Irish spelling in U.K

[daheedsgirl]

My husband is from Ireland and we live in Wales. We both love the name Aoibhinn Frances for a girl (Ay-veen) but I'm worried that she will spend the rest of her life spelling and having her name mispronounced! We also like Elin Frances. Any opinions and other name suggestions are appreciated! :-)

There are variants in everything. I am just going by a book I bought in Ireland and an Irish website.

Most Irish names have at least five spellings. I tend to stick with the most modern ones. I personally wouldn't call my child Conchubhar when I could just go with Conor instead.

Squoosh I think we've read the same article as I always was under the understanding there were fada's in it. :-)

Etain is an anglicisation of the Irish name that is spelled with fada on the initial E and the I. (Sticky number pad, so can't do fadas)

There wouldn't be a fada on the A. If there were, the pronunciation would be AY-tawn, which is not true to the name as it appears in mythology.

The anglicised name is EE-tain. The original Irish name with fadas is AY-teen, with alternative spellings including Eadaoin (pr Aideen - fada on the capital E). The vowel sounds remain constant through all the Irish variations -- all that changes is the T/D sound. The anglicisation changes the vowel sounds from their original Irish sounds.

That makes so much sense now you've said it Math - I've only ever seen and heard the anglicised Etain, pronounced Eh-tain (like retain without the r). Coming from the same place as Eadaoin makes it all clear.

It's one of those names I knew was Irish but couldn't quite understand how, as the spelling and pronounciation didn't seem Irish in the sightest.

Let's hope she's a boy! It will be much easier :-)

Other names:
Neasa or Nessa
Fionnuala or Finola, Nola
Nora
Una
Eimear or Emer
Eithne (pr Enya like the singer, or Ethneh)
Roisin (fada on O and last I)

My favourite spelling of Dara is Daire (for a boy).

Etain doesn't have fadas, does it? I know two, both pronounced Ee-Tane, which is very easy to say.

Étaín would be Ay-Teen, which surely isn't right?

Oops x-posted with everyone.

flora, Irish and Scots Gaelic words often look similar (because of the vowels) but can be pronounced very differently.

Hi OP

I've been lurking on Mumsnet for a while but had to register just to reply to this thread!

I'm an Aoibheann (spelt slightly differently) who lives in England. I have spent the last ten years since I moved here spelling my name, re-spelling it, and being called every name under the sun apart from the one on my birth certificate. Yvonne, Avon, Aveline, Arveen, you name it.

Please don't do it to your child. I would give anything for a nice easy name. I'm pregnant now myself and my child will be called something that everyone can pronounce and spell without having to have it explained five times!

I have a first name which I always have to spell out . It's not unusual for where I live, it's just there are different ways of spelling it and it can be for a boy or a girl .

It really annoys me. I have given all my children names which are easy to say and spell and are reasonably straightforward for speakers of other European languages.

I guess I might feel differently if I spoke That language or had a strong link to the culture and heritage. I can understand that for many welsh and Irish speakers it's important to use an Irish or welsh name .

Thanks, everyone, very helpful.
Still a great story about Etain. All the transformations in the cause of love are reminiscent of the magical Lowland Scots story of Janet and Tam Lin.

Thanks Angeltreats I think I'm leaning back to Elin Frances now. As much as I love the other names I think outside of Ireland she would be spelling them all the time. :-)

Also thank you to everyone who gave their opinion. I appreciate it. X

Elin Frances is very nice op

Do you pronounce the first syllable like the e in help, or ee?

Usually it's eh-lin.

Elinor is really nice too op and flows really well with Frances

Lovely choice.

That's beautiful. I like that it's looks like it could be Scandinavian.

One of the first things you learn to spell and write is your own name.

A school friend of mine said she thought she was stupid because it took her a long time to learn to write her name.

I would imagine in Wales the teachers will be more accustomed to names that are not phonetic to monoglot English speakers

Agree with others I would pronounce that name Ee-vin not ay-veen. Aoibheann would be Ee-van.

Every Aoibheann I've ever met in both Northern and Southern Ireland pronounces it Ayveen. In England, people do not get this, I get called Ahveen here.

My friend spells her Aoibheann. All my children have Gaelic names once you explain the spelling most people get it.
There are so so many words in the English language that do not follow a phonetic format I do not understand why people worry about this.
The only true words would then text speak if you follow that thinking - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Nuff sed ay.

I think it is a lovely name by the way

That's interesting angel I wouldn't pronounce it like that at all. As no fadas. I would say 'ih-van' or similar. I don't know any in real life though