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Opinions on the name Ireland?

165 replies

Chelsie2020 · 22/04/2020 19:22

what do people think?

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Pinkblueberry · 22/04/2020 19:52

Why not ‘Island’? A bit strange - but definitely less strange than randomly naming your child after the country.

lockdownstress · 22/04/2020 19:52

Poor child

RoLaren · 22/04/2020 19:56

He/she would spend their entire life saying 'It's the island of Ireland spelling'. Hideous, sorry.

FakeFraudSquad · 22/04/2020 20:03

Nope. Just think about it realistically...

Would you call a child “Wales”? Or “Scotland”?

Erin or Eireann fine.

I’m really not keen on the place names as people’s actual names though. London/Paris/India etc.

I once taught a Miami, named after where she was conceived...poor kid. Made worse that it was in a rough part of Greater Manchester and her Mum always used to say her name with a cigarette in her mouth through gritted teeth and a really thick Mancunian accent.

What is the reason you were thinking of choosing Ireland?

SirVixofVixHall · 22/04/2020 20:06

As ridiculous as calling a baby England, Scotland, Wales or If you want something more European, Sweden or France.
Just no.

Chelsie2020 · 22/04/2020 20:25

@PineappleDanish what celeb has used it? I got the name from Ireland’s neuroblastoma journey on Facebook.

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Chelsie2020 · 22/04/2020 20:28

@florascotia2 but what’s the difference between India, London, Asia, Sydney, Florence, Brooklyn?

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Ginger1982 · 22/04/2020 20:28

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin's daughter is called Ireland.

Acaciaqu · 22/04/2020 20:55

@Ricekrispie22 ahahaha woah!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/04/2020 00:06

St Vincent & The Grenadines is prettier....

Erin is nice, very poetic sounding, and has the same meaning - but in person-name form rather than strictly country-name form.

What about Isla or Ellen? Even Emerald, at an absolute push, if you're still really grabbed by a connection to the country she'll just start going by Emma as soon as she's at school though

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/04/2020 00:21

but what’s the difference between India, London, Asia, Sydney, Florence, Brooklyn?

I think London sounds clunky, I still associate Sydney/Sidney with being a boys' name and Brooklyn is just weird. Everybody is used to it now, because the Beckhams are such a huge, prominent family, but I remember when he was born and everybody was saying "What the what now?!?!"

India and Asia are naturally pretty and feminine-sounding. It helps that they don't have the ugly-sounding (for a person, especially a female) 'land' chocked on the end.

With Florence, it'a a long-established and esteemed name and I suppose people also naturally associate it as a pretty feminine equivalent of Laurence. Some country and city names - especially when they end with a vowel and/or soft sound - just naturally evoke more pleasant feelings, especially if the city itself is beautiful.

No offence intended to the woman herself, should she be reading(!), but Ireland sounds especially clunky along with Baldwin; probably with any surname starting with a consonant, actually, coming straight after the harsh 'nd' sound. At best, the 'd' would get swallowed and disappear and it would just sound like 'Irelan Smith' for example - and then that is only a short very aural hop to ALAN Smith!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/04/2020 00:24

*only a very short aural hop, that should have said.

JaneJeffer · 23/04/2020 00:31

What about Hibernia instead?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/04/2020 00:32

It's not uncommon for people to want names associated with a country, but they usually use established names that are adapted from the country name - quite often the same as or similar to the name for a native person^ from that country (but not when it would end with -man or -woman).

e.g.:
Erin - not Ireland
Scott - not Scotland
Frances/Francis/Francois(e) - not France
Dane - not Denmark
Sven - not Sweden
Finn - not Finland
Bruce/Sheila - not Australia Grin

ShleeAnKree · 23/04/2020 00:33

Awful. I'm Irish if that makes any difference.

It's harsh, the D at the end is hard to say when it's a person's name. It sounds like a country.

Tanzania is nice tough! That works better as a name.
India

ShleeAnKree · 23/04/2020 00:35

Ireland Baldwin is a really hard name to say

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/04/2020 00:36

Hibernia is very pleasant sounding. Quirky, but still actually sounds like a person's name.

Hibernia, Hib, Hibby, Bernie, Nia - lots of nice variants/pet names too.

CMMum88 · 23/04/2020 00:36

What about Erin? Its derived from the same roots as Ireland.

JaneJeffer · 23/04/2020 00:38

Bruce/Sheila - not Australia
PMSL Grin not Ozzy?

Astronica · 23/04/2020 00:39

I like it.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/04/2020 00:40

Ireland Baldwin is a really hard name to say

I could sort of imagine it sounding reasonable with a long, drawn-out Texan (say) accent - ' Eye-erlaaaaannd-uh Baaaaarrlllldwinn'.

Just doesn't work with your average UK or Irish accent, though.

StayinginSummer · 23/04/2020 00:46

No.

backinthebox · 23/04/2020 00:46

Are you a Womble?

YourWinter · 23/04/2020 00:51

Oh God no, don't do this to a child.

Rubybluesy · 23/04/2020 00:55

Awful

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