Irish baby girl names

[Ek3009]

Hi I need some inspiration!

7 weeks to go and no further forward with names 🙈.

Baby girls surname will be Kilpatrick and we both have one Irish parent so want an Irish first name but really struggling to find something that we love.

Any suggestions welcome!

Did you mean Ashling?

@LizzieAnt and @ILoveStickers

Yes - Sorry!

This thread is fascinating.
I have no idea with Irish names but they are popular in the UK.

I far too frequently comment on the Welsh name threads, and the issues are similar.

Both languages are phonetic and some of the suggested Welsh pronunciations just won't work because of how the language works.

Many of the Welsh names suggested are spelt wrongly or are dated, and the same list of names usually get trotted out.

The web site that someone listed for the top 1000 names used in England and Wales in 2019 included some Welsh names, but they seemed to be names that I consider dated, and I would be willing to bet that they weren't chosen by Welsh speakers.

What irritates me is that as names become mainstream, the anglicised pronunciation becomes accepted so you haven't a hope of getting someone to say your name how it sounds in your own language.

Is this link any good?

Orla
Fiona
Bree
Callie
Lana
Kiara
Enya
Erin
Maeve
Nola
Shauna
Tara

@namenerd

Orla Fiona Bree Callie Lana Kiara Enya Erin Maeve Nola Shauna Tara

But half of those aren't Irish at all!

@caringcarer, Ffion isn't Irish, it's Welsh. It's the word for Foxglove, although we call foxgloves Bysedd y cŵn (Dogs' Fingers) and other pretty names too.

Like the video @MikeUniformMike - thanks for sharing.

At one point he says, "ao" makes an "ee" sound. Actually it's the "aoi" combination of letters that makes this sound (disclaimer - I am from Munster) "ao" in Irish makes an "ay" sound - in Munster Irish at least! (gaoth, caora, baol).

I totally get your frustration at incorrect pronunciations becoming more mainstream.

Thanks, @Keyperfect.
I don't understand why anyone would want to give a child a name then mispronounce it or misspell it, or a name that would be misspelt or mispronounced by every person who wasn't familiar with the name, or that would prompt 'Oh are you Irish?'

I thought Niamh was more Nee-uv not Neeve. It gets said as Neev here (SE England).

I thought the Oona spelling was to avoid the Ewe-na pronunciation.

@MikeUniformMike

Thanks, *@Keyperfect*. I don't understand why anyone would want to give a child a name then mispronounce it or misspell it, or a name that would be misspelt or mispronounced by every person who wasn't familiar with the name, or that would prompt 'Oh are you Irish?'

I thought Niamh was more Nee-uv not Neeve. It gets said as Neev here (SE England).

I thought the Oona spelling was to avoid the Ewe-na pronunciation.

or a name that would be misspelt or mispronounced by every person who wasn't familiar with the name, or that would prompt 'Oh are you Irish?'

I really disagree with this. People are able to adapt and learn new and unusual names (to them) and I don’t want to deny my children their heritage just because I happen to live in the UK now rather than Ireland. And what’s wrong with being asked if you’re Irish anyway?!

I have an English first name with 2 standard spellings and mine is the slightly less common one. It’s constantly misspelt but I love my name. Diversity is a good thing (provided you are faithful to original spellings and not either mistaken or deliberately trying to be different).

@User1990232, there are some names that you cannot teach a non-speaker how to say. I'm welsh, so they are welsh names, but the same probably applies to irish names.

I know a Siobhán who got called Sigh-o-ban, Shobban and Shivonne but rarely Shiv-awn.

With some welsh names (e.g. Lleucu, Meinir, Eifion, Ynyr), you haven't a hope in hell, and people will say things like "I'm not going to try saying that" to your face.
You are left with a choice of using a different name or nn, or putting up with the mangled version.

**apologies to anyone with one of those popular welsh names.

I think there are some where accent might make them sound less nice (eg Orla becoming Awla as mentioned above) but I can’t think of any Irish names that are impossible for non-native speakers.

PS Siobhan is pretty standard in the UK now and not hard for English speakers to pronounce correctly. I’d be surprised at anyone getting it wrong once they’ve had the correct pronunciation explained to them and if they do then they’re likely to struggle with more names than just Irish ones.

Maybe not but it can be a PITA if people get your name wrong. Think of an occasion where you are introduced to many people in one day e.g. hospital appointment involving several departments and Saidhbhin is Sedbin or Sayd-BEEN each time.

I'm guessing that it is SIGH-veen.

That pronunciation link is interesting.

Welsh vowels form diphthongs too but that doesn't stop people insisting in not merging the sounds.
It's a bit like if someone said Aoife as Ayoeeffa.

