Which spelling? Ciaran or Kieran?

[EarthMither]

NB not a debate on the name itself, just wondering whether people prefer the Irish (C) or the Scottish (K) spelling.

I am torn having grown up with an obscure Irish surname which was a PITA in terms of having to constantly spell it out, so would be interested to know others' views - TIA

I personally think the Irish spelling is much nicer.

My dad is Irish and brother is Kieran.

Either is fine

I prefer Ciaran.

Ciaran is what I would prefer

K names are frowned upon here so pointless asking

To be honest, neither is Scottish or Irish specifically. The C spelling is more Gaelic and the K is more anglicised. If you go to the roots of the name, then Ciaran means the little dark one. I have a Ciar as he was never going to be little. Kieran is the Anglicised version. Then we have Keir which is based on a Scottish surname with a different root. Sometimes it is also extended to give Keiran (different spelling).

Oooh love Keir!

Ciaran definitely

Ciaran.

to me, ciaran is female, kieran is male. based on experience of people I have met.

Never heard of a female ciaran, but have heard of females called Ciara. Ciaran is thought of as a traditional Irish name, Kieran as English.
Why are k names frowned upon? I like some K names; Kate, Kieran... I will think of more.

I've never heard of a female Ciaran (or Kieran) either - plenty or Kiera, Ciara or Keiras though.

Katherina, kaitlyn, are both nice names beginning with K.

K names are not frowned upon. Only K's that should be C's are frowned upon, so if you said "I want to call the baby Kieran because my nan was ?Irish" then you'll be told its a C not a K etc.
K names that are meant to be K's are fine, but randomly changed to K's are hideous (Kourtney, Khloe etc).

Ciaran has never been a girls name, thats Ciara.

Just that somebody upthread said that K names were frowned upon, which I found a very odd comment. But I do agree that C's randomly changed to K's is weird (same as any other spelling randomly changed).

I prefer Kieran.

My DS has a name beginning with a K although it is spelt correctly

They are pronounced differently

Ciaran - kee-rawn
Kieran - kee- rin or keern

Ciaran.

I guess it depends where the child is likely to be living.
I'm in England and would assume Kieran if someone told me that was their name, but only because that is how the majority of Kieran's I've come across spell their names.

not pronounced at all differently where I live. Ciaran is keer-an.

Ciaran, definitely.

Although I also love Keir.

Keir is a great name!

both pronounced the same in my part of Scotland too.

Just go with the one you prefer the look of. If you are in England then Ciaran is more unusual - don't know if that makes a difference either way for you.

Thanks for all the replies - Ciaran is the clear winner. I also really like Keir as other posters have suggested, but DH not keen unfortunately. I am content with Ciaran though

SPsWantsCliffInHerStocking - I know what you mean about MN and 'K' names - apart from 'Kit' which loads of people seem to love (but are never "brave enough" to use - me included!).

soontobeslendergirl - many thanks for the interesting etymological background to the names and variants - I suspect the baby's going to be neither little nor dark, but hey ho

Thanks again for all the feedback