Using Irish names if you're not Irish...Saoirse

[wheresmymojo]

I'm not pregnant (yet) but I have fallen in love with an Irish name...Saoirse (pronounced Seersha).

DH is as English as they come. I'm English...I do have Irish heritage but they came over to England four generations ago so it's a way back.

The pronunciation thing doesn't put me off - I strongly believe in keeping Celtic and Gaelic names alive.

But would it be weird / cultural appropriation?

I'm particularly interested in opinions from anyone Irish...would it be offensive?

I don’t know about cultural appropriation...but it’s a VERY strong Irish name.

Quite common now, but it originally (and to some extent still has) had strong Irish Republican connotations.

It’s a beautiful name, but I would find it strange for a child with no Irish heritage at all. Especially if you’re British .

I wouldn't have a problem with you using an Irish name so long as it's spelled and pronounced correctly (which you are). I might think it's a bit strange, but that's all.

I do agree that in some circles that name has Republican connotations. I never realised it growing up in Dublin, but now live in Belfast and would assume someone using it here would have republican leanings. If someone English chose the name Saoirse I may idly wonder if that was why, whereas I probably wouldn't with someone from Galway, if that makes sense. It's up to you whether that would bother you, and not even all Irish people would think of it, never mind English people.

On a very practical level, be prepared to have to spell and pronounce it every single time for your daughter and then for her to have to do that for the rest of her life.

I am half Irish and have a very unusual Irish name. No one (apart from Irish people) ever gets my name right. Most of the time they don't even know what country the name is from, let alone that its Irish or how to say it.

I do love it, but the endless spelling and pronunciation corrections get a bit tedious sometimes.

I always thought it was pronounced "Ser-sha" as Saoirse Ronan pronounces it, or is that a regional variation?

Disclaimer: I am not Irish and know nothing useful about this. Pretty name though!

Read more: metro.co.uk/2018/12/11/pronounce-saoirse-ronans-name-2-8232265/?ito=cbshare

I do love it, but the endless spelling and pronunciation corrections get a bit tedious sometimes

I have an unusual name and agree with you 100%. Often thought about changing it for that reason. I don't even correct people any more. They can call me what they like

I'm Irish and have no problem with non Irish using Irish names. I think it's a nice idea.
Saoirse is a lovely name. It doesn't have the same Republican connotations in Dublin that it appears to have in Northern Ireland.
Saoirse means freedom.
Seoirse is George in Irish.
PDiddy's real name is Sean John Combs but Sean is the Irish for John

It's a nice name, but it's also the name of an Irish Republican newspaper, so it has pretty strong connotations for some people.

I know about the Republican connotations (name of the Sinn Feinn magazine I think?) but that doesn't bother me....

I love the meaning of it "freedom".

The spelling thing doesn't bother me. I'm a 1980s Sarah which you would think was one of the easiest names ever.

I have to specify "with an aitch" Every. Single. Time.

Plus my surname which is spelt completely as it sounds and is British has to be spelt out every time. So my poor child will have to do that anyway

I'm reliably informed that pretty much no-one but Saoirse Ronan pronounces it Sur-sha.

Most Irish people depending on dialect pronounce it Seer-sha or Sar-sha (the latter is a bit close to my name).

I like the Sur-sha pronunciation best but I'm concerned that Irish people will think I'm ruining an Irish name

Well, as you can tell from my screen name, I"m Irish (and near the sea, yes!) I say GO for it!

But sadly one of the few exceptions to that is in my Opinion, ''Saoirse''.

I am going to be told I'm out of date and singing from an old hymn sheet now but Saoirse is the one I would avoid.

Any others, go for it.. What about Siun (shoon). Fraoch. Maeve. Fiadh. Roisin. Mairead. So many beautiful ones. Saoirse is a bit ''loaded''.

What about Sorcha but pronounced ''sorsha''. I know one who says it that way anyway. Everybody gets confused about which is her name, but that's another story!

@mindystclair, yes, I know exactly what you mean. A Galway Saoirse doesn't make me idly wonder anything but an English raised Saoirse, I would assume (wrongly as it would be in this case) that her parents were Irish with republican feelings.

But now that Saoirse Ronan is the inspiration for baby Saoirses my assumptions make an ass of me. Or do they?! It's a hard one.

My best friend is a Saoirse... her parents are Irish. Our whole school says she's been called Sasha by people who can't pronounce it properly. Also people struggled to spell it but it's a lovely name so as long as you don't mind having people mispronounce/ spell it use it!

I'm not as fond of the harder pronunciation of Sorcha....don't a lot of people pronounce it as closer to Sor-ka?

The republican connotations genuinely don't concern me.

We have double barrelled our surnames which are both very English sounding so we'd be unlikely to be Irish Republicans on that basis.

Also...while today I feel it's up to the people of NI to decide whether they stay part of the UK or part of Ireland (and not up to English people like me to opine on).

If I'd have been in Ireland back in time I'd be a Republican (because we - English - were total shits).

What about Sorcha but pronounced ''sorsha''.

Oh no! That makes me twitch. I met a non-Irish Sorcha who pronounced it that way and I had to purse my lips to stop myself from saying 'that's not how you pronounce Sorcha!'

But would it be weird / cultural appropriation?

Yes, it's deeply problematic to copy any aspect of another culture. Unless you identify as transirish, in which case it's fine.

I would expect a Saoirse to be Irish or to have Irish roots and would be slightly surprised to find out she didn’t have recent links to the country. But Saoirse Ronan is becoming quite a big star so then I’d just assume it was influenced by her.

I’m from Dublin and I don’t personally associate the name with the Republican movement. I think that’s more of a NI thing.

As an aside I noticed that one of the Derry Girls actors is called Saoirse-Monica. What kind of strange clunkiness is that?

Another wincing at Sorcha-as-Sorsha... There is a mammoth thread on here about the pronounciation of Sorcha.

Glad to here the Sorcha defenders have been seen in these parts before!

No one would pronounce dorcha as dore-sha so why do it with Sorcha?

*hear

So your Granny's Granny immigrated from Ireland? That is a pretty strong cultural tie imo. She may have recalled her Granny reminiscing about her Irish customs