Fiadh or Roisin?

[agteacht]

Hi all

I know this has probably been done to death but any help with Irish girls names gratefully received. I'm Irish and DH is English, we are living in the UK.

Baby is due this week... we don't know what it is actually but if it's a boy I think we are set on Fionn. DH seems to be able to pronounce it okay!

I'm a bit more stuck on girls names for some reason and again think it's now down to Fiadh or Roisin.

Fiadh (fee-a) means wild or little deer, depending on what you read
Roisin (ro-sheen) means little rose

I liked Caoimhe but DH can't cope with the spelling and said it's like Quavers....

I've also thought about Aoife and I like Éabha but not mad about the spelling for some reason - I don't know why but I don't think it looks pretty!

Any views on Fiadh or Roisin, which do you think you would choose?

[Coppersnake]

How about Laoise?

[fruityconfusedhotdog]

I love, love, Fiadh! We didn't use it as where we live people would think we were saying Thea. Roisin is lovely too, but has a tendency to get mangled in my experience (I know a couple of adult Roisins in England).

Caiomhe does seem to induce panic, which is a shame as it's really lovely (my DH vetoed it as well)

[agteacht]

Dara and Laoise unfortunately used in the family. Lovely names though.

Donncha and Ferdia not keen on... Dympna @mathanxiety ? Noooo 😬😀

@fruityconfusedhotdog I agree on Caoimhe, it's so pretty. Keep mentioning to DH to try to create movement on that one 😂🤞
What did you go for in the end?

[Mincepieready]

Roise?

I'm intrigued now to see what you have!

[FizzyGreenWater]

I can't stand 'een' names - Roisin looks pretty written down but when said, 'Rosheen' is in the same ballpark as Doreen or Maureen - I just think it's such an ugly, depressing, whiny end sound!

So Fiadh.

[fruityconfusedhotdog]

@agteacht um, we went for Jean in the end, which is admittedly a somewhat different vibe! I almost got DH to agree to Dearbhla. Almost. Hope you have more luck!

We chose Jean because it's unusual nowadays but a name people know, so no pronunciation issues; or so we thought. Except every time we go to the baby clinic/for an appointments they call it out like the French boys name

[MissingCoffeeandWine]

I’m irish. Also choosing names - stuck between Aoibhlínn (Ay-veen) or Eibhleann (ave-lin) for our little girl.

Living in the UK and have to say, I really don’t mind a child having to pronounce their name. We still speak irish at home from time to time and plan to teach it to little one (possibly why I find explaining Irish phonetically in English so difficult). I work in a very diverse area and constantly meet people with names that are not “immediately recognizable” - I simply ask how they say their name!

Op I love Fionn. I like Fiadh but was also surprised to see it so high on the CSO tool. Have you seen this: www.cso.ie/en/interactivezone/visualisationtools/babynamesofireland/

[agteacht]

@FizzyGreenWater Roisin like Doreen or Maureen? Oh noooo that's unfair to Roisins surely!

@fruityconfusedhotdog Jean, didn't expect that! I see what you mean though, old school classic. Dearbhla... brave...

@MissingCoffeeandWine I like your choices and agree with your approach!
Also very surprised at Fiadhs popularity at home, it must be one of those things whereby if you're not in Ireland with kids of nursery age you just don't hear it...

[AlwaysOnAbloodyDiet]

Hope you're feeling ok, OP. The last few days are the hardest, but you're nearly at the finish line.

Have you decided yet?

What about Ciara? ... it's an easier alternative to Caoimhe.
I think most people there would recognise and pronounce it correctly (Key-rah)

[ArlenesWoodBurningStove]

I love Roise and much prefer it to Roisin. I'm being lazy with fadas too.

I like Aifric too.

[FizzyGreenWater]

OP so sorry but YES! Doreen, Maureen, Roisin - one syllable away from each other. Not great!

Colleen is the same.

Roisin looks great written down but you mainly say a name, not write it. I just can't get over that depressing 'een' sound. So ugly.

[SlightlyBonkersQFA]

Doírin pronounced DEERin is lovely and suits a young person but Doreen is too old. I know I'm just being influenced by fashion but I can't help it.

[SlightlyBonkersQFA]

Aifric sounds very classy to me. Not sure why I think that. The few ive met have been so educated, privileged, nice... How is it viewed in England? Would it be recognised as an Irish name? Or would it be assumed to be a nod of some sort to the continent of Africa?

