Irish names for a girl

[HarrietM87]

I’m Irish, DH is English, baby will have DH’s English surname and live in London. Our DS has a standard (though uncommon) Irish boy’s name (similar to Sean - ie Irish spelling but generally recognised in England so not many issues with pronunciation or spelling so far).

I’m pregnant and if it’s a boy we’ll probably go for Patrick (just saw another thread on this - love the name!).

If it’s a girl we’d like to give her an Irish name but ideally nothing that will cause her too many problems, and also don’t want to use an anglicised spelling. Can’t use Aoife, Niamh, Meabh, Eimear, Orla or Derbhla due to close friends/family.

Any suggestions of names that fit these criteria (ie recognisably Irish but straightforward-ish spellings)? My absolute favourite is Ailbhe but I think that might be difficult for English speakers and if it’s spelled Alva it loses the Irish connection completely. Also love Nora but DH hates because of “bloody Nora”. Also considering names which aren’t Irish as such but commonly used in Ireland like Mary and Anne. All suggestions welcome!

BrittleJoys That made me laugh!

I've never heard of Rhóinn. There can't be many Irish names I've never heard of. Apparently Google has never heard of it either.

Aisling

Yes, Blaithin (it's pronounced Blaw-heen isn't it?) isn't a very nice sound is it?

Actually I quite like Blaithnaid which I think can also be spelt Blanaid, although I think it's one of those names that sounds better with an Irish accent IYSWIM.

Please don't call your little girl Philomena!

Yep Bláithín is Blaw-heen. Not pretty.

Baby Philomena! No.

Even worse would be Gobnait. (Pronounced Gubnit)

There are some non-Gaeilge names I've only ever heard in Ireland. Some are very Father Ted. Attracta, Assumpta, Concepta. The latter two have religious connotations and I know several people who were born on a particular feast day and given a corresponding middle name (like 8 December = Fest of the Immaculate Conception = Concepta) but Attracta is just a terrible name. Fidelma is another one I've never heard outside of Ireland.

Yes, Gobnait WTF? And it's not even like it has a totally different pronunciation that is prettier.

My friend has an Auntie Concepta.

Assumpta just makes me think of Ballykissangel!

Rionach is beautiful pronounced Ray na

Yes, @Propertyofhood, they need a soft ‘d’ at the end, more like the first sound in ‘thou’. Neither work so well with crisp cut-glass ‘d’s.

And Yy, @evil, lets call for a revival of Attracta, Assumpta and Concepta. I have a very good friend in her 40s who is a Concepta because she was born in Culchie Christmas Shopping Day, but she hides behind Connie and lets people assume she’s a Constance.

Rionach is pronounced REE-un-ach.

My old Irish teacher was Tríona. Which I guess must have been short for Catríona. I like both of those actually.

Am overinvested in this thread now. My daughter doesn't have an Irish name because we live in England and I didn't want her to have a lifetime of spelling it. But there are so many I like. For boys too. Irish names are lovely.

Thank you! Don’t worry, I have no intention of calling her Philomena. It’s a nun name! Other ones I’d put in that category are Attracta, Concepta, Assumpta, Fidelma, Carmel, Dolores, Nuala. Brid is probably in there but is Bridget?! I can’t decide.

Ita/Ide cute too but doesn’t work with surname which has a double t.

Moya (Donegal version of Máire)
Laoise
Clodagh
Noinín (Daisy)
Lainí
Aifric
Hannora

I’m in London with with children with some of the more unusual Irish names. People get used to them.

Mary it is so.

Sadie isn't an Irish name per se but I know three whose BC name is Sarah. They are all from NI, various ages.

Noeleen is a female variant of Noel.

I know a Nola who is named after New Orleans LA.
Also one who is short for Finola.

I love Nora personally :) I also really like Ciara!

My Irish friend has a Orlaith Clodagh and Nola which are all cute

Iseult

Lovely welsh name!

I have an Orlaith and if bump is a girl, I want to call her Agnes. I love Clodagh but the dog also has a name ending in -a so things are already confusing enough in our house.

Make sure you try the name repeatedly out on your DH with him pronouncing it - we are the opposite way round, I'm English but live in NI with my NI DH and daughter. Daughter's name does not work in a NI accent - everybody thinks it is a different name (imagine I tried to call her 'Owl' and so everybody here thinks 'Arl' when I say it [note: I did not call my daughter Owl]). I struggle with the pronunciation of some names here but it's not always the ones that look complicated written down. The one I really can't say is Saoirse, which is a shame as I would have liked it for current bump as it sounds so pretty! Foolproof ones for me pre move to NI would have been Roisin, Niamh, I would have known how to say and spell those. Although Roisin turns into rusheen in the North West. Ones I have no trouble pronouncing over here are ones like Caoimhe, Cliodhna, Grainne. Be prepared to explain spelling for those though, I still struggle to remember even after living here for a while as they don't follow English spelling rules. Lots of Erins round here, and Coras too.

Catriona

Love Maeve. Also Ethna/Eithne.

Thanks so much for this thread @HarrietM87 - I am in the exact same situation, living in London, married to English DH, planning an Irish name...

I need a boys one too actually, I'll have to start a new thread for that!

My girls short-list is:

Aoife
Aoibhe
Fiadh
Roisin

Then I came up with Luadh and Liadh - are these made up?? 😂

I like Laoise but can't have it due to family using it. Also can't have names beginning with S due to surname so that rules out quite a few like Saoirse, Siofra, Sorcha...

And my husband ruled out Caoimhe. He's convinced people would call her Quavers (really??!)

I also like Eilidh, Isla and Cerys but not Irish of course... kinda Celtic maybe...

Not sure I'm absolutely in love with anything yet (and not that long left!!) but reckon she will come out looking like a Roisin or a Fiadh and all will be solved.

To those still living in Ireland though, is Fiadh now very commonplace at home? I've never heard it in England (yet anyway)

agteacht

No Fiadh isn't often heard at all & I think it's lovely (am Irish, living in Ireland)

Otherwise, there have been the weirdest examples given of Irish names tho! Sometimes by Irish people 😊

Eg
Laoise is not a boy's name.

And...Machusla 😫 my eyes! That's not a name! It's the phonetic spelling of the phrase 'mo chuisle' which is Irish (Gaeilge / Gaelic) for 'darling' (though literally an abbreviation of 'mo chuisle mo Chroí' = pulse of my heart), and the start of a traditional ballad. Not. A. Name.

@EarringsandLipstick thanks!! It is pretty...

Machusla 😂
Might as well go for 'Pet'

Have you watched Catastrophe?
Muireann....!!