Irish girls' names - inspiration needed!

[FlipFantasia]

So I'm pregnant with DC3 and looking for ideas if it turns out to be DD2!

I'm Irish, DH is American and we live in the US.

We have a Maeve.

The following are taken:
Liadan (love this)
Orla
Aoibhinn
Sadbh
Niamh
Ciara
Aisling
Aoife

Don't like the following:
Sinead
Grainne
Siobhan
Saoirse (I like the sound but it's too politically loaded for me)
Clodagh
Caoimhe (I like this but DH hates it as it sounds like a rude slang word to him, annoyingly...)
Anything Irish-Americany like Shannon or Colleen (urgh!) or Shauna or Kelly or Kerry or Caitlyn.

I really like Siomha but DH has ruled it out (half the in-laws are Jewish and the pronunciation reminds him of sitting shiva).

I really like Cliona but didn't use it on DD as we lived in the UK and English people pronounced it like cleaner. Dh isn't so gone on it, but it's back on the list.

Also like Eimear (if DS had been a girl he'd have been an Eimear but I went off it when pregnant with DD for some forgotten reason).

I'm liking Una a lot (fada over U - can't do fadas on my phone) but worried it sounds like One in a country where so many speak Spanish (though I know an adult Nada here and sounding like the Spanish for nothing has never bothered her!).

Am also liking Bridget and Nora (thinking Hanora shortened to Nora - it is an old family name that has almost died out).

So Irish MNetters, give me some help!

Síofra

I really like Hanora. Another to throw in the mix: Nyla?

Erin
Etain

Are they Irish enough? I know they are Celtic.

Ailba

I'm liking Ailbhe. It echoes the 'v' sound of DD's name which I like (though I am not fussed about siblings' names 'matching' at all).

I love Blathnaid too.

Luna, I've met a little Nila over here (she has English parents in fact).

Spotty, Erin is in the Irish-American camp of Shannon/Tara/Shauna for me I'm afraid! And Etain sounds nice but I hate the link to jealousy (seems a very negative connotation to me!).

There are great names on here though. Bet I end up with a boy (we have a boy name we love so it's just middle names to play with).

Fiona
Ffion
Cathleen

I have a Niamh, she hates her name as people can't pronounce it. I had Erin or Niamh and she always says i hate my name you should have called me Erin

Iseult is so beautiful as is Isolde.

fidelma

You're going to have to take pronunciation/spelling into account, I'm afraid. My American-born daughter goes by Siobhán, and I think part of the reason she likes it is for the look of panic people get when they see it written down.
Although, her first name is actually Megan which I knew full well was Welsh when I picked it, and the only thing worse than people who think it's Irish are the ones who smugly tell me it isn't and people have trouble spelling (and even pronouncing) that as well.

You said you don't like Bridie, but what about Breda? Not at all because it may or may not be my own. I love the name Deirdre, although the English pronunciation sets my teeth on edge, most other names I like have already been suggested.

Beibhinn (pr Bevin)
Siofra (fada over the i)
Fionnuala/ Nuala/ Nola
Neasa
Rionach (fada on I)
Damhnait (pr Dove-net) means little faun
Deirbhile
Dechtire (unusual)
Roisin (fada on O ,and last I)
Eithne - pr Enya or Eth-neh
Eimear
Sorcha (surr-uh-kha)
Siun (fada on U)

(I also know a girl named Enda)

And Sullan (fada on A) if you want something really unusual. The Sullan (or Sullane) is a river in west Cork in the area where Sean O Riada lived and composed. There is a piece by O Riada called 'The Banks of the Sullan'

Also:
Seoighe (can be pronounced Shoyeh) - meaning Joyce
Soireann
Doireann

Richelle
Brid
Fiadh
Ashlinn (means dream)
Mairead
Mairin

Ninja love your daughter's reaction! Good on her . My name is v common but I always have to spell it (hint: can be spelled with a C or a K and can be spelled with a y). So having to spell or getting misspelled mail doesn't really bother me. I really like Breda and also Deirdre (though the way the English butcher it is dreadful - damn you coronation st!).

Math great suggestions! Sullan would be lovely. I know someone who named their daughter Neidin after kenmare as gaelige and it's lovely. I went to Irish college not far from O'Riada's old stomping ground and I love his music.

Ps ninja I never knew Megan was welsh!

Im not keen on the completely incomprehensible irish spellings, unless it is a very well known name like Siobhan. I haven't heard of most of the names on these lists (or maybe i have and i just don't recognize them) and i have a heap of irish cousins and friends.Im not sure that the irish are even that keen on crazy irish spellings? I love maeve though.

How do Americans go with irish spellings and pronunciations? I think having a name that is impossible to pronounce is much, much more of a hindrance than a name thats difficult to spell. Anyones name can be difficult to spell but its rare to have a name that is impossible to pronounce/ read without memorizing.

Anyway you didnt ask for that advice do here are my favourite (anglo) irish names;

Cara
Clara - love this, has a very different irish spelling.
Roisin - i knew one at school. Teachers would usually call her rosin until corrected.
Una - i really like this but maybe wouldnt use it in the US unless it was a fairly well know name.
Orla
Ciara.

How do Americans go with irish spellings and pronunciations?
I suppose it depends where you are, and I'm generalizing, but in my experience Americans and the English tend to assume English-phonetic pronunciation when not otherwise indicated. Especially those not cognizant of the fact that Irish is a separate language. Which is why you get Cáitlín as Katelyn, Ciara as Sierra, Aislinn as Ayzlin, etc.
But, then, daughter came home from school recently very and commented that her physics teacher had called her "Meegan" after having had her in his class for 2 years and that never having been her name before. So even really simple obvious spellings are no guarantee.

