Irish names for English babies

[harrietm87]

Hello. Not pregnant (yet!) but would love to give my future babes Irish names. I'm Irish, DH English. We live in a multicultural bit of London. Interested to hear people's favourite Irish names and opinions on how traditional/obscure it's possible to go without being accused of child abuse! (Guessing Sean is ok, Feidhlimidh not...). For context I love Ruaidhri, Seamus, Siofra and Ailbhe (but so many good options!)

You're right Maud re. the spelling reform. That's why people are wrong when they say Orla is an anglicisation.

I've no idea how to pronounce Clodagh. I'd probably say Clogg-darrrr.

Why would you make a clog sound for the first syllable when the g is at the end? I'd understand pronouncing it 'clod-ack' easier than clog-da

It's clo-dah ftr

Thanks :) I don't know, Lizzy! I'm glad I know though as it is really annoying when people get your name wrong.

Take it from me in the U.K. Clodagh gets various incarnations of Clogdack, Clodag, Cloga

But Lizzy is correct- Clo (like the start of chloe) Da (like the start of dad)

And even the anglicized version doesn't work in the UK when it's pronounced using Irish sounds - a friend called Emer maintains she is consistently called Emma or E-ma as no-one can pronounce the Irish R

That makes me slightly impatient - there IS no 'Irish R', it's just a rhotic or voiced 'r'. Most dialects of English in England and Wales are non-rhotic, meaning don't pronounce 'r' in certain positions (such as at the end of a word like Emer, but as even non-rhotic speakers can manage the intrusive and linking 'r' that appears in a phrase like 'Africa and India', 'Victoria and Albert museum', 'law and order' which are generally pronounced as 'AfricaR and India', 'VictoriaR and Albert musuem' and 'lawR and order', I don't think it's an unsuperable obstacle.

Admittedly I imagine that those people would say they are pronouncing Emer correctly, just in their own accent, just as if I were saying, in my rhotic accent, the name Amanda Adams, I wouldn't say 'AmandaR Adams.'

My little girl is called Niamh
I love the name
It's unique and nobody else has it where we live

Irish names are always going to be pronounced differently by non Irish people. If that irritates I'd say go for a different name.

I have a Shèa, regularly gets mispronounced as She a...as in 2 words. Should have spelt it Shay!

Irish names are always going to be pronounced differently by non Irish people. If that irritates I'd say go for a different name

Not if they are told how to say it. I always think these threads make the British out to be really stupid, as if they can't cope with any names from other countries. It's not really that difficult, you meet someone and they tell you their name, you say it just like they tell you. How is that so confusing?

Nothing is confusing. But an Irish accent in an English will often sound different to the way an Irish person will say it. Just as I can't pronounce my Spanish friend's name exactly as he does. Because I don't have a Spanish accent.

Confused?

Sorcha!

You're confusing accents with pronounciations. Neither is it comparable to spanish, which makes different sounds altogether.
If someone tells you once how to say Niamh, you just say it back. You don't have to put on a fake Irish accent!

But an Irish accent in an English will often sound different

That should say 'an Irish name in an English accent'.

Signed,

person with Irish first name and Irish surname who lives in the UK.

Let's just say I'm very familiar with the name Emer and the difference in pronunciation between England and Ireland. If the 'ee-ma' pronunciation will irritate, you really need to pick another name.

Caoimhe should definitely be pronounced qwee-va, unless you're from the North in which case Kee-va is more usual.

I would definitely agree with this.

It might be worth having a look at names that are common in Scotland and Wales too. You might find one that is in common use with Ireland but recognised easily in England.

This actually reminds me- I was once heard Clodagh pronounced Clagg... When I asked queried the pronountiation I was confidently told 'yes in Irish names the d is always silent'. At least she tried I guess

Clagg has such a pretty ring to it!

My friend Eoghan frequently gets called Yoggun.

Actually I think it's usually

-confused pause

'Yoggun?'.

I think you first have to decide if you want an Irish name or an Irish-sounding name....

Maeve, Oonagh, and Orla aren't 'Irish' names. They are versions of the Irish names Meadhbh, Úna and Órfhlaith.

There's the influence of regional pronunciation to consider. As already seen on this thread, Caoimhe is pronounced 'Keeva' in some areas and 'Qweeva' in others (though I agree with another poster that this is a close approximation, the Qwee portion of the name is softer than the English pronunciation would suggest).

Another example is the name 'Aobhinn'. Where I'm from, that's pronounced 'Eve-ing'. In other areas it's pronounced Ave-een. But I would spell that pronunciation as Éibhín.

I think the big things to remember are that there are only 18 basic letters in Irish, and 5 of those can have accents applied. It really grates when people say their child has an Irish name, but then it has a non-Irish letter or accent in it. The following are not in the Irish language:
j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z. The only accented letters are these: á, é, í, ó, ú. There are no accents going in any other direction in Irish. There are also rules in Irish spelling - please remember 'caol le chaol agus leathan le leathan'. Vowels either side of a consonant are generally both narrow vowels, or both broad vowels. You don't get to pick and choose - this is the structure of the language.

I think Irish names travel fine. There are no more issues with Irish names than with ones from any other nationality. It's a name, and people learn them very quickly.

Boy's names I love are:
Cian (like Kian, but not quite, softer sounds in it)
Iarlaith
Daire
Ódhrán
Ruadhán

Girls names:
Ailbhe (not a fan of Alva though)
Éabha
Sadhbh
Aisling
Doireann

And just because I saw it mentioned earlier, 'Gráinne' always makes me think of the poor child in school who's names was often mispronounced as 'gránna' - the Irish for ugly. Poor child.

This reminds me of an Indian friend who called her son Kiran.
Which means something nice in her 1st language.
It does not sound like the English Kieron.
Except it does sound exactly like Kieran... I can't tell the difference. She says there is one.
(shrug)

Kieron is an Irish name, Ciaran

You mentioned Feidhlimidh. Well, I first came across it at university, but it caused no problems after the " how many silent ds are there?".

Many kids in my school have unusual names with unusual orthography for England. We just get on with it. A multicultural society.

I'd say go for what you like. Even with easy peasy names like Orlanda people get the spelling wrong half the time.

Kieron is an Irish name, Ciaran

No, Ciaran is an Irish name, Kieron is not at all. There is no K in the Irish language for a start, thats a big giveaway.