Fiadh

[SmugairleRoin]

Pronounced Fee-ah, this means deer in Irish (also an archaeological cooking pit depending on who you listen to). Thoughts?
I do think it is pretty but worry it'd sound like Thea/Fear in some accents, plus it did shoot up the Irish baby name charts.

I entirely agree, Sunshine, but this exact thing comes up depressingly frequently, and specifically about weird, difficult, out there Irish names, and the assumption that they need to be made palatable for a certain type of English people, who cannot, apparently, be expected to grasp a name like Fiadh.

Incidentally, I have only ever encountered these people on here, never in my almost 20 years of living in England with my own 'unpronouncable' Irish names, and a husband and son likewise. People have attempted, or misspelled, understandably, and I have corrected - as I have myself mispronounced and been corrected on other names foreign to me - and it is fine.

I too spent my childhood and early adult life with a surname that required constant spelling out to people and, to be honest, it didn't bother me whatsoever.

I know that some people, however, can find this very frustrating. I think it's fair for someone to say that this bothered them growing up. Some posters would find this information useful.

A lot of my family are Irish and living in England and to be honest, I don't think they mind spelling their names out either.

I just don't like to see people being criticised to this degree over their personal view. Each to their own, and all that.

Irish names would be things like Shauna, Kerry, Alannah

Oh dear.

Well, I spent my life spelling my ENGLISH sur name in Ireland. It's no biggie.

I thought wrongly that the op loved the name but not the spelling.

Lots of lovely Irish names.
I used a few myself

Smugair I think this name is so beautiful! And I love a nature name. Gorgeous choice.

If it is of interest, I'm not Irish and hadn't ever seen the name before, but if I'd seen it written and not heard it, I would pronounce it as you've written the pronunciation.

I've half a mind to add it to my own shortlist...

Haha work away Pallas, glad you like it! I don't imagine you'd run into many of them outside Ireland either - but it seems to have exploded up the charts here.

Jumping on the 'Shauna, Kerry, Alannah ' bandwagon seems superfluous but I am tempted.

My conclusion from the many comments I see on MN regarding bullying, piss taking, etc. about names is that there must be a great many really obnoxious people in Britain. Hence the bending over backwards to make sure names 'work' in British culture, regardless of how unfashionable they may be in France or Turkey or Ireland or Norway or whatever other culture may be present in the family, and also all the angst about 'posh' names vs. names that signify that other thing.

I have a very Welsh name, with Welsh spelling, and grew up in England. I have had a lifetime of, "What?" "How do you spell that?"

I would love it if I was living in Wales but living here, less so. It's annoying.

It's insecurity Mathanxiety imo. All the lmc, new mc are terrified of making a gaffe. And I named my children in the eye of that storm! I had started to buy in to it. :-/

To deviate from that respect for The British Class system is a kind of rebellion that signifies degeneracy. ("Conor is a bold boy name")
Choosing to honour your own country rather than paying respect to the UK class system is seen as a deal breaker! called your child Niamh? You've no class obviously!

Also, paradoxically, not all nationalities are held up the same level of scrutiny. If you're French say, you could have been brought up on an HLM with no education at all but in England/Britain, that outranks being an Irish person. You could call your child Magaly or Arnaud of you wanted.

I think the fact is, some people don't mind spelling out/repeating their name on a frequent basis and others do. There's no telling how a baby might feel about it when they grow up. Some people are confident, some are insecure. There's no right or wrong with this. All a parent can do is choose a name which they feel is right for their child. As this is an Irish name, for an Irish child, living in Ireland, I think it's a beautiful choice of name. If she were to end up living in another country, in all likelihood, she won't mind spelling it out, but I suppose there is no knowing for certain. As someone else said previously, you can have a very standard name which has a few different spellings and forever have to spell that out too x

"As someone else said previously, you can have a very standard name which has a few different spellings and forever have to spell that out too"

A very standard english name. Fiadh is as standard in its language as john is in its language. It isnt a difficult name.

Completely agree with you. I was referring to if the child chose to live a country other than Ireland. Hence the reason the previous sentence says "If she were to end up living in another country..."

For example, someone going by the name Fiadh, may have to spell their name out on a frequent basis if they live in any country other than Ireland. Someone going by the name Kathryn, Catherine or Katherine may have to spell their name out on a frequent basis if they live in any country. That was the point I was making.

An Irish child with an Irish name living in Ireland? I doubt they'll have any issues with pronunciation or spelling. As you said, it's w standard name

*a

I think it's a lovely name - I only know of one little girl called Fiadh so it's not wildly popular. If I was having a girl I would definitely consider it (any ideas of a male equivalent - simple but not too common?).

Lol at Sneachta and Bricfeasta! I always thought Subh would make a good name for a girl. Sweet!

Fiachra came straight to mind when thinking of a boys name. I really love that one. It means raven though iirc so the meaning is still nature based but not the same!

Ferdia could work too, can't remember the meaning there.

Thanks all for the thoughts :)

Subh! I'm coming off the pill immediately!

Nóiníní for a girl and Cnoc for a boy.

Or maybe Cnónna.....

Subh is great in all fairness :D
Ciorcal maybe, or Liamhais...

Fiach as a male equivalent?
Fiach mac Aodha O Broin was lord of the Wicklow Mountains area in Elizabethan times.

I know a Caoilte, which is pretty unusual.

I also know a cat named Nóinín.
(Adding Subh to my list of perfect names ).

BoldFox I think you have got to the heart of it.

I love it. I don't think it sounding like 'fear' in England should worry you. If you think about other Anglophone countries like Scotland and the USA, that mistake wouldn't be made. I'm Scottish (Irish GPs) and do love a Gaelic name. And people get used to them when they know what certain connections of letters sound like - Aisling, Niamh, Ruaridh don't cause any confusion round here.

Fiach is nice - thanks for that! Ferdia and Fiachra sound a bit too "D4" like "Fiachra get in the land rover you're late for cello practice". My mother would think I had notions. My DS is Eoin so I want something similarly simple. DH likes Senan but it's just another name for John just like Eoin so that might be weird.

Anyways sorry for hijacking your thread!