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.

I love Róisín, beautiful name. I picture a Róisín as a real beauty.

I like different pronunciations of my name.

If I go to Spain - they pronounce J as H.

So my name is similiar to Janet.

They call me Hanet

I love names from other languages or names that aren't spelled phonetically.

One of my pet hates is names like 'Shevaunne'. If you want to use a Celtic name then at least have the good grace to spell it properly. I know so many 'Neve's now that it makes my skin prickle. Yes, it's a lovely sound, but people can always ask how to pronounce a name if they can't work it out.

There seems to be a certain type of English person who deliberately refuses to learn how to pronounce Irish (and presumably other foreign) names. You only have to look at the bastardisation news readers and politicians used to make of Haughey's name. Yes, it's difficult but none of the sounds are alien to an English speaker.

I wonder how some English people cope at all. Hamish - like Ham Sandwich (or sangwidge if you prefer). Hugh Grant - Huge Grant. Sean Connery - Seen. Not to mention names from other continents, they can be so tricky.
If I'm in work and need to spell O'Mahoney for example, I ask if it is with an E. Job done.

They will soon get used to it

Maybe, but every time you meet someone new, who isn't familiar with the name, they will say it incorrectly.

Every time someone gets your name wrong, you cringe.
A day when you are meeting many new people, under not the best circumstances, it can be very tiresome.

People don't like to be corrected, and some people can't hear the nuances.

I would pronounce Roisin as Rosheen. Feel free to correct me.
Cillian is easy because I heard it before I read it - Cillian Murphy is popular.

If I say my child's name - this is Olivia - surely they accept what I say? They don't change it to Oh! livia. If I say this is Seamus, do they decide to call him Seemus? Most 'new people' are told the name, they don't see it written down.
Roisin is pronounced slightly differently between north and south of Ireland, due to accent. A bit like bath is pronounced differently in the north and south of England.

Why would Cill be pronounced Sill when cup, cow, can, car are all pronounced with a hard c sound?

Because in English, most words that begin with Ce or Ci have a soft c.

Obviously Cillian follows Irish pronunciation rules though so it's a moot point.

Because in English, c is pronounced s if it comes before e, i or y.

ceiling
civet
cyborg
etc.

Maybe, but every time you meet someone new, who isn't familiar with the name, they will say it incorrectly.

Every time someone gets your name wrong, you cringe.

Honestly? You sound as if you have a complex. Try travelling to parts of the world where even being called Tom or Emma aren't obvious pronunciations? My name is Aoife and I have lived out of Ireland for the last 30 years, in different parts of the UK, France, the US, South Africa, the ME. No, not many non-Irish people get it right first time without being told, but I have never had an issue with anyone consistently mispronouncing it. Nor do I 'cringe' on meeting new people.

Fair point.. and yes.. its irrelevant as its Irish not English.

Maybe you could tell your family that all of the mispronouncing of your son's name is upsetting you (as they intend it to) and so you and DH are thinking maybe you should move to Ireland where people will get it right......
They'll probably discover it's not that hard a name after all!

My surname, which is Irish in origin but I use the anglicised version, is similar to our local td. That's a member of parliament. I don't cringe if people misread it, I say unfortunately not!
My Dd1 uses the Irish version of her middle name and my surname at times.

Until recently I would have said Sillyun.

@ChateauMargaux - Why would Cill be pronounced Sill when cup, cow, can, car are all pronounced with a hard c sound?

Because languages that are not English do not follow English language rules, obviously.

I would pronounce it Killian.

Anyone (like your family) that pronounces it wrongly when they've been told how to pronounce it is an idiot.

Obviously Cillian follows Irish pronunciation rules though so it's a moot point

Fair point.. and yes.. its irrelevant as its Irish not English

It's relevant to the discussion on why English people often mispronounce it at first though.

It's not as if ChateauMargaux has a pronounced x as in box - it follows French rules. I assume.

It's relevant to the discussion on why English people often mispronounce it at first though.

Nobody is criticising english people who mispronounce it at first. Those who are being criticised are those who refuse to pronounce it correctly, despite being repeatedly told how to pronounce it.

There are no sounds in the name that are difficult for an English speaker which means that it is a refusal, rather than an inability, to pronounce it correctly.

It's pronounced Killian. I think it's a lovely name. (It was on my list for DS but DH couldn't pronounce it correctly first time.)

If people are mispronouncing it after being corrected, they're arses.

I have an Irish name that is constantly mispronounced in England. I don't mind that as it's spelt using the Irish alphabet. However it really pisses me off when people suggest that I should spell it phonetically (according to the the English language) or that it's somehow unreasonable to expect people to remember the correct pronunciation when I tell them or they mock the name and say it's strange. Some people are just weird.

My DC will all have Irish names but my British\Asian DH has requested that they are names he can pronounce correctly the first time he reads them. Our list of available names was quite short.......

Was Shay on the list?

@eggandonion Shay was the decision! But the name it's derived from was vetoed - Seamus.

@56elizabethdraper
@05Pangur2

Waves back
Small world

OP - is it everyone in your family who mispronounces Cillian, or just a few members?

Did any of them express any views on names whilst you were pregnant? I.e. did they tell you to use an English name and not an Irish one? Are they doing this as a protest?