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.

@BeBesideTheSea I can sort of understand the pronunciation of St John; it does sound like Sinjin if you say it fast. Am I right in thinking that Featherstonhaugh is a sort of shibboleth; it gives away your class as you would only know how to pronounce it if you moved in posh circles?
Well, back in the day before you could Google it anyway, haha!

@Vgtasd me and Pangur (who you have accused of being middle class English) ste both Irish.

Pangur said that she is from Ballymun.

Do you think that you are the only Irish person in existsnce?!

(Oh no, now that I've shown I understand how to pronounce Featherstonhaugh my cover of being a British Lord is blown and I've proved @Vgtasd right! Blast it etc!)

I have never heard of that name but then again I'm not Irish or familiar with Irish names.
On reading it for the first time in your OP I read it in my head as silly-an. I think you should be prepared for people to get it wrong first time but after that there is no excuse

I like to learn so I wouldn't make the same mistake again.
And like wise your family shouldn't make the same mistake again either - it's not difficult to learn how to pronounce a name.

Congratulations by the way

I'm from the north too, but so old we had compulsory Latin, I had no idea what was going on. My dh has good Latin. If he's meeting someone with an unusual Irish name he checks how it is pronounced. Like a normal person.
My MIL does the thing about what kids will say in school, every baby that arrives.

Persevere, he’s gonna have his whole life with his name either misspelt or mispronounced. I love the name Cillian, it’s a beautiful name! I have a Lorcán and I used to get annoyed now I don’t I just correct them now x

I keep thinking of my old friend Proinseas who we used to call princess. Good days

I think you are right @Pangur2 I love those kinds of things from a sociological perspective, but most of those I know of are place names: Towcester (toaster), the Cinq Ports in East Sussex (sink not the French sank - saying sank indicated you were a spy/invader).

Is fearherstonhaugh a name

@Annamaria14 none of us are Irish enough to kiss the end of @Vgtasd's shillelagh.

@pangur2 I need to break out my cuplá focal to settle this argument 😂😂

@eggandonion my school had compulsory Latin too! The only subject I ever got an À in...

@Annamaria14 you're right, I think it should be an optional subject after a certain age, just as any other second language - I do agree with it being compulsory for at least the formative years though. There's no point keeping it mandatory until 6th form/LC though because that just makes the kids rebel against it doesn't it

Conas atá tú?

@annamaria14 quick Google where you are from! Pathetic too that you also have to gang up with another user ha ha ha jesus wept

@bebesidethesea those are cool examples! Good ways to find a spy, haha.

@annamaria14, yeah it's a surname but it's pronounced Fenshaw on purpose, to weed out the undesirables such as ourselves, with our haitches, ors and feather-stone-haas.

Birthday cake, did you wear a blazer? MIL was horrified that my kids went to a community school and didn't have blazers.
I had no idea what was happening in Latin, too many Greeks and gods for me.
I think the lack of modern foreign language uptake in England is awful - threads on kids not taking a language because they want to be an architect -at 14!

@Vgtasd do you really think that no one else is from Ireland, only you?

What a strange, strange person.

I am from the county of Westmeath.

I've one of those "weird Irish names" no one can pronounce & despite being raised in London in the 90s onwards, it's never been a problem. Lots of compliments & lots of people can pronounce it now since traditional names are more in fashion.

Does being born & raised in London make me fake Irish (my dad hates the Paddy word)? My mum, dad, grandparents, great grandparents were all born & raised in Ireland & only my mum lives in England.

@showerdodger you are whatever you want to be. That is a lovely heritage

@annamaria14 nope I don't think I'm the only Irish person but I can spot a fake sit on the fence from a kilometre away

And I'm proud of it! 😁

@Vgtasd it is true that aggressive people see nice people as "fake" because we are not angry like you.

Try to work on your anger issues

I only knew because my partners family member have the same name

@eggandonion pffft of course I wore a blazer! We were a grammar school... Haha it loved to think it was posher than it was with its Latin and all

This whole thing with vgtsad not believing anyone else is Irish is while weird, there are a ton of regular users I can name off the top of my head I know to be Irish, some who haven't even appeared in this thread. It's not so far-fetched at all considering it's a UK-&-Ireland-based forum

the funny things is one of my dc has a pretty generic name that's fairly common in the UK although it's a European name, loads of people pronounce it wrong so go with what you like.