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

If you're planning on staying in the UK then you are setting your DC up for a lifetime of having their name butchered and misspelled.

Sadly, I think this is true. Absolutely not saying that you shouldn't choose the name you want, but most of these names aren't instantly recognisable to people in much of Britain.

Hopefully, people won't be deliberately obtuse, but they will struggle until they're properly familiar with it. Even then, a lot of people will have an idea in their heads and stick with it regardless. I have more experience with Welsh names and men called Hywel are invariably called Howell or Harwell by non-Welsh speakers. If they're not familiar with the pronunciation of Welsh (or Irish) letters, they often just won't notice the distinction between what they assume it to be and what you clearly tell them.

For even the most tolerant and keen-to-learn of people, there will always be a barrier with new or passing acquaintances. Instead of "Helllo, are you Jane?" or "Could I speak to Sarah, please?", 95% of the time, it will be "Could I speak to, erm....?" followed either by a hesitant wild (wrong) guess such as 'Fie-add' or just "....I'm sorry, I don't know how you pronounce his or her name."

By all means choose the name you want, and one which reflects your culture, but be realistic and expect the barrier and delay almost every time.

As a PP said, the fact that the languages use the same (or similar) alphabet can almost prove to be a disadvantage in this. At least with 'Mohammed' or 'Anastasia', they're usually transliterated for use in the English-speaking world. If they were spelled out in the Arabic or Russian alphabets, monolingual English speakers would just stare blankly at them, completely clueless.

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

What about Dara, OP? (For a girl)

It's easy peasy, no confusion

Obviously not in the OP's case, as she already has a Dara in her family, but this would confuse me slightly - not the pronunciation but the sex. Previously, I would always have assumed that it was a girl's name as it looks quite like Tara or Cara and ends in an A anyway; but since Mr O'Briain became famous in the UK, I would probably assume it to be a boy's name. Is it a unisex name or did the parents of the Dara on TV give their son what is traditionally a girl's name?

I know there's also Darragh MacIntyre who pops up on TV now and again (not as much as his brother Donal), which I think (and may be completely wrong) is pronounced much the same as Dara - but the 'agh' ending makes it look to me, as somebody with no knowledge of Irish, much more masculine.

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

Obviously not in the OP's case, as she already has a Dara in her family

To clarify, I meant this would obviously not be in the running as a choice in the OP's case - not that she would find the name confusing at all!

[PuppyMonkey]

How about you try not bullying someone for their name, Drabarni?

[PeterRouseTheFleshofMankind]

Anything wrong with a normal name, so your kid doesn't get bullied?



Would you say this to someone who was thinking of a Muslim, Indian or indeed any other nationality name for their child? No, you fucking wouldn't would you?

[PeterRouseTheFleshofMankind]

I have to say I love Caoimhe (but only really with the 'keeva' pronunciation) and I actually think that it's becoming more popular in the UK and will soon be viewed the same as Niamh and Saoirse.

Also love Aisling.

I do love Aoibheann too, it's such a pretty name, but I think it might be a bit too tricky with the spelling for a child being raised in the UK.

[AlwaysOnAbloodyDiet]

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll Dara is almost always the female spelling. Something tells me, but I could be wrong, that the comedian anglicised his name from Daragh/Darragh/Daire (male) for work in the UK. I read that about a famous male Dara, and I think it's him.

It's a beautiful name

[SisterSistine]

I have an Irish name. Yes people ask how to pronounce it. Yes people pronounce it wrong. They spell it wrong. I get a lot of "umm, umm, Mrs Sistine?"

But seriously, it's not a big deal. I have reached my 40s without any massive annoyance or having a nervous breakdown. I was never bullied for it FFS. It is not a big deal!

I think Caimohe is pretty common now so wouldn't be that ought there. And Sadbh is really easy to explain and get the hang of.

[SisterSistine]

I've been saying Roisin in my head so many times I no longer know the correct way to say it.

[PreseaCombatir]

I've been saying Roisin in my head so many times I no longer know the correct way to say it

Lol, since the OP wrote it about her DH, every time I’m seeing Caoimhe, I’m reading it as quavers now.
I much prefer the Keeva way (sorry to any kweevas)

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

Thanks for clarifying that, AlwaysOnAbloodyDiet

Wikipedia doesn't mention a differently-spelled birth name for him, but WP has been known not to be completely correct on occasion

Even with him being famous, I still fouled up - I forgot the accent on the 'O' (not sure if you can do it on here unless you C&P) and added in a non-existent apostrophe