Mobhí (boy)

[Aiwo]

I thought we had settled on a boy name months ago but then my DH throws this out in his crisis that the boy name isn't 'priestly' enough.

So thoughts?
(We don't live in Ireland)

Well technically Wales and Scotland are closer neighbours. But Irish spelling and pronunciation is confusing to English people, it's not something they come across much. I certainly wouldn't expect them to know how to pronounce Lasairfhíona or something like that.

True! i was lazily lumping them in as part of the UK.

No, there are loads of names from all over the world that i wouldnt be able to pronounce but i wouldnt ever suggest that a person shouldnt use it because I couldnt say it without first having been told how to.

"And when they say moby you just say "mo-vee"and then they know. smile"

And he'll have to say that practically every day of his life for 90 years.

Don't do it.

Get your dp to change his own name to it if he likes it so much,

And he'll have to say that practically every day of his life for 90 years.

Rubbish.

Why is it rubbish?

He'll only have to pronounce it to new people who dont already know how to say it. And then he'll only have to do it once. After that, they'll know. It wont be every day either. voice of experience speaking.

I have no idea why people create obstacles for their kids in life. You aren't in Ireland, several people on this thread have said they aren't familiar with it (I'd have had no idea how to pronounce it).

People ask your name, you respond, they say - what? That would really piss me off, repeated hundreds of times through out my life.

You aren't in Ireland, several people on this thread have said they aren't familiar with it

So only english names should be allowed in england?

I'm English and have an Irish name. I have to spell it and pronounce to everyone, often more than once. And I have responded to all sorts of things that sound a bit like my name. It has made me stand out and overall it's been a positive thing. I love having a name with heritage and I wouldn't change it.

If DP wants a more priestly name I suggest Jack, Ted or Dougal.

Your DS will ask why you gave him his name when he's older, give him a reason to like it and good story.

now that someone has explained the pronunciation I quite like it for a child, the ee sound at the end sounds cute. does it work well for an adult?
if a man was to introduce himself as mo-vee I would assume it is short for something else. but certainly wouldn't have any difficulty calling him that.

There's a few -ee ending names in Irish for men. Daithi, Ruairi etc. They wouldn't be seen as cutesy but then again they're well established current names, not something out of monastic times.

I am really curious as to the need for a priestly name! Do you have other children named Assumpta or Concepta or something OP?

To be fair, MrsSpecter, no one is saying it isn't 'allowed', and more than one Irish person has said they have never heard of it.

Baby name threads are about finding out people react to various names.

I hate people being parochial about names: the endless threads about the latest 'let's snigger at this outrageous name' threads that invariably descend into slack mouthed gawping at names that are perfectly normal in another culture.

I like the look and sound of 'Mobhi', but if the OP thinks that her child will not be repeating the spelling and pronounciation ad nauseam she is mistaken. If you and your child are up for it, great! A name to be proud of is worth it. But otherwise, think twice.

To be fair, MrsSpecter, no one is saying it isn't 'allowed'

How did you interpret *hockey's post that i quoted?

Never heard this name before, I'm Irish. Out of curiosity, can any (other) Irish people explain why it isn't spelled, say, Móbhaí? I would've thought the o would need a fada to make an oh sound, and couldn't be followed by an i or e after the bh? Is that just a broad rule rather than hard and fast?

Hey Stokes! I'm amazed it took 40 posts to query the spelling of this name. When I was in secondary school (in Ireland) our classes were named after saints, and I was in Rang Móibhí. That's the only context in which I've heard the name. A Google search produces the school in Glasnevin, which spelling drops the fada on the o.
As OP has typed it, it disobeys caol le caol agus leathan le leathan and it would also be pronounced MUH vee as opposed to MOH vee.

I'm in Ireland and I haven't heard of it not would I know it was pronounced mohvee. I would have guessed muhvee too. Anyway I don't like it.

I'm Irish and would have guessed mo-vee but that is probably because I don't speak Irish (if Irish speakers think that is incorrect).

Er MrsSpecter I did absolutely not say the names Shouldn't be allowed. You quoted half of the paragraph i wrote, cutting off my actual point, which was that: I have no idea why people create obstacles for their kids (with difficult names). People can name their kids whatever they want, I just don't understand why they would choose a name that a significant proportion of people will query the pronunciation of.

And which is so unusual that two Irish speakers on here have never heard of it and seem to disagree on how it should be pronounced!

Go for Patrick. In Irish if you like.

Ugh. zero point in even trying to reason with ^that.

While I understand that it follows the same rule as Siobhan I didn't think it was an Irish name when I saw the title, so I'd not think to pronounce it that way. Once told I could make that connection but I certainly could imagine it being at least a little annoying to always have to explain.

My sister was given her name day saint as a middle name. When she was registered for school the headmistress (a Catholic nun) advised my mother not to use it. Not all religiously inspired names are that great!

I would have thought it was Moby with yoonique spelling, but I'm not Irish.

I like it! I'm not Irish or in Ireland and I would automatically have pronounced it with a v sound, because of Siobhan. People manage all sorts of names once they've been told so I wouldn't be put off by that. Can't help with suggestions that are more "priestly" though, I'm afraid.

Another who had no difficulty reading it as mo-vee (it follows the rules nicely so I don't think Irish people would pronounce it wrong, they just probably won't have heard it before).

oh hang on, there's a st mobhí in Glasnevin, isn't it a cemetary though?!
could be wrong. I wouldn't like if people said ''oh yeh like the cemetary?"