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.

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

But Ian does have two syllables... How would you even say it with one?

Wow! I'm so sorry for going radio silent, my hard-to-pronounce baby has been keeping me up all hours of the night and day. To answer a few questions;

• my family are really far from where I am and Cillian arrived unexpectedly early, so the first time they heard the name was in a written message. I guess that stuck in their head.
• I really don't know if my family are doing it out of spite or not. Have always embraced my DH, who is from NI.
• I am going to ask them what their issue is, but I'm hoping it's because they'd spent a few days with the name before actually hearing it said verbally, silly-Ann just stuck
• I have no intention of changing his name to a K to suit some people's conveniences
• I've been with DH a long time so have been immersed in the Irish culture for a while. I had no idea Cillian would be so uncommon for so many people because we never discussed names with anyone
• no, I don't plan on giving him a nickname. He can decide on one if he wants.
• I hope he doesn't feel the need to kill little Iain when/if he meets him at school one day

Thank you to everyone who responded and showed love for the name, it has made me feel so much better about it. I do love the name. And baby Cillian suits it perfectly.

Btw, he's only a quarter English 😉

But Ian does have two syllables... How would you even say it with one

Yan, or Yun.

Accents are great aren't they?

@BrooHaHa - But Ian does have two syllables... How would you even say it with one?

I've never heard Ian pronounced with 2 syllables. It's pronounced 'een'

How do you pronounce it?

I've only ever heard Ian pronounced Ee-an.

I'd pronounce Ian as Ain like Ian Paisley I can't imagine it with two syllables.

I've never heard Ian pronounced with 2 syllables. It's pronounced 'een'

How do you pronounce it?

Ee-An. Like Ian Wright the footballer. I have an uncle Ian. Definitely has two syllables m I've never met or heard of an 'Een'.

Ian is two syllables for me also.

E-En.

@MollyButton, there is no soft C in any Celtic language.

I can't understand why you can't just hear Aoife 'Eefa" and then repeat it. How is it causing you problems? You don't have to figure out Irish orthography (though it's very straightforward and consistent). Just take the spelling at face value and say the name the way you heard it.

How did you manage to learn to spell in English, with its many strange combinations of letters, including silent Ks and Bs?

MikeUniformMike Hah! I like what you did there. Silly me! You’re right - I should know better!

I'm glad you're not caving in OP and changing the spelling of Cillian, or the name itself.

Good idea to speak to your family. Make it clear that you expect them to make an effort to get it right.

It's not much of an effort - first time I saw Cillian Murphy's name I though 'Sillyan' too, for all of about 30 seconds before I thought, it's Irish I bet it's a hard C like in Welsh (which also doesn't have the letter K), googled it to confirm and no issue remembering since!

I'm so glad you're sticking with it too. As a mum of a 2 month old Cillian I have followed this thread closely as we are having similar issues with pronounction.
Still glad we chose it though

@Alwaysundecided I saw your post earlier, uncanny similarities! You have great taste congratulations on baby Cillian x

In Ireland one of our public health experts is Prof Cillian de Gascun, allegedly known in his lab as Gazza. So we can cope with complicated names in Ireland, and Cillian is on the news most days.
He is quoted in the Irish Times article today on lifting restrictions, by possibly allowing adult siblings and cousins to mix as we progress through lockdown. But not strangers and randomers. I wonder if he said randomers, he's quite posh.

Yes, I think it's key to make it perfectly clear to family that their continual mispronunciation isn't some kind of hilarious family joke, and that you expect them to get it right. We had a similar issue (mispronunciation as protest) from DH's parents when DS was born, despite the fact that we're all Irish, and it's an Irish name.

I think the mispronunciation stemmed from the fact that it's a comparatively unusual name, and the ILs think that names other than Seán are a sign you're getting above yourself. It was a form of protest against us thinking we were 'special'. We sat them down and said firmly that it had gone beyond a joke, we knew they were not stupid people, and we expected them to pronounce their grandchild's name correctly. It worked, eventually.