Flip People apparently tend to think of Megan/Meagan/et al as Irish because of the Irish-Australian character in The Thornbirds.
I've also had several people insist that it's English, but the en or in/ín diminutive name ending is Celtic, and not generally used in English unless borrowed.
But, if my 1/4 Welsh, English-born grandmother can be called (decidedly Irish) Peggy, then her slightly-more-than-1/4 Irish, American-born great-granddaughter can be (less obviously Welsh) Megan.
Or, if she prefers, Siobhán.

I grew up with a lot of Irish culture and I have no idea how to pronounce the names in this thread. I just don't understand the general enthusiasm for giving a child a name that will induce a confused and anxious reaction in everyone for the first time. It can't be a good start to any relationship or conversation.( With the exception of Irish names that are widely recognised).

And, as I said before it's not an issue of spelling the name, but people not even wanting to say it. I work with a very multi-cultural client group, and it can be laborious and awkward to start so many conversations with 'sorry, how do you pronounce that? ' or 'did I say thAt right?' Or 'sorry, keep reminding/correcting me, I will get it eventually' or even 'that's a lovely name, where's it from?' After I've butchered it and been corrected. I also have to remember lots of 'preferred' names that are different to the names on official docs because the person has given up and gone for a more Anglo name a few years ago. I work with someone whose official name is Jesus, and I would love to call him that, but he decided a long time ago to go by another name, so every time I see his name written down I mentally go Jesus -heyzuse - Augustine. In the same group there is an (Asian) Juan that wants to be called Ju-an so mentally I think -ju-an - hwan - ju -an.

Having said that, once people are familiar with a name I think it sounds completely normal very quickly. Unusual names are only unusual for first impressions.

I live in the west of Ireland and the names here are almost all familiar to me, belonging to young girls. I didn't see Caoimhe mentioned, but that's popular too. Aoife is the most common baby name locally at the moment.

Ailbhe is fab.
Maebh
Eibhlín - we say ev-Lin though in Cork people read it as Eileen
Maire
Moya
Muireann
Treasa
Greta

Maggie and Anna are popular names too hereabouts

Essel You reminded me, my daughter has a friend named Jaime, with the Spanish J/H, but she started calling him Séamus as a joke a few years ago, and all his friends started calling him that and he answers to it. So now there's a Mexican kid named Séamus running around confusing people.

Sorry, off topic.

You might recognize more of the names here if you heard them, and quite a few have anglicized versions as well (for instance, Maeve v. Maebh). But then you get into whether names in a minority language - which Irish obviously is in the US or the UK or Ireland - should have to be translated to make it easier for the dominant language-culture. And that's a fraught conversation no matter which direction you go at it from.

And, as I said before it's not an issue of spelling the name, but people not even wanting to say it. I work with a very multi-cultural client group, and it can be laborious and awkward to start so many conversations with 'sorry, how do you pronounce that? ' or 'did I say thAt right?' Or 'sorry, keep reminding/correcting me, I will get it eventually' or even 'that's a lovely name, where's it from?' After I've butchered it and been corrected.

I hope you don't mind my saying so, but for someone who works with a multi cultural group, Essel, you don't seem to be making much of an effort. Names are important to their owners and it really pays to get them right no matter how much work this may entail. Sometimes it's a good idea to just listen to the name rather than check the spelling. Putting people on the spot by calling attention to their 'different' names is the opposite of diplomatic.

The Irish tend not to have an objection to 'crazy Irish spellings' because they are not crazy spellings, just Irish language orthography, which is actually a lot more regular and easier to pronounce than the really crazy spelling you find in English.

People in the US tend to make a huge effort to either get names right or not make a holy show of themselves by continually butchering them.

How about Lasairfhiona? (fada on last I) There probably wouldn't be two of them in the same class...

Mathanxiety - im not sure why you think im not making much of an effort. As i said, i ask, apologise if i get it wrong, try again and encourage the person to correct me if i say it wrong again. I might even throw in some complements and ask about the name. And Im not talking about spelling, this is just pronounciation . I wouldnt bother if i didnt think it was important. what more could i do?

Im just being honest that it is an effort and my initial anxiety or embarrasment sometimes detracts from the interaction. I have emphasised this point because i think its a separate and more difficult issue to having a name thats difficult to spell.

I wondered about the popularity of crazy irish spellings in ireland because i dont see it much in my family's names. Maybe traditional names are more fashionable now? Or maybe not. I dont know.

I hope for Lasairfhiona's ( fada on last i) sake that all the people in the US make 'a huge effort' while remaining 'diplomatic'.

Alternatively, her parents could choose a name that doesnt require a crash course in a foreign language just to pronounce.

They're not 'crazy' Irish spellings, they're just Irish spellings. As opposed to English spellings. Because they're not English names.

As somebody whose last name is impossible for anybody to pronounce, trust me, having people get it wrong isn't the end of the world. It's not even a big deal as long as I can tell you're talking to me and not somebody else.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP.

Essel, please understand that referring to stuff from another culture as 'crazy' is offensive.

Should the names of all children who may live on English shores at some point in their lives be chosen in a way that fits English norms?

Whose life does that make easier, and why does their ease take priority? As math points out, it's English that's probably the least phonetic language in the world.

Someone I knew grew up in England as an Isla and people always complained that Iss-la was too hard to pronounce. Many English people seem to have got over that problem.

Anyway, repeating 'like the one from Bananarama' after my own name for many years did me no harm.

Back to the game in hand, I know a gorgeous Reiltín (Rayleen - little star);
Alannah is popular and accessible
Nuala is one of my all-time favourite names.