Irish boys names

[Helen8888]

Hi,
We’re a mixed Irish/English couple living in England. Would like to use an Irish name, any suggestions? Surname is one syllable beginning with ‘K’. Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions. I like Niall, Eoin and Seamus but we already have family members with those names.

I think Cillian and Tadhg are still favourites - we just have go decide whether they go with our surname (similar to Cole).

@Apparentlystillchilled Seamie is lovely. If we are lucky enough to have a third DS one day I think we will use Seamus.
@Helen8888 Cillian Cole sounds very cool. With
Tadgh Cole I'm not sure the G and C sound go together that well especially with it being a short name. We had to abandon names ending in the V sound as we have an F surname for a similar reason which discounted Maeve and Niamh. I don't think it's a deal breaker though if you really love it.
Good luck choosing

Do you like Senan? Or Eamonn?

I have a Fynn and a Shay!
Also Roan and Gabriel..

My Irish friend living in England has two boys- Caelan and Oran. I love both names.

Tiarnan, Fergus, Ferdia, Iarla. DS was nearly Naoise, which I adore.

@cailingaelach did you miss aodhan o'riordan's election campaign? He had crayons printed up with the slogan 'it's aodhan like crayon' and did a whole video about people being unable to pronounce his name.

OP, some of these names people would struggle to pronounce in Ireland. Having lived in both countries, I would definitely steer away from Diarmuid, Oisin and Fionn - Fionn will be pronounced as Finn, Diarmuid as Dermot. And actually Niall will get Neill.

Sean, Seamus, Rory, Ferdia, Aidan are boys names that I think travel well.

Niall works fine in England in my experience

Cillian, Niall or Aidan for me but Cillian is my favourite

Thanks for all your suggestions. Like Niall but definitely can’t use it (close family members name).

Sure Saoirse Ronan has her whole "Saoirse rhymes with inertia" thing going on. She's still wrong to a massive chunk of the country.

OP I think Tadgh K would sound alright. Tadgh Kenneally, Tadgh Kennedy...they don't sound too bad. Not sure I like Tadgh King (sounds like typing) so perhaps it works better with a longer surname. While I love Cillian, I don't like the alliteration.

I live in a Gaeltacht area and Aodhan is definitely not pronounced Aay-awn, I've never heard it pronounced that way, always Aay-dawn

Oh that’s interesting, there are a few near me (Munster) and all Aay-awn (like the politician). I prefer Aay-dawn tbh.

Yy, @SionnachRua, Irish people do mispronounce Irish names. There’s that weird mispronunciation of Aoibheann as ‘Ayveen’ that has come up on here from time to time, not to mention Sorcha pronounced as ‘Sore-sha’.

Another vote for the Aay-awn pronunciation of Aodhán (also in Munster). I considered the name for DS but was put off by the varying pronunciations tbh. Also love Aodh but it does sound like an initial (Ay). Big fan of Cormac also.

@worriedmama1980
Niall is actually pronounced 'Neil' in the Irish language afaik. The late actor and comedian Niall Tóibín, who grew up in an Irish speaking family, pronounced it as such. The more usual 'Nye-al' is a (long established) anglicized pronunciation, but it seems to be the most commonly used version now.

One of the nicest little boys I know is called Darragh

@Boscoismyspiritanimal I'm in Connacht, it must vary around the country! Loads of Aodhán's around here and all pronounce it Aodán. Think I prefer it too.

Aodhan pronounced Ay-dawn in Northern Ireland too.

It can also be said as Ay(uh)gawn.

I'd say ay-awn/ay-gawn(ish) unless told otherwise but where I live even fadas are decorative half the time so guessing at the "proper" Gaeilge pronunciation isn't always reliable. Niall should certainly be like Neil (think of how Niamh and Niadh are said) but the anglicised pronunciation has more than caught on now

I absolutely love Tadhg OP but I know what you mean about have the g sound right before a K sound - Cillian Cole or something similar sounds like a superhero in a good way

I’m never sure why people are surprised that there might be several different pronunciations of names within Ireland. The country isn’t a single homogenous mass where everyone speaks identically. Of course there will be multiple (equally correct) pronunciations.

And there will be mispronunciations that have caught on and become dominant even within Ireland. These things happen.

Rafferty

www.babynamechoice.com/index#search
www.babynamechoice.com/search?&k=irish&offset=0&sortby=pop1&order=desc
Liam
Chloe
Connor
Declan
Bennett
Gael
Brian
Aidan

my lads called Duggan

@ritalia, by no stretch of the imagination is Chloe an Irish boy’s name.