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 I dint mean specifically about Ireland ( and I know almost nothing to be totally honest) but I meant generally. It amazes me that my DH assumes everyone knows xyz when I haven't even heard of it.

I have know lots of Penelopes in my life (never met a Persephone, and wouldn't have known how to pronounce it until I was told). Aoife - I still struggle with despite knowing a little one, the letters just sound for such different sounds to those I'm used to. Cillian I now know, but different celtic languages do vary as to whether the C is hard or soft. Deirdre - I first came across this in Coronation street, and she was not pronounced in the Irish way. Domhnall - I don't know, never met one, and would feel very nervous of trying - as I'd be sure to mispronounce.
But Siobhan - I can do! I have known a few.
And I have learnt Niamh - although I might mis spell that a bit like Ruairi

And I have learnt Niamh - although I might mis spell that a bit like Ruairi

That's quite a misspelling 🤣 (yes, I knew what you meant but I couldn't resist)

Wait, how do you pronounce Billie Eilish?

I actually thought it was Ellish until just now 😅

I was 10ish when the first Harry Potter book came out and I spent the first 3 or 4 books reading it in my head as Hermy-own. Only when they got super famous and people started talking about them more did I learn my mistake, and by that point the proper pronunciation just sounded so wrong!

@spookybitches - are you going to tackle your parents about this? They are being shockingly disrespectful.

I'm half English and half Welsh subject to a load of anti Welsh stuff from the English side and anti English stuff from the Welsh side growing up. Despite that, no-one on the English side were rude enough to deliberately mispronounce or misspell my Welsh name. You need to nip this shit in the bud before your DS is old enough to realise and be affected by it.

@whatdoyoudonow I know an Irish Eilish who pronounces it I (or 'eye')-lish. She lives in Ireland, a lot of people call her aye-lish so she has to correct them. I believe her mother was a native Irish speaker so assume it's an accepted pronunciation... maybe @mathanxiety can confirm!

Actually she prefers Eye-leash rather than 'lish'

BBC Radio 1 presenters tend to pronounce it Eye-lish.

Another mispronounced one is Camila Cabello. Which should be pronounced Cam-ee-la Cab-ey-oh. And is most of the time. But so many radio presenters (local radio) call her either Camilla as in Camilla Parker-Bowles or Cam-ee-ya.

I love the name and would know how to pronounce. If your family are continually getting it wrong after being correct they are doing it on purpose.

DD2's friend in Cork is Eye Leash, but I knew one in Belfast who was more Ay Lish (rhyming with Hay). But Cillian is much more standard.

@DaffodilThatch - I believe her mother was a native Irish speaker so assume it's an accepted pronunciation

Eye-Lish is a bit of an anglicisation. Eye-leash is more correct. The Irish spelling is Eilís. The accent on the i elongates the i and changes the sound of it.

@eggandonion - DD2's friend in Cork is Eye Leash, but I knew one in Belfast who was more Ay Lish (rhyming with Hay).

That would be the Ulster Irish, the bane of every leaving cert student who is not from Ulster (they include a bit from each dialect in the Irish aural exam). It's quite different to the other dialects, I assume there is a Scots Gaelic influence on it.

Sorry I haven't read the full thread. I would have pronounced it Silly-an in the first instance. I knew of Cillian Murphy but never heard his name spoken. I think what is key here is that after correction they continue to do it. If I was corrected on somebody's name I would never continue to mispronounce it, I would make a point of pronouncing it correctly in future! They must be doing it on purpose, which is not only annoying but really sad for you coming from a family member.

kill e an, but i only know that because of Cillian Murphy. believe it or not most names are mispronounced, just keep correcting people. We have a Helena (hell a na) but we get the eastern european pronunciation (hel-ayna) all the time.

My friend Cheryl from childhood would agree, she got fed up of being called Sheryl.

That would be the Ulster Irish, the bane of every leaving cert student who is not from Ulster (they include a bit from each dialect in the Irish aural exam). It's quite different to the other dialects, I assume there is a Scots Gaelic influence on it. I can imagine, my mother was a protestant from Ulster and my father a Catholic from the Republic. I was born in England and spent my childhood in a state of confusion. Funnily enough religion never caused a problem, how to pronounce dulse however was a constant issue with the two families, didn't stop us eating it. The other mystery was my Ulster cousins telling me I was a left footer but if anyone asked I was to say I kicked with the right. If they'd just said if anyone asks you kick with the right it would have been so much easier.

Pronounced with a hard k like the gorgeous Cillian Murphy from Peaky Blinders! I’ve come across the name before that too. Beautiful Irish name. To be fair though my son is Gunabhiram (Guna for short) chosen by my Indian husband. I knew no-one would know how to pronounce it. However as a teacher I see so many unusual names that it doesn’t phase me. At least your son has an established Irish name (not a made up one or a mis-spelling of a name that already exists). These days anything goes and having a lovely Irish name shouldn’t make you think twice. Once you know Cillian, it’s easy to remember and now you’ve educated 630 people via this thread

The other mystery was my Ulster cousins telling me I was a left footer but if anyone asked I was to say I kicked with the right.

I never knew there was a left and right. I'd only ever heard protestants described as kicking with the wrong foot. I'm from the Republic though, so most people here kicked with the same foot.

@1forsorrow, how else can you pronounce dulse other than to rhyme with ‘pulse’? Or ‘eww, gross’, as my eight year old calls it...

Hayfevered one side rhymed with pulse, the other had a k at the end more like dilsk from what I remember, going back over 50 years here. The Ulster side had the k.

Can't believe your 8 year old doesn't like it. It was our big treat when we had visitors from Ireland, or someone in the family came back from a holiday in Ireland. I haven't had it for years.

Maybe it says something about food in the 50s?

I would know but I am Irish! My child has an Irish name living in England and people get there in the end with pronouncing. Lovely name I think!!

It fazes me that teachers say that something doesn't phase them.