Help me choose please: Irish girl's names

[Errorandtrial]

Hello. Due DD2 shortly. Have one DD and one DS already both with Irish names so want an Irish name for our new baby girl.

We have narrowed it down to two; Saorlaith/ Saorla (pronounced Sairla) and Siún (pronounced Shoon).

Very undecided about which one to go for but sure it will be one of these two.

I would really appreciate opinions on which is better! Thanks in advance.

I like both.

(That wasn’t helpful, was it?)

Siún by a nose, maybe.

I love Siún, beautiful name.

I like Saorla better. Unless you live in Ireland I would avoid more complicated spellings and fadas.

Well, the OP will need to use the fada in Siún regardless of where she lives, otherwise it’s ‘Shun’ and not a name.

Exactly @FlurryKnox which is why I said I preferred the other. DD has an Irish name (I am Irish) and we don't live in Ireland. I really don't understand why people can deal with other language's accents but struggle so much with fadas which are no different to French acutes but in my experience they do!

I like Saorlaith/ Saorla much more. Beautiful name. I like either spelling - Saerlaith looks great written down but Saorla might help people unfamiliar with the name get closer to the pronunciation.

Saorla is very nice, though I do love names with sh sounds.

Thanks. I'm in London. My other two DCs have Irish names as I mentioned and pronunciation is never a problem. People generally ask and then get on with it! However, neither has a fada accent in their names. Siun is not the same pronunciation as Siún so that might be an issue.

I think I prefer Saorla by a nose, and that spelling too. I'm not a fan of anglicising Irish names, but Saorla is perfectly valid in Irish so no point going for the more complicated spelling for English speakers (in my book).

I think Saorla is prettier and this spelling better if living in England

I prefer Saorlaith/ Saorla by a long way.

If you were living in Ireland I'd say Siún, because we can cope with fadas here.

As you're in London I'd go for Saorla (the simpler the spelling the better) because the incorrect spellings and lack of fadas that you'll inevitably get will drive you nuts.

Ah my ds best friend is called saorlaith, it's a lovely name!

I like saorlaith. DDs middle name is saoirse (sursha).

Love both names OP, though I think Saorla might be simpler in London. A dialectal variation in pronunciation is Seer-la.

Siún. More unusual and simple enough to explain.
It's Joan isn't it.

Saorla is a much nicer sounding name imo.

@MikeUniformMike
Yes, I think Siún is a form of Siobhán, which is cognate with Joan.

I love the name Saorla

Thanks for all the feedback. I do wonder if Siún, with the ostensibly troublesome fada accent on the u, would set her up for a lifetime of never having her name quite right...

I have a fada in my first name and my surname and spent a couple of decades living in England without it causing any particular difficulties, other than it being mildly annoying that some online forms won't accept a letter with a fada.

I think Saorla spelled like that. People are more likely to get it right-ish if they don’t know whereas I think Siun will get Sian (Shan) constantly. I also just prefer Saorla.

I’m in a similar position as pregnant with a girl and have a DS with an Irish name. His begins with S so avoiding s names for her and totally stumped!

Saorla. Lovely.

Saorla

Saorla I've never heard it before now but it looks and sounds lovely.