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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Cian or Cathal?

21 replies

FirstofhisName · 08/09/2018 23:04

Which do you prefer? Think these are our final two choices having considered lots of Irish boys names! Possibly James as a middle name. So either:

Cian James
OR
Cathal James?

OP posts:
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mathanxiety · 08/09/2018 23:06

Prefer Cathal. I know a lot of little Cians and Cathal is far less popular.

DwangelaForever · 08/09/2018 23:07

How are you pronouncing cathal? If it's Ca-Hal I prefer it

SemperIdem · 08/09/2018 23:12

I’m not sure how to pronounce Cathal, can you do a phonetic spelling?

I don’t think having a name people don’t automatically know how to pronounce is an issue by the way, I just can’t decide fairly at the moment.

141mum · 08/09/2018 23:12

cathal. Fab name. I only know one other and it’s not common either.
I have a Roisin but often its pronounced Roysin its Rosheen

JungWan · 08/09/2018 23:13

Cathal as Cian is very pipular.
I like Cathal. Like Daithi as well.

MotherForkinShirtBalls · 08/09/2018 23:14

Cathal, lovely name.

FirstofhisName · 08/09/2018 23:43

Thanks everyone, looks like Cathal is the favourite so far! Cathal is my preference, OH likes Cian... so hard to decide. Cathal would be the more popular name where I live.

Not sure if I can do justice to a phonetic spelling of Cathal, it's a tricky one. Sound like Coh-hull, the t is silent.

OP posts:
SemperIdem · 08/09/2018 23:46

I prefer Cathal, based on how you have explained the pronunciation. Perhaps because it is a newer name to me, in terms of sound.

Sophronia · 09/09/2018 00:36

Cathal

DramaAlpaca · 09/09/2018 00:39

I prefer Cian, as long as it's pronounced with two syllables.

Cathal is nice too, but if you are not living in Ireland the pronunciation will get mangled.

soundsystem · 09/09/2018 00:48

I prefer Cathal, but agree that outside of Ireland it will get mangled

RavenWings · 09/09/2018 00:51

Both are great. I prefer Cathal as Cian is very popular. Ciar?

FastWindow · 09/09/2018 00:56

Are you in Eire or England? I like Cathal, but I have an Irish dh and know how to pronounce certain Irish stuff. Not all by any means, the mh thing confuddles me.
If you're in UK Killian/Cillian is a lovely name and proper pronouncable?

pleasegotowork · 09/09/2018 01:12

(Off topic) @FastWindow it's Ireland, not Éire. Too tired to go into it. History and politics. But unless you are talking in Irish, it's Ireland.

pleasegotowork · 09/09/2018 01:14

And op I'd definitely go for Cathal. There are loads of Cianstuff.

FastWindow · 09/09/2018 01:19

please I have a fair grasp of the six counties giveaway. You seem like the type who likes to hijack a baby name thread for semantics. Give over.

FirstofhisName · 09/09/2018 08:28

I'm in Ireland so pronunciation shouldn't be an issue, although I do worry that Cathal wouldn't travel well.

Can't have Ciar as we have a family member named Ciarán. Cillian is out for the same reason!

OP posts:
Bobojangles · 09/09/2018 20:34

I love Cathal but I'm in England and the English mangal it (think 'karl') but definitely use it in Ireland!

I have a very Irish name which doesn't travel well and tend to use a short version of it, but wouldn't put me off using an equally "difficult" name at home

ReginaPhalange89 · 10/09/2018 14:50

I love Cian, not popular where I am in Scotland either . Im not really sure how Cathal is pronounced even after reading your spelling sorry haha

Changedmynametoolikeyou · 11/09/2018 10:12

They are both nice but I have real difficulty pronouncing Cathal. I have a friend who makes it sound almost like “Carl” with a posh English non R.

mathanxiety · 12/09/2018 06:27

It's hard to find a way to spell out how the Irish O sounds as opposed to the Home Counties O.

Koh as in coffee as it wold be pronounced in Ireland, hull as in Hull.

The O sound here is represented by the /ɑ/ symbol in phonology. YY to the A sound in Carl, but the H must be sounded. There are two syllables.

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