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.

@Hayfevered why should English people know everything about Ireland?

Do Irish people know everything about England ? No they don't.

I am in Ireland right now, and one of the things that me and my Irish flatmate did ti alleviate the boredom, was an English county quiz online. We both got about 20 per cent right.

Do you know where all the counties in England are on a map? Why do you expect neighbouring countries to know everything about each other?

I suggested Ian as I didn't think kill would be likely and it's already part of lo name. As particular as my mother was about our names and spellings to the point of giving relatives a row, it doesn't impact on school friends. We all got both affectionate shortening, those who thought they were being funny and those at school who were just nasty. As men, my brothers had no problems but I've not been so lucky, again it was people thinking they were funny and some just nasty. My parents were upset and apologised when they found out about it decades later. They just loved the names.

Do Irish people know everything about England ? No they don't.

I don't expect English people to know everything about Ireland but something as basic as the fact that part of it is part of the UK (whether anyone agrees with that or not is a whole separate issue) and part of it is very much not seems to come as a shock to an awful lot of people in England.

When you're asked what currency we use in N Ireland, or what do we have instead of the NHS, or (my favourite) if we have debit and credit cards here, it's mind boggling.

I think I'd be pretty good at that English counties quiz, but I admit I'd struggle with the counties in Wales and Scotland.

@Annamaria14, where have I suggested they should? And I don't know why you are making a particularly flimsy straw man argument about knowing the names/locations of counties. I'm talking about basic things like not knowing that Ireland and Northern Ireland are not the same political jurisdiction and that Ireland is not in the UK. I had to convince three different people, including a manager, at a Jobcentre when I first moved to England, that, no, I couldn't just use my home NI number from the ROI 'because it's all the same, isn't it?'

I would say sill-ee-an but once corrected would be ok.

X-posted with @isabellerossignol.

@hayfevered I agree that alot of people in the UK know very little about Ireland. But also that alot of people in Ireland know very little about England.

The point is - should people know about their neighbouring country? I think that most neighbouring countries are pretty unaware of their neighbours. What about countries in Europe that have five neighbouring countries.

@hayfevered I agree that alot of people in the UK know very little about Ireland. But also that alot of people in Ireland know very little about England.

I'd be extremely surprised if a single person in Ireland couldn't name the British PM, or was labouring under the delusion that the entire UK was ruled from a government sitting in Cardiff.

Kill Ian.

I thought it was silly-an too so kill-Ian sounds really savage.

It's not necessarily about knowing everything about a neighbour, it's being respectful enough of the neighbour to learn their names when they tell you how to pronounce them and not telling them that they're ridiculous for not considering YOUR understanding of the alpabet when naming their children.

The arrogance of it!

If your family moved to Russia would you name your children Russian names so that they'd be instantly read correctly or would you pick the names that feel good to your own ear?

It's not Kill-Ian, it's KILL-ee-un.

'Cill' is a church or a monastic cell in Irish -- you see it in a lot of anglicised Irish placenames, though 'Kil' can also be derived from 'Coill' which is Irish for wood. So Kildare is from 'Cill Dara', meaning the church of the oak. Ballinakill (Baile na Coille) is 'the town of the wood'.

I'd have guessed Silly-an
Only ever met one Killian and he spelt it with a K.

I lived in England so have an advantage, but most Irish people can pronounce Salisbury without an is in the middle, or Worcester without ces, or even Llandudno or Ayr.
Dara is a nice sibling name for Cillian (or an alternative spelling is available!)

@eggandonion How do you pronounce Salisbury?

I(irish) would have pronounced it Salisbury

I know Worcester is Wuster, because I have heard some one say it, and I presume Ayr is Air.

It's more Sauls berry, minus the i.

kill-Ian sounds really savage

that’s what I thought!

It's not Kill-Ian, it's KILL-ee-un.

I’m sorry I can’t really tell the difference between the two.

It's not Ian as in Ian Paisley, it is two syllables rather than one.

Different stresses.

Imagine someone giving you an order to go and murder someone called Ian. 'Kill Ian.' The name Ian is pronounced EE-un. They're saying 'Kill EE-un.'

Cillian is 'KILL-ee-un'. Emphasis on the first syllable.

And if you think Cillian is 'savage-sounding', I recommend you avoid Ireland, where there are thousands of placenames beginning 'Kil'. Kildare, Kildorrery, Kilcorhane. And quite a few places/townlands actually called 'Kill'.

Kilcrohane.

Killinaskully too!

Kilcroney Kilnamanagh Kiltimagh Kilternan Killincarraig

Unfortunately these might not be great examples as the English version is spelt with a K! We could put a petition together and ask for all place names beginning with Kil to be changed to Cil. Come on Cilcroney!

To me its pronounced Killyan !!!

Unfortunately these might not be great examples as the English version is spelt with a K!

In fairness, this was the British Ordnance Survey expedition anglicising placenames.

I suppose we could switch back...? Each townland gets a vote. I can imagine my nearest 'Kil' townland, which has about ten inhabitants, getting very divisive on it.