Conor or Cillian

[TakingTheStairs]

I am Irish and quite keen that my child will have an Irish name. My own (Irish) name does not sound like it is spelled and a lot of people in the UK struggle with it, so I want to give our DS an Irish name that most people can manage.
The middle name will be Patrick. It was both of my grandfather's first names, it is my DF's middle name and my DB's middle name, so DH and I are quite keen for that tradition to continue.

I'm not a fan of Killian with a K, and prefer Cillian (which is pronounced the exact same way).

Can I have your opinions please?

[TakingTheStairs]

Thanks TotallyBursar :)

NowPlaying Cormac is a lovely name but the standard pronunciation in Ireland is Core-muck whereas in the UK it's pronounced Core-mAck. I know I know not a huge difference, but to me it sounds wrong so I'd feel like everyone was saying my child's name wrong all the time.

[chickensaladagain]

I know a killian -Irish surname too so someone has anglicised his name

Never even occurred to me about 'kill' its just his name

Spelt with a c I would have read it as sillian and would only need correcting once but then you've got doctors, dentists, new teachers high school that would all get it wrong

[squoosh]

TakingtheStaurs I feel the same about Cormac, love the Irish pronunciation not so fond of the Scottish cor-MACK way of saying it. Sounds too shouty or something.

[bugsybill]

I would say Sillian too.

[JoanHarris]

Personally not a fan of Cillian, I like Conor. Out of the names suggested Cormac would win hands down. Also love Paddy, don't know any young ones.

[badtime]

OP, are you in England? (You keep saying the UK; I am from NI and I don't see how a lot of your comments would apply there ). If you are, would you not be bothered by the way many English people pronounce Conor as 'Conuh'? (English people - sorry, but you don't pronounce the letter 'r' at the end of syllables).

[Arudonto]

Cathal is a difficult one to phoentic out... Caw-hull said quickly would be the closest I can get to the pronunciation around here(west ireland) it but Ka (like the renault car) Ka- hull is close as well.

[Arudonto]

Also love Conor, thats my younger Brothers name :) but it should be with one only N in my head.Connor is a surname.

[squoosh]

I wonder why we spell first name as Conor and the surname as (O')Connor.

I'm sure some wise old owl will have the answer.

[Lorelei353]

We've just named our 17 day old DS Cillian. I've been surprised at how many people have said to me that they'd never heard of it or said it was unusual. The pharmacist did call him sillian so I guess it'll happen but living in the uk, especially London, is so multicultural that I find myself frequently asking people how they pronounce their name so it's fine if DS gets it a bit growing up. Most people do seem to like it, and we love it so it's all good.

[Bunbaker]

"soontobe I think Cathal is too difficult for most of the people in the UK."

I know a Cathal and it is pronounced how it is written. I assumed Cillian was pronounced Sillian.

What about Kieran/Ciaran?

[squoosh]

Bunbaker the Cathal you know pronounces the 't' in Cathal? Like cattle with an h in the middle?

[burberryqueen]

English people - sorry, but you don't pronounce the letter 'r' at the end of syllables I know! I was a TEFL teacher and a charming Spanish lady told me I spoke English 'wrong' because of this. Her previous teacher had been from Edinburgh!

[Justfornowitwilldo]

Why would you suggest Ciaran which you know is pronounced with a 'K' sound because you thought Cillian was pronounced with an 'S' sound

[TakingTheStairs]

badtime Hi , yes I am in England. Maybe I should be saying England rather than the UK, as I presume NI, Wales & Scotland (in my probably very ignorant head) would be a bit more familiar with some of the Celtic type names?

[cjbk1]

Co (like the beginning of cough) hul (soft u )

[squoosh]

I cannot imagine Cathal on a baby, or Eamon. They are proper 'old man' names.

[Bunbaker]

"Why would you suggest Ciaran which you know is pronounced with a 'K' sound because you thought Cillian was pronounced with an 'S' sound"

Illogical isn't it? Probably because I know how it is pronounced. Also Cillian is too similar to Cilla.

Squoosh Yes that is how it is pronounced round here.

[apachepony]

Bunbaker, that pronunciation of Cathal would sound ridiculous to an Irish person - well it does to me anyway!

[Justfornowitwilldo]

So at some point you didn't know how it was pronounced and ou learnt

The only Cilla I've ever heard of is Cilla Black. I doubt many under 25s have heard of her.

[badtime]

I would say 'Cahul', with a slight clearing of the throat on the 'h'.

[RaRaZ]

I'm under 25 and I know exactly who Cilla black is.... Somehow, Cillian does look as though it should be pronounced Sillian, but like we've said, that's just our ignorance and we can easily be corrected. It's not hard to spell or pronounce.

[TotallyBursar]

I don't think worrying about English pronunciation should be an issue imo.

I have a lot of friends of different ethnicity - here people don't worry about embracing their culture, heritage or family traditions just because the English have some notorious twonks amongst them.

Anyone that isn't ignorant will take pronunciation on board if they get it wrong.
If they are a determined twat about it it does you a favour because it tells far more about them than they'd like .

[Justfornowitwilldo]

I now have to rethink Cilla Black's fame amongst the under 25s

[BuntyPenfold]

I read Sillian too, sorry.
I thought it was a combination of Cilla and Gillian.

Conor is a great name imo.