Poor Siobhán would say "It's Siobhán actually" or similar while cringing, and would get mocked for it. " Awww ShivAWN!"
Kids can be cruel.

Storm names for UK/ Ireland for this year:
www.met.ie/storm-names-2020-21/#

Some interesting ones and there's a Saidhbhín in there!

I wonder @MikeUniformMike whether you think that everyone who lives in the UK ought to change their names to basic English ones to avoid these issues, or is it just Irish/Welsh people? Or if little Jon or Jane (uh oh...could be John or Jayne...) moves to say France do they need to change their names to Jean or Jeanne?

Why on earth would someone cringe when correcting the pronunciation of their name? Why would a child be mocked for being called Siobhan?! I live in London and there are names from all over the world and people get used to it.

I have a very similar surname but have a boy. I can see someone else suggested it but I love Eimear, think it's gorgeous. I also like Keeva but the Irish spelling which I don't know! My midwife when having my LB was Irish and this was her name and she was an amazing person so love the name for that and I think it would sound nice with ur surname x

Yes agree Eimear is just lovely, and underused now. (Ee-mur)

I entirely agree @User1990232, and it's depressing to hear a Welsh person (I believe @MikeUniformMike is Welsh) being so Little Englander about non-Anglo names. I spent 20 years living in England with an Irish name and surname, and never had any issues. People either knew how to pronounce them or they didn't, and if they didn't I told them, and then they knew. I didn't break down in tears if a dental receptionist didn't get it right.

My English-born son has a very unusual Irish name and two Irish surnames, but has never had issues at school -- his class has Nigerian, Polish, and Spanish names, as well as children with typically Muslim and Sikh names, and a bunch of Harrisons, Imogens and Georges. And this was at a village school in the midlands, not in London.

@User1990232, I'm just making it up, obviously.
I haven't heard any stories from friends and relatives telling me that they just put up with misspellings and mispronunciations, and I only imagined what happened to Siobhán.

John and Jane are among my favourite names, strangely enough, and their welsh equivalents are just as nice. Would I name my children the equivalents? No, because Siôn gets said as Shaun or Sigh-on, and Siân gets said as Shahn or Sigh-un. Shaun and Shahn aren't far off but they aren't quite right, and they'd probably not get the circumflex.

I've heard someone insist that Seán is pronounced Seen.

As for french names, India Knight changed her first name from a french one, and I used to work with an Alain who was often called Alan or Al-ain (like Elaine).

A lot of people can't be bothered, or just can't get it right. It is just too complicated.

It is horrible when people get your name wrong or poke fun at it.

But people can be horrible about or poke fun at any name, or indeed any feature of a person whatsoever. And when you name a child you have no idea where they are going to live or who they are going to encounter later in life so you have no way of anticipating or preventing it. You could call your child Grace and they turn out to be huge and clumsy, or Sara and they constantly get called Sarah (or have to correct misspellings), or Francesca and someone thinks it’s funny to call them Fanny etc etc.

And what about surnames - do you suggest people change those too so we’re all called Smith...or Smyth maybe?

And so what if people “can’t be bothered” or spell it wrong...is it actually a big deal? If you’ve really got a friend called Siobhan who “cringes” when she corrects people’s pronunciation I’d suggest she’s the one with the problem.

So what’s your solution - only people living in Ireland should use Irish names for their children? And then presumably that those children shouldn’t be allowed to leave Ireland? It’s completely ridiculous.

And what about surnames - do you suggest people change those too so we’re all called Smith...or Smyth maybe?

I haven't suggested anyone change anything.

So what’s your solution - only people living in Ireland should use Irish names for their children? And then presumably that those children shouldn’t be allowed to leave Ireland? It’s completely ridiculous.
You are trying to say I suggested things I didn't suggest.
Our solution was to give the DC names we loved and would not be complicated. They had a common surname that can be spelled in different ways, and people usually got the spelling wrong. I could have called them something like Lleucu and Buddug, both lovely names, but not practical in England.

Call your child whatever you like. It won't be you living with the name.

Orla
Niamh
Fiona
Nuala

@MikeUniformMike you said you don’t understand why anyone would give their child a name that could be mispronounced or misspelled, implying that would be the case for Irish names. Newsflash - it applies to all names - where stupid people are involved.

It’s funny how it’s ok to make these comments about Irish names but you probably wouldn’t say them about, I don’t know, Nigerian names. People might think you were racist.

Erin

Eryn

Tell name which spring to mind, because of the lovely people attached to them, are Doirrean and Siofra.

*two names, not tell names!