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 have a Cillian and it's a gorgeous name. Live in England and I expect people to get it wrong first time but no excuse for thereafter. Be proud- he stands out - and there wont be too many with the same name at school.

I immediately pronounced it in my head as Cillian - with a curly c - so it’s not you, it’s them. It’s a lovely name.

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

I would have gone with Silly Anne or Kill Ian, but now I know I'll do my best to get it right when I next meet someone with that name.

I LOVE THAT NAME massive cillian fan and it starts with a c not s :L otherwise it would be sillian lmao

Kee lian but I'm biased my daughter's best friend is called Cian.
But that's not the point if you corrected them and they still misponounce it, they're rude

A friend of mine has a little boy with the same name, his dad is Northern Irish so I already knew how it’s pronounced. She also has a little girl called Ciara. Again a hard C (kee-ra) I know of someone that called their daughter Niamh and they pronounced it themselves as - Ny-mer). 🤔 I’ve always known it pronounced as Neve.

This was also our baby name if we had a boy (DH also irish), just keep correcting them & point them in the direction of Cillian Murphy's film & TV back catalogue, they'll soon learn!

I'd pronounce it Kill-ee-Ann. Am I correct?

I would pronounce it Kill-ee-an. Not Irish but a big Once upon a time fan and would just assume it was pronounced that way.
This will probably be very outing as I have never met another one, but my DS is called Negan and people always pronounce it wrong, even when I have told them his name they say it wrong and I have to correct them 🤦‍♀️.

Would pronounce it with a hard C, same as Ciara, Ciaran, Cian, Cain etc. Love it as a name!

Do all this people assuming soft c assume Cathy is sathy?

Argh! These obviously

I would only give me a child an Irish name if I were Irish otherwise you’re bound to have this sort of thing happen. A trifle shortsighted of you OP.

The OP's DH is Irish. Their baby is half Irish.

Still time to change it rather than saddle child with a silly name for life.

Still time for you to grow up, open your mind and embrace the fact that not all babies are called Jack and Sophie for your convenience.

My friends got a little boy that’s called Cillian too. It’s a gorgeous name. Don’t be put off by others lack of effort to say his name right. It’s lovely.

I'd pronounce it kil ee an. It's a lovely name. I love it!

@sunshine11 - but OP's DH, the father of her child, IS Irish. Little Cillian is half-Irish and half-English/Scottish/Welsh or whatever the OP is.

By the same logic OP can't give any DC an English/whatever she is name either as her DH would also be giving the DC that name, and he's Irish.

This is the downside of being half and half. I get it myself 'oh you can't use a Welsh name as you're not properly Welsh', from the same people who object if I support England as I'm 'not properly English' either.

I guess any DC I have shall remain nameless as I'm too English to use a Welsh name and too Welsh to use an English one

Also, Cillian is not a silly name. Names from other cultures aren't silly. I would advise anyone to think of potential pitfalls of a name - for example I would avoid Myfanwy in England as to someone who doesn't know how to pronounce it, it looks like Myfanny - but that doesn't mean other Welsh names (or Irish/Scottish or any other cultures names) are verboten.

There are plenty of people with Celtic names in England - Tadgh, Aoife, Seán, Orla, Eoin, Caoimhe, Saoirse, Ailbhe, Mari, Seren, Siôn, Ioan, Aneurin, Eira, Eirlys, Tomos, Alys, Tesni, Taliesin, Morwenna, Jago, Elowen, Lowenna - none of these names are stupid, and neither is Cillian.

Remembering that Cillian is Killian, not Sillian, is not difficult when said Cillian is your grandchild/newphew/cousin. OP's family are perfectly capable of pronouncing it correctly, the issue is that they are choosing not to!

I used to live in Co Antrim, we could wave across at Scotland. I have never met a Mhairi, but I know it is a name, and I can pronounce it because I have heard it said aloud.

Its pronounced Kill-e-ann and it's my favourite boys name although I am irish so know how to pronounce it. Congratulations on your new baby boy 🥰

@sunshine11 Are you that rude and ignorant in real life? I suppose you think we should have a list if a limited number of 'English' names to choose from.

It's a lovely name. It's quite popular so I doubt your DS will have a problem later on. I have a 'foreign' name which was rare when I was young, but quite mainstream now.

Kill-ee-an, but then my exH is Irish. It's a grand name just keep correcting them until they get it right. Congratulations on the birth of your lovely baby boy!

My dad was Irish so I like it. As he gets older people will hear his name rather than read it if that makes sense?

My daughter had a names never before registered in Britain and one stranger has read and pronounced it right in the three years she’s had it.

We laugh about it now and hope she won’t hate us.

I would pronounce it Killane but that’s because I had an old friend with this name and that’s how he pronounced it. It’s lovely.

I used to always pronounce Cillian Murphy wrong in my head until I learnt the correct pronunciation (from an interview with the man himself saying how people always said it incorrectly!) You will have a lifetime of correcting it if you live in England, but consider yourself providing a cultural education!! We all had to learn Siobhan, Niamh, Aoife, etc...!
It’s a gorgeous name btw!

Oh, and @CaffiSaliMali, 'Orla' is properly spelled, 'Órlaith' in Irish