I didn't think this name would be so unpopular

[spookybitches]

So all throughout my pregnancy, my husband and I kept our baby name choices to ourselves. My baby is now 2 months old, and nearly everyone we have met or spoken to, have mispronounced it. Granted, we haven't seen many people over the last few weeks, so now I'm starting to wonder if it's just my family or if it's really so unheard of?
My baby boy is called Cillian (DH Irish). My whole family pronounce it silly-an even when I've corrected them numerous times.
Can I ask if you would know how to pronounce Cillian? I'm worried I've set him up for a lifetime correcting people.

@Baconisgoodformeee one bad American example of pronouncing Ciara wrong isn’t exactly conclusive!

It’s how a lot of English people will have heard Ciara though. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a more famous one.

Also Cilla Black was pretty well known and it looks similar to Cillian... I’m just saying it’s hardly shocking that people from another country in another language don’t know How to pronounce it properly

Cilla Black - pronounced Silla not Killa
Yes because Cilla is an English name Cillian is not

The singer Ciara - pronounced Si-air-a

Thats pronounced wrong they obviously say it like that because it looks like it said the way its spelled..Americans have this awful habit of mispelling Irish names
Siobhan spelled Shavonne.
Shavon,is Siobhan.

How would you pronounce Michael (as in the English version). It has a ch in in like church - so if everything is 'the way I'd say it', surely people would say it like Mitchell?
If someone tells you what their name is, or their baby's name, you'd pronounce it as they say it, surely. If you need to spell it, you can ask. I have to spell my surname, it takes about two seconds each time.

I would have pronounced it wrong. But I don’t think that should be an issue, once you have corrected people then they know your name you shouldn’t have to keep doing it multiple times and I suggest if you are having to do that with your own family then they are intentionally mispronouncing it which is cruel and ridiculous so you should take it up with them.
It’s a lovely name btw

I’m not arguing that it’s right or correct!

I’m saying it’s not exactly shocking or insane that English people pronounce a foreign name incorrectly when they’ve heard Cilla Black be pronounced with an S, the famous singer Ciara be pronounced with an S, they then see Cillian... it would be strange if, without any other knowledge, they immediately knew it was pronounced with a K

I would pronounce it kill-E-an, I will be honest, I only know how to pronounce it because of Cillian Murphy though.

@Baconisgoodformeee but Cilla Black is short for Pricilla - You do know C can be said in different ways?

Kill e an

I've been calling him "silly-anne" Murphy for years. I feel a right twat.
Fortunately he can't hear me through the wardrobe doors so it's alright.

I am Welsh and would pronounce it with a hard C.

It looks like it should start with a hard c as in cat not soft as in circle. In my accent at least it would roughly rhyme with million.

@Baconisgoodformeee

But c is pronounced as a soft C, and as a hard C in English.

Names:

Carrie
Caroline

I am just saying that phonetically it makes sense in English too

Killiun

I don’t know Irish and only know a couple of Irish names. My first attempt would have been Sillyann but not after this thread. (I would also have spelt it as Killian if I only heard the name and had to write it.)

The problem is with your relatives continuing to mispronounce the name which is just rude, it’s not like we don’t have those sounds in English.

Killian! Like from Once Upon A Time!

I wouldn't have had a clue from just seeing it written down, but surely you told your relatives?

I automatically thought it would be Silly-Ann, and was wondering why you were asking, OP. On paper, it's a nice name, though.

@Annamaria14

Those are all Ca - Like Cat

Ci is more usually S - Circus, Circadian, Circuit

Irish names are difficult - I know the more common ones like Niamh, but for anything less than mainstream, I always have to ask!

I take it that it's just your family who can't pronounce the name and your OH's family can pronounce it because their side is Irish? If your DS has an Irish side, he's going to grow up knowing lots of people who share the same pronunciation woes!

Kill-ian but I'm from Glasgow where half the place thinks they're Irish.

I know it is Kill-ian but my english brain wants to say Sill-ian.
I actually prefer the sound Sill-ian to Kill-ian, seems unnatural to say Kill-ian.
I know its just because the name's Irish but I'm not!

I have a neighbour called Leonard, pronounced Len Ard. I don't call him Leo Nard as in Leonardo. It's not difficult to learn.
How many names used in England are English? Christopher, Philip, Lydia, Esther, Ptolemy, Phoebe? A few like Ethelred are.

Im from Ireland myself and Cillian is quite a popular name here. Its pronounced killy- an.

I have an unusual name and have had to correct it all my life, school, uni, employment, meeting new people etc...it gets a little tiring and people will also make jokes like haha where did your parents find that however having an unusual name also has it perks! I wouldn't worry about it too much, people mispronounce even common names!