Saoirse pronouncing

[BHillary]

How do you pronounce Saoirse?

Sur-sha or sear-sha?

I prefer the first but not if it isn't correct hmm.

Honestly, I would have absolutely no idea now to pronounce it!

@TheDowagerCountess I don't think I have ever seen anyone pronounce "ch" in Irish as an "sh" in literally any other word, except for mispronunciations of Sorcha. I've had people try to "correct" me before on my own name and it's baffling. Fair enough if you're not Irish or just don't know any Irish, of course, obviously everyone isn't familiar with every single language's phonology, but if you do know Irish then you have probably noticed that "ch" can only be pronounced a very small number of ways, and the French way isn't one. I do let people off leaving out the schwa in the middle, as long as they get the hard consonants right :P I usually just tell people to mimic the word "surrogate" if they really want to get it right, always works

(just to clarity I'm saying "you" as in the general you, not any of you in particular)

Please tell me that Sorcha = saw ra ka is a wind-up

😂 No...

Given that Saoirse means ‘freedom’ in Irish and is also associated with republican politics, perhaps it’s not appropriate for non Irish people to use it?

If you cannot pronounce Gaelic names don’t use the name

It's not the fact I can't pronounce the name, I was asking what the correct pronunciation was as I have Irish people in my family who all pronounce it differently and can't agree themselves one being DH. Incidentally I won't be using this name as it'll clearly always be said wrong.
A name is a name I dont really care what it means just what it sounds like and if I like It, baby is half Irish so definitely more than entitled to use an Irish name.

I know someone used a Gaelic name and they and extended family all say it wrong
They say it phonetically,which bears no resemblance to the actual name

OP there has been so much crap on this thread. The correct pronunciation is Seersha (or seershuh).

Aoi is pronounced "ee" in Irish - think of the other common Irish names Aoife (ee-fa) and Caoimhe (kwee-va or Kee-va).

Saoirse Ronan is from Dublin and in a Dublin accent the "eer" sound comes out more like an "air" sound. She pronounces "inertia" as if it is "in-air-sha", so her comparison is only helpful if you also have a Dublin accent.

Assuming you don't, and are English, and the baby is going to be English, the only correct pronunciation is Seersha.

Hope that makes sense.

PS Sorcha is pronounced Surraka, there is no "sh" in it.

All this it rhymes with inertia?
Whit?no when I say it.
FWIW I’d say sair-sha

Hubby is from Dublin, he says it like Saoirse Ronan. It's driving me nutty now. I'v said the name too much

Don't get the inertia thing either ...
DH says it like Sursha

@BHillary see my post below re Dublin accents/inertia...

PS Sorcha is pronounced Surraka, there is no "sh" in it.

I don't know. Where I'm from (not Dublin), Sorcha would indeed be pronounced that way: Surraka. However, I live and in Dublin now, and over the last few years I've had three or four Sorchas in my classes (I'm a teacher), and they've all pronounced it Sore-sha. I always ask, since I was corrected by the first one. It's not a particularly common name, but younger Dublin people anyway seem to prefer the Sore-cha pronunciation.

But anyway, that's an aside. Saoirse is Sear-sha to me and to most Saoirses I've come across (not that many actually, surprisingly).

Regarding Saoirse Ronan's pronunciation of her own name: she has such an odd accent to my ears - a kind of exaggerated but also strangely moderated Dublin accent that reminds me a bit of Jimmy Rabbitte in The Commitments film. She herself has acknowledged that her own pronunciation of her name is not typical in Ireland, and is down to her particular accent. But if that's how she pronounces it, then fair enough.

Going to go with Betty or a Jane or something people agree on this is giving me brain ache. Haha

Thanks everyone!

I said that exact thing on another thread recently - Saoirse Ronan confused things even more with her "inertia" example, because in her accent, inertia sounds like "in-air-sha", so DOES rhyme with her name when she says it. This has led to people calling their kids Saoirse but pronouncing it surr-sha, rhyming with fur-sha (I know that's not a word), since they would pronounce "inertia" in that way. Correctly though it can only be "seer", or sometimes "sayer", there's absolutely no way to get "sur" from the letters "saoi". It'd be just like saying "Jean" is pronounced "June".

(The "r" in Saoirse should absolutely always be pronounced too, which might make it difficult in areas where a non-rhotic accent is dominant, such is the case in most of England)

In the Republic tends to be pronounced Sur-Sha. In the north of Ireland it is SEER-Sha. Both correct imo

Just the different accents. Do you have Irish roots, might help which pronunciation you will go for

Saoirse Ronan pronounces is Sur-sha. In general, Irish people think she’s pronouncing it wrong - should be Seer-sha!!! But you do have Saoirse Ronan on your side!!!!

harriet there's more than one accent in Dublin.

In the Republic tends to be pronounced Sur-Sha

There are loads of accents in Ireland and Seer-sha is common to many of them.

@MayFayner I know that, I was (fairly obviously) talking about Saoirse Roman's accent.

It's the kind of name I see in the register and think "oh shit I have no idea".

I am from Dublin, and also think Saoirse Ronan pronounces her own name wrong.

Would agree that Seersha, or more accurately Searsha is closest. As a PP said, Saoirse Ronan has a v strange accent herself (possibly unsurprising given how long she spent as a child mimicking other accents, but given she grew up in Carlow its v odd) and I have never heard a single other Irish person pronounce her name the way she does.

Should add - I love the name, would like to call a child it, but DH won't as he sees it as having overly strong republican connections. So, even in Ireland with Irish parents there are some people who have that view, so that is a factor worth considering.

harriet I was referring (quite obviously) to the part where you said that

in a Dublin accent the "eer" sound comes out more like an "air" sound.

which is incorrect.

badb I agree that SR has a weird accent, no one else I know of her age group speaks like that. It does come across as a bit affected, to my ears.