Traditional Irish Names - what do you think?

[El2020]

Hi all,

I’m TTC my second child and I’m looking to cull my shortlist for Irish kids name which would match my other DC.

A little bit of a background

So I’m Irish Australian and my background is from the Gaeltacht in Ireland (as is my spouse’s). I spend half of my between the two countries.

For those who don’t know the Gaeltacht is where the Irish language (Gaeilge) is predominately spoken in Ireland. I’m not particularly bothered by traditional Irish spelling or too “out there names” (by English speaking standards) as I think it’s important to keep our culture alive. I also feel like when you have a famous Irish person, people are more inclined to remember an exotic name! So that’s always a bonus!

My only “thing/rule” is we both want a traditional name...so Irish names which were created more recently like Saoirse, Aisling and Enin aren’t really liked by my spouse.

I don’t personally like “en” sort of names like Aiden, Hayden, Cayden, Zadyen, Jadyen as these are a bit bogan (chav/redneck) in Australia.

Last time around we stuck with tradition and named DC after one of his immediate family members. The name is a classic male Irish name and I get a lot of compliments on it. No problems with pronunciation when people hear it once or twice.

In terms of middle names, I get to pick those and I’ve selected traditional evergreen names. On the off chance my child or future child hate their name, I have an English name they can use professionally or personally.

Here’s some names that are on our shortlist:

Girls

No order...

Sadhbh - “Sive” means goodness
Méabh - “Mave” means intoxicating
Áine - “Onya” means radiant and after the fairy queen
Órla - “Or-la” means golden princess
Bláthnaid - “Blaw-heen” means flower but I’m worried this sounds to close (for Australians at least) to a particular sexual favour.
Caoimhe - “Keeva” means beautiful
Róisín - “Ro-sheen” means little Rose
Múiread - “Mu-reed” Irish version of Margaret

The girl’s two middle names would be on the lines of Margaret, Catherine/Katherine, Eleanor, Mary, Jane, Victoria, Pearl, Violet, Iris, Rose, and Elizabeth to honour other family members and incorporate MY name this time round. I mean what works for men should also work for women in passing down the names.

Boys

Aodh - “ay” means fire
Éamonn - ay-mon” Irish version of Edmund and I like the 1916 reference to Valera
Cillian - “kill-I-an” like Cillian Murphy yummyyyy
Ruairí - “Rory” means fire king
Pádraig - “pod-rig” is Irish version of Patrick but I feel like this could be too stereotypical of Irish people
Séamus “shay-mus” is the Irish version of James

This time round we don’t have to follow tradition and I think we are both open to anything reasonable and Irish. DC has an evergreen middle name which I’d be do the same thing for another boy.

Let’s see what you guys think 🤔 TIA!!!!

I'd rarely directly correct people, I just try & repeat it & hope they get it.

Yes, same here.

But (Pallisers) on a Baby Names board where someone asks for opinions of names on a list and supplies intended pronunciations I see nothing wrong with posting corrections. There are too many Sershas whose names are spelled S-o-r-c-h-a.

Hi- I love Eanna for a boy. There’s a fada over the E. He is the saint for Inis Oirr and it it the Irish spelling for Enda. Also love Oran (can be spelt Odhran but that might be tricky in Oz!) I like Fionn, Cian, Dara and Oisin too- they are quite popular in Ireland atm.
For girls, you can’t go wrong with Orla, Maeve or Roisin!

God, agreed on the Sorcha as ‘Sersha’ confusion, though admittedly, I have never met a child saddled with this in real life. It comes up on Mn often enough for it to presumably be a real thing, though.

To whoever complained that Lir is ‘not an Irish name’ — well, no, not strictly speaking, but it’s the genitive form of Sea in Old Irish, figures as Mannanán Mac Lir’s father in medieval Irish lit, and the king with bad
taste in subsequent wives in the Children of Lir, and I was not advocating it to the OP, merely saying I liked it. But would never have used it, because of crap chocolates, apart from anything else.

And so much yes to a minority of Irish people butchering names.

I’m a bit scared of this thread now as I am definitely plastic and have given my boys traditional Irish names, but... Niall? I think it’s beautiful and it has a great meaning.

I think people are a bit at the OP because they were going on, in a slightly patronising way, about how they spend half their life in the Gaeltacht, and keeping the culture alive, and dismissive of 'new' names like 'Saoirse' (?) and then tells us that Aine is pronounced 'On-ya' and Blathnaid is pronounced Blaw-heen. I'm pretty Plastic Paddy myself and even I know that's not how you pronounce those names.

