Irish boys name, what do you think of......

[Mumof3almost4]

Caelan?? Struggling to agree on names, I like more unusual but DP is much more traditional. He is willing to consider some of my suggestions though.
I've seen that Caelan can be a girls or boys name, is it too girly for a boy? Any other Irish suggestions welcome but looking for a bit more unusual than Declan, Kieran etc

It's a good strong name but I've never heard it used for a girl and I'm in NI.

Are you Irish and do you live in Ireland?

Please think carefully before giving your child a baby nobody knows how to pronounce.

Your spelling of the name doesn't look traditionally Irish to me - surely it's Caolin?

*name not baby obviously!

Eamonn
Seamus

I like Tiernan too... but it's technically a second name.

I know a Caolan, which might be a 'stronger' spelling to consider. Pronounced KEE-lun. He goes by Cal, which I really like.

My favourite is Dónal.

I know a couple of little boys called Oisín now.

Ooh I like Caolin too!!

@catmg we live in England but all family are Irish and live in Ireland. Youngest DS has a very unusual Irish name, people are always commenting how lovely and different it is and he loves being unique.

Caelan is a player on the Irish rugby team, that's where I came across it

Cathal
Lorcan
Jarlath
Eanna
Lir
Donnacha
Cillian
Rian
Dara
Tomás
Ruairí
Aidan
Mairtín
Micheál
Padraig
Ronan
Eoin
Cormac

I like Caelan. We considered it but went for Cillian. The only thing that put me off was the spelling. It appears to be a more modern spelling and not traditionally Irish which was a deal breaker for my DH. I love the sound though and don't think it's girly.

My favourite ever Irish boy name is Jarlath.

Cormac

The original spelling is Caolán, I believe. The pronunciation varies quite a bit with dialect.

@ILoveStickers I've always loved Donal too.

@JaJaDingDong how do you pronounce Jarlath? I've never known!

Thanks @LizzieAnt I've been looking it up properly and there seems to be quite a difference in pronunciation. I do love that spelling though but think how that sounds would be too much for DP.

Caolán can sound different depending on the dialect though, that's what I mean. So it would be said as Quail-awn in one part of the country and as Keelan in another.

I'm not loving Caelan tbh but I do encourage you to use an Irish name. If people can learn to pronounce Polish/ Nigerian/ Japanese etc names, they can learn to correctly say Irish names too.

We have one in my daughter’s class at school (london). No issues with name or pronunciation as far as I know. So many international names, everyone is really respectful to make sure they spell and pronounce names correctly.

I don’t like the anglicisation or simplifications of what remains primarily for me a girls’ name, Caoilfhionn (which I do like).

I’m a big fan of Tadgh 🥰

@CerealBeacon
As far as I know Caolán and Caoilfhionn are separate names, though sometimes pronounced similarly. Caolán (boy) is pronounced as Keelan in some dialects - though differently in others - and Caoilfhionn (girl name) is usually said Keelin. So yes, they do sound the same sometimes. Where I'm from (Munster), Caolán is pronounced Quail-awn, so if I hear Keelin/Keelan I automatically think it's a girl, but that's not true for everyone.
Caelan is an anglicisation all right...not sure how it's pronounced actually OP. Kaylan?

But the OP is talking about Caolan, not Caolán...? Doesn’t Caelan Doris pronounce it KAIL-an?

@LizzieAnt @CerealBeacon I much prefer the spelling Caolán but not the sound Quail.
Family are NI and Connacht so will be interesting to see how they say it.

@schafernaker Tadhg is also top of my list but DP can't get his head round it not being said as Tag.

Well, the Kale vs Quail thing is regional, like Keeva/Queeva. For instance, the Caoilfhionn I know (Munster) is Quail-inn.

Are you contemplating Kale -AWN, so?

What about Conal (sounds like tunnel)

I think with my own accent it'd end up being Kale-an or Keel-an.