Kieran or Keelan

[Babybatman]

Which do you prefer? Please don't say you hate both as I'm 39 weeks and finding this naming business very hard. These aren't my favourite names but they are the only ones we both like as we have polar opposite taste.

Baby will be half Irish and although we both like the Irish spellings Caolan and Ciaran we both want to for the spelling most likely to get pronounced correctly in England where he will grow up.
Also do you think either will get nicknames/shortened? I don't think so but would be interested to hear thoughts. Thanks!

I do like Séamus but it is stereotypically Irish all right. The Séamus's I know (in Ireland) are both christened James and use Séamus day to day (just to introduce a whole new level of confusion here). It can be tricky having a different name on your birth cert so not sure I'd recommend that option! Cormac, Cillian and Ciarán are all lovely. I'm sorry, I don't know how much trouble people would have with them outside of Ireland. I'm not that keen on Keelan, sorry. To me it would need to be Caolán (quay-lawn) to be legit and that's unusual even in Ireland. I only know girls called Keelin.

Not read through the whole thread but how about Kiyan? I know of one who's family are half Irish.

I don't think Kiyan can be an Irish name though, there's no y in the Irish alphabet.

Yes im in the southeast U.K. I'm really not trying to offend here at all, but Keelan with this spelling would totally be lumped in with names like Keenan, Kyle, Kayden, Kian, etc which are seen as chavvy.

If you use the Irish spelling then people will get that it's Irish and that changes it completely. I'm not saying this is "right" I'm just giving a heads up that I don't know if your son will want people making unfair judgements about him.

🤷🏼‍♀️

Yeah agree, Caolan and Keelan aren't pronounced the same. Caolan would be Kay-lan or Kway-lan, or with a fada on the second a the second syllable would be pronounced -awn.

Keelan is to me an anglicised spelling of the girl's name Caoilfhionn.

There's no K in Irish so I prefer Ciaran (fine without the fada on the second a in my book, which gives it the same pronunciation as Kieran), but I know a lot of Scottish names have a K so it might be fine if you think of it as Scottish rather than Irish.

I really wouldn't have thought you'd have any trouble with Cillian in the UK but maybe that's naive!

Not read through the whole thread but how about Kiyan? I know of one who's family are half Irish.

Sorry, but . No K or Y in Irish. Cian is a perfectly acceptable name though.

If you're taking votes I will go for Cillian or Seamus depending on your surname, or Malachi which is my current favourite for when I am that Mil.
Pronunciation varies so much across the provinces, it can be a minefield

This is the issue I'm finding about pronunciation. I started a thread about Caolan and the variation on pronunciation amongst the Irish posters was enough to put me off that spelling, let alone English people who chuck Cow-lun and Chow-lan into the mix. I don't think he would thank me for it.
I love the sound Cay-lun so would go for that but I guarantee he would have a lifetime of people getting it wrong.

That's why my DH likes Keelan so much. He went to school with a couple so it's normal to him but he isn't that familiar with the class connotations in the UK which he finds baffling.
I'm in a serious quandary. Tempted to scrap the lot and start again.

Just to confuse things I know a Kieron (pronounced like Ciarán would be in Irish). He's half Irish but lives in England and was born before Irish names became popular/well known here.

I love Ciarán. Not sure I've ever met one in England with that spelling though.

Not a K (or hard C) name but do you like Fintan?

@evilharpy Fintan feels a bit alien to me. It's my Dh's favourite 'Fin' name. We have an F surname but it actually sounds quite good with it. I'll consider it for a bit, thanks. I just wish there weren't so many Fin's running around, feels so popular now.

Colm? Pronounced Kuh-lum.
(Might get Koh-lum in the UK though...hmm)

Love both names

Whichever name you go for, definitely spell it the correct way! ( ie the Irish way) . Changing spelling to aid other people in their pronunciation is pointless- and is what makes the name 'chavvy'. It appears like you heard the name , had no idea of its origin, and just spelt it how it sounded! I have a very English surname that I'm constantly having to correct people's pronunciation of- so you can't win!
Ciaran gets my vote!

I would have assumed Keelan was a feminine name, and even as a girl's name I dislike the spelling. There's something very mid noughties glamour girl wannabe about it.

Ciaran is lovely though, and I like Cillian.

I prefer Keelan. Great name

I have a customer in work called Aine with a fada that my keyboard doesn't do! She pronounces it On-ya (sort of), I pronounce it the way she does as we are from the same province. I tell my boss that Aine is looking for him, and he looks blank. Then a lightbulb goes of... Oh you mean Onnngggya. He is from two provinces away.
Cillian is more straightforward.
Or Padraig, nickname Podge is lovely! Tell the dh you want Podge!

I used to be friends with a boy called keelan. Honestly no one batted an eyelid at his name he was of irish decent but english. Was a nice name.

Thanks all. Opinions on Keelan differ wildly!!
We are leaning towards Cillian now. Cilly for short as I fine Cillian quite a mouthful.

Ciaran/Keiran is a bit 'meh' for both of us.
Still in the running but slipping into third place. The more I say a name the more it annoys me, too much overthinking I think!

Cillian is a lovely name. Kieran is as well and definitely not chavvy

Don't call him Podge!

I think Cillian would be more widely known than a few decades ago but I do think you'll find some people start of as they would for Cilla

Choosing Podge would get the dad to refocus. Do people usually hear someone's name before they see it

Choosing Podge would get the dad to refocus.

Can't believe we've gone from Keelan to Podge!

What about Conn, Dara or Oran?
I know Dara can be with an I or gh and I do like the Odhran spelling. We too live in the UK so a looks like it sounds name is good especially if it's an accepted if perhaps less used spelling.