Opinions of Séamus?

[ChrisTheSheep]

We've just found out that DC2 is, in fact, DS2, and I'm a bit thrown because I'm dreadful about picking out boys' names...

DH is Irish, I am English/Scottish (my Mum is from the Western Isles), and we had always said we'd give our children Irish or Gaelic names. The problem is, the only one we seem to be able to compromise on for a boy is Séamus, and I'm getting distinct "I don't like it" vibes from my mother.

I just wondered what other people think of the name?

We live in the UK, not Ireland, but we do have a very Irish surname. Other family connections are that there are lots of Jameses and Séamuses (sp?) on DH's side, and FIL was friends with Séamus Heaney, so I suppose it would be a nice tribute. DS1 is Eoin Pádraig, and DS2's middle name will be Peter after my dad. My mum says, "why don't you just use James instead?" but I think that's a bit odd considering DS1 has a very Irish name: we'd like the two to be similarly Celtic, if that makes sense.

Opinions, comments and virtual slaps all gladly received!

Laurence O'Toole, even. While a saint's name is fine, a saint's name with added surname is a bit much!

I am Irish and I really dislike it. It's got a fuddy duddy Oirish feel to it for me.

However there are very few Irish names that I do actually like.

Seamus is lovely. What about Donal?

Scout: we couldn't use Donal, as we know a Donal who has given the name associations, as it were. It's not that it's not a nice name, but it's like I could never call a girl Emma, as two different Emmas picked on me all throughout high school and pretty much ruined the name for me. It's sad when that happens.

AnyKormaFucker, glad to hear your Seamie is happy! I can't imagine DS1 being 10, let alone DS2 - it seems ages away.

Just for the record, other choices so far are Cillian, Oisín, Liam and Ruaridh. What do you think? My least favourite is probably Liam, as our surname begins with an L, and I'm not too fond of the first name-last name alliteration thing. I love Cillian and Ruaridh, but I think DH is most fond of Liam.

I love the name Cillian but like Séamus too. And I know a young Séamus...well he's in his 30s but under 60

Also I'm Irish but sure on how to pronounce Eilidh . Is it Eye-lee? Or Ay-lee?

Not sure how to pronounce it I mean.

It might be confusing as it's a Gaelic choice from my side of the family: I'm not sure you get Eilidhs in Ireland. You say it "Ay-lee", just like ceilidh, the dance, but without the c.

I just said it out loud to DP and he loved it (as did I!). Our last name is very Irish though and I'd worry he'd sound like a pub...

There are so many lovely Irish names for girls...

I like it. How do you get the accent over the e on a laptop keyboard?

Has a bit of a melancholy feeling about having another boy

Séamus is a good name, every Séamus I know is really cool, although this could be coincidence!

Love all your short list, which is very similar to what mine was, I have an Oisín and an Aidan.

Other names on our shortlist were:

• Cian
• Faolan
• Ronan
• Niall

You'd be grand with any of the ones on your list though.

I do it using the "Special Characters" option in the Edit menu on my browser. It generally goes a bit better than my attempts to do bold or italics in the right place...

Aw don't be melancholy, two boys is good fun (already and mine are still v small).

Agree lots of good girls names, so much easier to find nice ones.

emblosion: my uncle is a Niall! It's a good one I've never come across Faolan: can I ask how you pronounce it (DH isn't here to help)?

I knew a Seamus when I was about 9. I first saw his name written. I was terribly disappointed to discover it wasn't pronounced sea-mouse, which I thought was a much better name than shay-mus. I think it's a fine name, now I'm 3 decades older.

I know, it's very irrational. I had horrid PND with DS1, and took about a year and a half to bond with him. I think on some sort of subconscious level, I was feeling that it would be different with a girl, whereas a boy would mean another 18 months of feeling empty and broken and just going through the motions.

Of course, the point is that it will (hopefully) be different with any second child, regardless of the sex, as you're in a different situation. I'm really glad I found out now, though, as I'm having time to process it all, and actually start looking forward to having two little fellows running around. And DS1 really is a complete dote - if DS2 is anything like him, we'll be fine.

Bearhug

If you have Scottish roots as well, what about Hamish?

Love it! C

Hamish is great, but unfortunately our neighbours had a pet rough collie called Hamish: for me, the name inevitably conjures up the image of a big shaggy dog!

I fully appreciate that this is me being weird.

I think Faolán is 'Fway-lawn'. It means little wolf, which is cute, but in my mind is too close to Faoileán, which means seagull (not so cute). Pronounced almost identically.

How about:
Cormac
Fiachra
Fionn
Fionnán
Aidan
Daire
Donncha
Muiris

PS I love your name!

Apologies for random consonant

Hehehe at "Sea-Mouse".

Faolan is sort of Fay-lon (sort of like 'lawn' sound but shorter and a bit softer) sorry I'm crap at explaining.

I get where you're coming from ChrisTheSheep, I had pnd with ds1 pretty badly but thankfully I've been ok second time round, despite worrying myself into a frenzy about it and ds2 being 6 weeks early! I think the thing to remember is that you'll be really alert to any warning signs and you'll know what to do if your mood does start to dip.

(there must be lots of uncle Nialls around, I've got one too!)