Oran

[TakingTheStairs]

I am Irish, DH is English but we both agree that we would like an Irish name for DS2.
But... It's needs to be an Irish name that isn't going to give DS2 too much hassle on a daily basis (we live in the UK). My name sounds nothing like the way it is spelt and since I moved here 10ish years ago, I have to explain it any where from 2 to 10 times a day.

Conor is an obvious choice but is very popular.
Cillian is another choice but a lot of people think it is a soft 'C' rather than hard 'C'. It's not like Cilla Black

I really like Oran. It's pronouced like it's spelt. Or-an. And it means fair or pale skinned which with DH's and my colouring he will be! It's also the name of an ancient Irish warrior.
It is the anglised spelling. The Irish spelling is Ódhran.

Thoughts?

Love this name. It was on our list also!!!

I love it too!

Sounds lovely :)

I would be guilty of saying Cillian like Cilla. Learn something new every day.

Lovely lovely name, but...

Are you and DH redheads? Might the baby be ginger? If so they are in for an awful lot of orangutan jokes, and telling his classmates it means pale and interesting probably won't help

I think for your situation it seems a good choice. Its not a complicated pronunciation as many Irish names can be.

I have to say I do personally like it too!

Thanks for your opinions. Good to know it seems to be liked.

tinymeteor why do you say that? Is it the name of an orangutan character or something? I don't get it?

Oh. Is it because it's spelt Oran? like
the start of orangutang?

tiny, if the children at school choose to mock a classmate's name, they will find a way of doing it, whether it is a very ordinary name, or one that is a bit more unusual.

I have an ordinary name. I remember it being rhymed with something unpleasant, when I was about 7. (Certainly more unpleasant than orangutans, which are great!)

In my case, this was not sustained bullying (that happened later, in senior school; nothing to do with my name) and I coped.

Sorry, Taking, I forgot to answer the OP.

I like your choice.

thanks.

What does it mean? Oran mor is a kind of great creation song in Scots Gaelic.

I like cillian, I'm not Irish or I'd have had that

My first thought is orangutan.

For me, that would rule it out if he was ginger. It's not just school, if there was a ginger guy in my office named Oran I'm sure he would get the piss ripped out of him mercilessly (yes, my office is a very childish place..)

If he won't be ginger then it's fine though

Oran is an excellent name, go for it.

And all this "don't use it if he'll be 'ginger'" is awful - by pandering to bullies you're creating the climate in which they get exactly what they want, by marginalising people who don't look 'exactly like you'.

And 'ginger' indeed - the correct term is "red-haired"

I love it but I'd spell it the right way.

It's not pronounced like the beginning of Orange or orangutan. It's more like 'Oar'in. Child are creative on how they twist names to bully so I wouldn't pay a bit of notice to suggestions not to use in case of red hair.

Thanks CuntCourt. I agree completely. And it is red-haired, not ginger!

munchin it means fair or pale skinned. It's also the name of an ancient Irish warrior.

trooperslane. The original spelling is gorgeous but living in the UK with a traditional Irish spelt name is a pain the backside. I won't put my child through that.

*spelled

It's lovely, OP. I do prefer the Irish spelling Odhrán (I've only ever seen it with the fada on the 'a', not the 'O'). The anglicised version is nice too though.

I'm sure people who are thinking 'orangutan' and worrying about red hair think that they're doing you a favour by pointing out that some idiots might find something to mock in the name, but it's a ridiculous connection to make and a really sad commentary on the prejudices that persist in this society.

If you have a little Oran and he's lucky enough to have red hair, I'm sure he'll wear it well, along with his gorgeous Irish name.

I have a Finn and made the decision not to spell it the traditional Irish way ( Fionn) as it is too like Fiona. That means fair haired warrior. I know an Oran with red hair who has never had any problems with his name.
Like PPs have said, if someone wants to call a child a name they will find a way to make fun

Love Oran, fabulous name.

We have a Sullivan born on St Patrick's day last year. His name apparently means 'little dark eyes' which I thought was appropriate given that dS1 was born with eyes black as coal. We've all got dark eyes and olive skin so thought it was a great name. DS2 born with blue eyes... Thankfully they've turned a light brown now!

I know an Odhrán living in the UK. He's only small though so don't know if he has any trouble with people not knowing how to pronounce yet.

I prefer the proper spelling but I still a nice name spelt Oran.

Stroke I thought Sullivan meant 'one eyed' (from the irish Súil Amháin). Prepared to be corrected though

I'm ginger and so is DD, so I know a little of what I speak! And yes, agree that kids will always be creative piss-takers so the best response it teach your copper-topped DCs to fling them a witty response or ignore them completely.

I just mention the orangutan thing because where we live "ranga" is already in circulation as a gingerist gibe.

In short, it's a great name, the playground is a minefield whatever you're called, and a ginger's best defence is bulletproof self esteem. Just mentioned it to raise a flag for you OP in case you wanted to think about that side of it. All the best

Thank you JustAScreenName and to the rest of you.
Seems I put the fada in the wrong place for Odhrán, so if I can't get it correct, that's another thing that DS would have to explain. After explaining what a fada was of course.

Oran is now top of my list

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
Thanks to all of you.

Thanks Tiny!