I actually really like Sadhbh, and also like Mairead - the one I know (in England) pronounces it 'Muh-rayd' which how I thought it was pronounced?

hahah don't be afraid @autumnkate :) I think anyone irish only has an issue with people saying you shouldn't use Irish names unless you are in Ireland as it is too difficult for people to understand - which is bloody ridiculous tbh!!

I have 2 Uncle Niall's & a Cousin Niall, and my Aunt is also married to a Niall hahaha :)

Don't be scared @autumnkate I agree with @CallofDoodee as to why people have been 'robust' with the OP, and yes, the 'Oh, no one else in the entire world will be able to pronounce weird names Sadhbh or Mairéad, so only call them them if they are born in the heart of Corca Dhuibhne and stay there all their lives' stuff which regularly comes up from posters on Irish names threads, is pretty tiresome.

And the place is crawling with Nialls!

Thanks guys! We have a several Nialls too and it’s becoming quite popular over here too, maybe cos if the One Direction fella

I went to university with an Aine and always thought it was a beautiful name.

Of the girls names I love
Aine
Orla
Róisín
And think they are all pretty straightforward pronunciation wise for people that aren’t from Ireland.

Of the boys names I love Séamus, also like Cillian Ruairi

I think I get what the OP means. I'm Irish, so I read and pronounce 'Áine' as Awn (rhymes with fawn) - ya. OP said she pronounces it as 'On-ya', but perhaps she means that she's sounding it out phonetically with an Australian accent, even though if she were to say it, she would SAY Awnya.
Otherwise, YABU for waffling on about keeping our culture alive and dismissing modern names, while at the same time, incorrectly pronouncing the names you've listed

Anyway... I always suggest 'Dara'. Dara for a female, Daragh/Darragh for a male. I think it's so beautiful, soft, easy... shouldn't cause any confusion or mispronounciation.
And it means 'Oak'

I know a little boy named Daragh and I love the name. His sister is Caoimhe .

I love Aodh, but difficult to use even within Ireland, as it sounds like an initial (though the letter A in the Irish alphabet is pronounced differently I think). Should be fine in the Gaeltacht though, or if you're braver than me 😊. I love Niall too (though the Nye-ul pronunciation most commonly used is an anglised version. Nee-ul is the Irish language pronunciation). Also love Sadhbh and Méabh.

*Anglicized

I’m adding Dáire/Darragh to my list.

They don't sound the same. Dáire (which isn't actually a name) would be pronounced Doy-ra (rhymes with Máire). There is a name Daire, but tbh I'm never sure whether it should be pronounced the same as Darragh or if it should be more of a Derr-ah.

Completely agree about Irish people misusing Irish names. Aoibheann as Ay-veen and Caitlin as Kate-lynn are my personal bugbears. Although I know the battle has been lost on Caitlin.

Completely agree about Irish people misusing Irish names. Aoibheann as Ay-veen and Caitlin as Kate-lynn are my personal bugbears. Although I know the battle has been lost on Caitlin.

It has, alas. But Aoibheann-as-Ayveen is absolutely maddening.

I really cannot understand why people give their children Irish names with traditional Irish spelling unless they live in the Gaeltacht and plan to continue to live there, with their children, forever.

Ahh, that’s quite sad because it’s actually a very simple concept. I hope you manage to find a way to get past this.

Ahh, that’s quite sad because it’s actually a very simple concept. I hope you manage to find a way to get past this.

Perhaps @Annasgirl doesn't get out a lot, and can't get her head around the concept of people moving? DS, with his Irish name, has already lived in three countries, one of them Ireland, in his seven years, and no insuperable difficulties have been caused by his name being unfamiliar in two of the countries.

Just to let you know OP that Sadhbh was traditionally pronounced like the english word 'sow' in the west of Ireland. This has changed and the 'Sive' pronunciation has become more dominant, but it might be something to check out with your family from the Gaeltacht? I'm not from the Gaeltacht myself so not sure of its usage now.

Just to let you know OP that Sadhbh was traditionally pronounced like the english word 'sow' in the west of Ireland.

This is true, but the only time I think I've ever heard that usage is in versions of the song 'Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneallaigh'. But not in a Gaeltacht, and would be interested to hear if it is ever used.

Tiernan/Tierney?

How did there come to be two such different pronunciations of Sadhbh? I’m trying to work out how that word produces the sound like “sow” and my son is looking at me funny

Math, of course we should give the correct pronounciation on a baby name board. And of course we should correct people when they mispronounce our names or our children's names (dd1 is plagued with this)

But correcting a real life person on how she pronounces her own daughter's name would be beyond me..

Do you mean 'sow' as in sowing seeds or 'sow' as in female pig?

Tiernan and Tierney are surnames = can of worms on this thread

Oh I was reading it as sow some seeds. If it’s sow like a pig I can see how it makes that sound in an English accent.