scotland :).
Lovely name and a strong boy's name, the fella from One Direction might make it more popular. Never met a bad one.

Original poster
Linguaphile · 28/04/2013 22:52

Wow, I had no clue about the pronunciation thing! Food for thought.

OP posts:
OkayHazel · 28/04/2013 23:00

Niall is great. Actually dislike Felix.

Niall Quinn!

Debbie37 · 28/04/2013 23:11

My partner is called Niall he hates it ,mostly because people say Niels or Nigel .

KobayashiMaru · 30/04/2013 18:36

The very very common pronounciation of niall as ny-ul is not a mistake! Its the correct way in Ireland. The scottish traditional way is pron neil but spelled niall.

AThingInYourLife · 30/04/2013 18:43

No, OhBugger is right.

Niall is Irish should be pronounced Nee-ul (or really Nyee-ul).

Nye-al is (very common and ugly) mistaken pronunciation.

AThingInYourLife · 30/04/2013 18:44

in Irish, not is Irish.

KobayashiMaru · 30/04/2013 18:52

no, she's not. It's called a variation, not a mistake, and you've some kind of arrogance to tell generations of men that they are saying their own names wrong. Hmm

Bumpsadaisie · 30/04/2013 19:09

I really dislike Neil, but actually quite like Niall. So a thumbs up from me.

Again not sure it sits immediately obviously with Felix but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Felix and Oscar, Felix and Ludo, Felix and Theo blah blah blah, they are ten a penny in some places.

Felix and Niall - much more interesting!

MummyBurrows · 30/04/2013 19:10

Niall from One Direction is Irish and pronounces it Ny-al...both pronounciations are right due to variations,just like Naomi (nay-omi or ny-omi),and depends on how you personally want the name to be pronounced rather than one way being "right" and the other being "wrong",its purely personal choice and will vary. One pronounciation is (in this case) just more common and widely used and the other is more traditional but rarely used,in the uk at least anyway...

I personally am not keen on the name Niall (I'd say it as ny-al) and much prefer the other 3 names,in particular Isaac and Maxwell :) That's probably not much help though seeing as I wouldn't choose Felix either because its my cats name

AThingInYourLife · 30/04/2013 19:25

It is a mistake.

There is no "variation" in the Irish language that makes the word Niall be pronounced Nye-ul.

It would have to be spelled Nadhal or something.

People can pronounce their names however they choose.

But Niall, pronounced Nye-ul is based on an English mispronunciation of an Irish name.

That mistake has become standard in Ireland.

But it's not the correct pronunciation of the name in the Irish language.

Which probably doesn't matter to most Nialls.