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!

I have to agree that they're not 'crazy Irish spellings' as they make sense to anyone with an understanding of the Irish language. Same way as Polish names make sense to me once some basic pronunciation is explained (eg Kasia) or Finnish (eg Kaisu) or Arabic (eg Khadidjatou). All names belonging to friends I had to learn when I first met them but have never been a problem. I have friends with Spanish names, Portuguse names, Hebrew names, Norwegian names, Swahilli names, Nepali names, Hindi names. All living in the UK or US. I doubt a 'crazy Irish name' would bother them too much!

In fact my US in-laws (with not a single Irish-American among them) do pretty well with the Irish names my nieces and nephews have (eg Sadbh or Aoibhinn or Ruadhan - nothing like hearing my 98 year old Jewish grandmother in law explain to people in her Georgia drawl 'the bh is pronounced like v, isn't that pretty' or 'that line is called a fada, meaning long, and makes the I sound looong.' We chose Liadan, fada on I, as DD's middle name in her honour and she was tickled, in her words).

However we did name our daughter Maeve and I have no problem with that. Growing up, I never actually met a Meabh but plenty of Maeves (all of whom I liked!) so to me Maeve is as 'correct' as Meabh. Or I know Clionas and Cliodhnas (fada on I) so both seem fine to me. Whereas Keeva instead of Caoimhe is not (I have seen Keeva recommended on MN as a viable alternative).

But my husband is American and his input will be as valid as mine.

And this thread has given lots of inspiration!

I love the idea of reviving Hanora/Nora!

These names are gorgeous! How do you pronounce Aine?

I would think hard about it if you are in England, Niamh's one of the more well known ones used and shes 12. She hates her name, gets embarrassesd at kids clubs when they come out with various variations and when this happens she always looks very uncomfortable. Ny am is what she is usually called or Ny amph

As I said, Essel, people in the US tend to make a real effort. This is because Americans in general tend to be polite and also because there are many, many people there with names that most people would never have heard before and in some cases, never will again. The African American community tends to use completely made up names, many Mexican or Central American name spellings don't suggest any particular pronunciation (Xochitl for instance, the name of my DD2's university roommate), Polish or Baltic names are often not pronounced as they look, and you run the risk of deeply offending people who are every bit as American as you are when you repeatedly butcher a name and thus call attention to the fact that it is not one from your particular culture. Each individual culture would be one of many all existing side by side in the US, and thus in the US workplace it is important to acknowledge the equality of all the ethnicities you might run into there.

A lot of workplaces in the US would see a mental block with names that are unfamiliar as a red flag that would mean that person wouldn't have the opportunity to work in a multi-cultural setting and if they were already in such an environment they would be sent for some sensitivity training.

When I first went to the US I worked in a prestigious hotel in a major US city where asking people to give their name again or making any remark on a name would be grounds for termination. If you think it's important to get names right then you get names right, first time. In the hotel we were trained to listen, listen, listen listen... This is the only way to do it. You give your entire attention to listening to the name. You don't perform any mental gymnastics or re-translations of what you heard. You accept it fully. You don't need a crash course in a foreign language. You need to be polite, and listen.

If you try to put yourself in someone else's shoes you will find your anxiety and embarrassment at introductions will dissipate -- putting your own discomfort aside, making a huge effort and getting a name right makes everyone feel more comfortable. Getting a name right means listening and resisting completely the impulse to check what you heard by reference to the nametag.

Lasairfhiona (fada on last I, and pronounced 'Lass-a-reena') would have few problems. 'Isn't that pretty/I'm Irish on my mother's side' would be the response if there was one at all..

Red hair in the US is equally seen as charming. There is less of an issue in the US about all things Irish.

Crazy Irish spellings??? Really??? Did you mean to be so rude?? How very dare another language not be English.

My dd's have crazy Irish names, which I won't list here for fear of outing myself (and being accused of child cruelty) but one Irish name I adore, and really regret not using is Caitríona. Easy to pronounce, as there is a similar version in many other cultures.
Of the other suggestions, I also really love Ailbhe.

Áine is Awn-yeh.

Goodness, 'crazy' was shorthand for 'incomprehensible for non gaelic speekers'. Yes a little flippant, but i would expect adults to cope in this context.

And no i dont think everyone should have an english name? Take your time and read my posts again.

irish spellings are more difficult to pronounce than most for english speakers. The only example from PPs that seems comparable is Xochitl. Most other examples of other cultures given above are phonetic or mostly phonetic.

Back to the OP; it seems like Una might be absolutley fine in the US.

Again, I think your difficulty with Irish names stems from a habit of looking at a spelling instead of listening while making introductions. If you listen to the sound instead, you will often find the names are quite mellifluous.

You don't have to understand them, so 'incomprehensible' doesn't really come into it. Do you understand the names John, Mary, Fiona, Dennis, Trevor or William? You have heard them and you are familiar with them but understanding is a different matter. You don't have to know anything about their spellings or meanings to repeat them. If you heard the names 'Eefa' or 'Keelin', 'Marade' or 'Neev', 'Meehaul' or 'Pawrick' or 'Keyun' or 'Owen' you might find them just as easy.

What makes it unnecessarily complicated is the habit of relying on help from nametags when you try to memorise the names upon first hearing them or afterwards when trying to put a name to a face. Listening is key when being introduced. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Uno/Una means One in Spanish, so possibly not fine in the US where a significant number of people speak Spanish and might be puzzled about the word One as a name choice.

