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.

@spookybitches

Just tell them it’s pronounced Gillian as in the actor Cillain Murphy from Peaky Blinders.

Tell them to google him & then say don’t embarrass yourself by pronouncing it Cillian in-front of people.

Don’t bother correcting them, once is enough. As they are either;

a) trying to annoy you
b) not too worldly when it comes to names

Seriously who pronounces Cillian.....Cillian! Don’t second guess the name of your child because of other people. Your child, your choice of name. Which BTW is lovely. Congrats.

Honestly. People are idiots!

Btw - it's a lovely name, OP.

It’s a great name OP. I hope those people haven’t upset you. It’s a lovely name.

I don't watch Peaky Blinders and I'd never heard of it so would have gone for Silly-an. However, once corrected, I would know better! It's a lovely name btw!

I would have said Silly Ann at first too but, once corrected, I wouldn't purposefully say it wrong again! I now know that if I see this name it is pronounced Kill Ian, so I will get it right from now on.

I would pronounce it killy un...as silly un doesn't sound right...
I have the same issue with some of my friends and my son. I called him Bowie as in bo wee. But some people say it as in wowie but with the b. I named him after David bowie and have named him how it is meant to be pronounced but dont get too uptight when people say it wrong as I know everyone has their different way of pronouncing david Bowie...so I just say call him Bo. Maybe get your fam to call him killy? Or whatever the nickname is for him

Isn’t it Kill-ee-an?
It was on our metaphorical list too when our first DD was born (before we knew gender) and that’s how we would have pronounced it

It's a lovely name. I'm Irish so know how up pronounce it and so will everyone that's important to him in his life. My name is unusually and gets mistaken from time to time but it doesn't bother me in the slightest and is a great conversation starter. Congratulations on your new baby

I thought it was pronounced Silly un,but if I was told the how to pronounce it I would pronounce it correctly, I think they are doing it on purpose which makes them sound pretty immature

I know because of Cillian Murphy but I would ask how to pronounce it

My cousin has a small son called Cillian, I think most of the family were unsure how to pronounce it initially but don't have a problem with it now. I feel more sorry for his poor Uncle Iain!

@OchonAgusOchonO

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.

Or that old chestnut, Éire Eerie.

I've only ever seen it written down and my guess would have been Silly-un, sorry.

Every time someone gets your name wrong, you cringe.

I have an Irish name and live in the US. No cringing here. I think you'd need to be a very shrinking violet indeed to have any response other than a polite and slightly louder introduction of yourself, with a smile. Most of the time you can let it go completely if someone is in the ballpark.

Aww congratulations my little boy is also called Cillian and he’s 10 months old and we have had exactly the same since he was born. Now all the family, friends and nursery all pronounce is correctly it feels a little better.

I've taught a Cillian -pronounced Killy-an

I have a Niamh and Siobhan and get some great pronounciations and spellings. We often jokingly refer to Nee-am and Si o ban. Lol I'd be miffed if family were not joking though!!

Kill-E-an but only because of my Irish background.

@mathanxiety
Without knowing the names, you can't really tell.

It's not always as simple as, say, correcting Iain to sound like Ian.

Certain languages have sounds that don't occur in English (UK, International, US, Australasion). (e.g. Khalid)

You can either toughen up and put up with an interpretation of your name (e.g. Kalid, Halid, Kaleed, Haleed ) or cringe.

Australasian. I meant Antipodean.

It's a great name!!!
Some people are too lazy to learn a name! When you've told them once they should remember it!

'Orla' is properly spelled, 'Órlaith' in Irish

...not since An Caighdeán Oifigiúil was developed in the 1950s/60s, with simplified spelling and standardisation of pronunciation (to Connacht Irish, though with elements of all three dialetcs included). You can use either, or even go full on Órfhlaith, but Orla is the modern spelling.

You can either toughen up and put up with an interpretation of your name (e.g. Kalid, Halid, Kaleed, Haleed ) or cringe.

It really doesn't take that much toughening up, speaking personally. And if you choose not to toughen up, if that is needed, then cringing is essentially your choice.

He's probably going to be very frustrated when he gets to school because the teachers will probably always pronounce it incorrectly. My granddaughters have Italian names and they are always correcting people! My daughter in law (who isn't Welsh but lives in Wales) gave her youngest daughter a Welsh name - Eleri , which I cannot pronounce correctly even though she has told me the correct pronounciation a hundred times !!!!