But mathanxiety, there are a million instances where someone doesnt get the opportunity to hear a name before they use it. Sometimes they dont even have the opportunity to ask before they say it.

And i only went back to Una because you did such a good job of convincing me that Americans were the very embodyment of diplomacy, politeness, effort and memorisation. Surely after all the examples you gave, americans wouldnt blink at Una?

In my experience, as someone living in the US with an Irish name that is not common outside of Ireland, most Americans are polite and make an effort when they learn your name. In contrast to living in the UK there isn't this prejudice that Irish names are 'crazy' (thanks, Essel - your mind must be really blown by the notion of those crazy foreigners who write in Cyrillic or Arabic etc...) or deliberately awkward.

I have found an English word that sounds like my name and so I usually help people pronounce it by saying 'it's like [word] but with an 'M' at the beginning'. That usually helps people get it down. Also Americans are pretty free-wheeling about what is a valid name for a child so they rarely pass comment on unusual names. At the park today I overheard a woman explaining her baby's name to a friend saying 'It's Ryland, it's an Irish name. There's a River Ryland in Ireland apparently. We're not Irish but we just liked it' .

I was kind of smiling to myself because there is no river by that name that I know of in Ireland and the name is completely unknown there. So, yeah, names in the US can be as 'crazy' as you like usually.

We are also expecting at the moment and will be going with Irish names like my DS. These are my current girl favorites:

Maeve (you have that already but anyway....)
Sadbh
Aoife
Niamh
Aoibhinn

but some of these are on your taken list, I see. I like Nora. It is a classic name and becoming more popular again. Or Honora would work too. What about Honor?

I personally think Niamh might be a little too close to Maeve and could get confusing when you're bellowing up the stairs for one or the other of them.

My (Polish/Jewish/American) last name, despite being completely phonetic, has a letter combination that most English speakers apparently can't navigate at all. Most people will give it a try, I've also had more than a few "Have a nice day, Mrs... uh... Have a nice day," but if they ask first they still usually get it wrong - I expect it, they expect it, and nobody gets upset about it.

Essel, you are suggesting that names should be in English, at least in spelling. Apparently just because it's easier for you.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with using anglicized spelling, as noted some of them are almost as traditional as the Irish spellings, but because you want to not because somebody else says you have to or should.
I deal with entirely too many "this is America, speak English" types in real life, and it's really not an attractive attitude.

I've just spent several minutes trying to figure out what river that woman, or whomever she got her information from, could have mistaken for 'Ryland' and I'm completely baffled. And a bit fascinated.

It would be like calling an English child 'Chair'. As you point out, no problem necessarily unless people wanted to make an issue of it, and actually I did not say people would do that, just that it means something else. Why give a child a name that means something else in a language that will probably be the majority language in the US within this child's lifetime? It could be worse, I suppose, and it could mean something rude... This is not the same problem as Irish or Polish or Norwegian or Kenyan or Guatemalan names being allegedly intrinsically more difficult than Anglo names to hear and then pronounce.

If you don't get the opportunity to hear a name before you use it, then you try the surname. If no luck there, you have to do your best, but your best means not making any sort of a face or showing obvious difficulty as you say it, not saying it with an obvious question mark at the end of your utterance, and apologising for mangling the name when the person corrects you. Then you listen carefully for the correct pronunciation and you do not make the mistake again. Any further remarks on the name should be limited to more apologies from you for your own limitations. No patronising patter.

However, you described difficulty in the context of introductions. You also described repeated butchering of names. After a certain point it is not unreasonable for the person to wonder if you are doing it on purpose or not trying very hard, and to conclude that it is disrespectful.

(I also have a name that sounds like an English word but with an M at the beginning instead of the consonant it has in English, AveryJessup.)

Finbarr or Fionn for a boy.
I love Suin for a girl really pretty and Niamh and Siobhan are very well known.But Orlaith is a beautiful name.

Dustarr Finbarr is our boy choice! Love that name...love Fionn too but really love Finbarr.

What do people think of Saorla (pronounced like Searla)? Do you think it's too close to Orla in spelling? Orla is my niece's name, so off the list, and I'd worry about choosing one too close in sound/spelling (same reason Beibhinn is off the list - too close to Aoibhinn).

I can only think of one name to add to the extensive lists above and that's my friend's little daughter, Feile (pronounced Fay-la, not sure if she's got a fada over the e or not) - such a pretty name, and it means "party or festival".

Yup, just checked - it does have a fada on the first e. Féile

Twinjocks feile will always remind me of the music festival back in the 90s - have some very fun drunken dodgy teen memories of those festivals. Lovely word but couldn't name my daughter that!

Saorla is gorgeous. I wouldn't worry about the spelling incorporating -orla because the vowel sounds are not the same at all. Beibhinn and Aoibhinn are much more similar otoh.

No love for Tara then ?

I like Siún (pr. SHOO-un)

Short and pretty, I do like a short name!

Re. the child named after the 'famous' Irish river Ryland, google tells me their is a river called Reelan which is a tributary to the Finn River in Donegal. Maybe this is the inspiration.

Not exactly a Shannon or a Liffey! Probably not even a Poddle.

Tara