Bevin, Bébinn, or Béibhinn

[SeanCailleach]

For a Celtic baby girl. (Not mine). What's the best spelling? Would Welsh spelling Befen be better?

Never heard of the Welsh name (I'm in Wales) and from the title I thought it would be for a boy, so I'm not being very helpful, sorry!

Mother-tongue Welsh speaker here, and I've never heard of Befen. Bifan is welsh, and is anglicised to Bevan, but is "son of Ifan".
I'm not familiar with the irish name.

Where will she grow up?

Dublin / Cardiff.

Béibhín

I’ve never heard this name and I really don’t know how I’d spell it.

Looked it up and it's pronounced Beyveen.
Bevin will be assumed to be after Ernest Bevin.
Bébinn probably won't give you the same pronunciation.
Befen would give the pronunciation Bev-enn.

Bevin is the goddess of moonlight, Bé Fionn. I thought of both Ernest Bevin and Aneurin Bevan, which the mum is happy about. Moonlight and socialism, fair enough, I 'd stick with that. But is it too boyish? If so will spelling it Béibhinn help, or will the poor kid get called Baby (and does it matter). Idk. I guess I am asking in case there is something else I haven't noticed.

Was going to make the same point about pronuncation as Sboncen.

If you want a 'v' sound in the middle, you have to have 'bh' spelling.

It's an Irish name

Yep, has to be bh to produce a v sound. I would go for Béibhínn. Nice name, I don't tend to hear it much.

Oh I'm glad someone's heard it at all. It feels like a classic name but I've not come across it before.

I love it! I know two... one pronounces it Bayveen, the other pronounces it Bevan. If you live in the uk prepare the child for a lifetime of having to explain it though... one of my DC has a short Irish name that is regularly mispronounced, although to be fair it doesn't bother them at all 😊

There is a famous Irish women's rugby player named Beibhinn Parsons:
www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/irelands-teen-sensation-beibhinn-parsons-steps-away-from-six-nations-squad-to-concentrate-on-the-leaving-cert-38963518.html

As has been said above, the surname Bevan has no connection with the Irish first name, or with a goddess - it comes from 'ab Ifan' (son of Evan).

Just out of interest, where are you getting the moonlight goddess meaning from? I'm not saying that you are wrong, but in Gaelic, 'De' with a fada (not Be) usually means 'god' or 'gods' and 'Fionn' does not usually mean 'moonlight' - it usually means 'fair' in the sense of blonde. And it's pronounced 'Fyunn', not 'Feen' or 'Veen'.

The usual derivation of Beibhinn is from words meaning 'woman' and 'melody'. Rather nice.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9%E1%B8%83inn

The little dot over the second 'b' in the above article is an old-fashioned way of spelling, to create the sound now spelled 'bh'.

I think the name is fine to use and people will soon get used to the spelling. If you think about it, there are plenty of very usual names that have 'particular' spellings: Hugh, for instance, or Penelope, or even Thomas and John. We all have to learn those, and can do it.

You can also pronounce it Bay-bin, without fada ón Last i. I prefer that. Béibhinn.

Sorry typo, Bay-vin

I love Béibhínn.

It's an Irish girl's name. I love it. Not terribly common.

I prefer the pronunciation with both fadas, so Béibhín, rather than Béibhinn .

@Heygirlheyboy

You can also pronounce it Bay-bin, without fada ón Last i. I prefer that. Béibhinn.

I agree- this is the nicer spelling.

@florascotia2 thank you!

To be honest I'm a bit hazy on gods and godesses in Celtic legends. I am not sure if the moon story is an ancient tale,19th century Celtic Twilight or 20th century New Age blarney. It's all lovely.

OP That's very honest! I suspect it's the last of your suggestions, but as you say, they are all lovely and positive ideas. And as so many have said on this thread, Beibhinn is a really nice name.

It's a nice name, quite rare. I'm in Ireland and have only ever come across a couple. The one I know best doesn't have the second fada, she's Béibhinn.

I definitely prefer the traditional Irish spelling with the bh but I prefer it to sound like “Bevin” that “Bayveen”. I also think the “Bevin” pronunciation works in both Wales and Ireland whereas I think “Bayveen” is much more Irish only.

It reminds me of One Tree Hill. There was an actress called Bevin in it whose character was also called Bevin after her!

I work with a Bevin (in Ireland). She’s the only Bevin I know. It’s a nice name. I prefer the more straightforward anglicised spelling. I have an Irish name that I spell as it sounds (rather than the Gaelic spelling iykwim). It does make it easier when I travel/lived abroad

I would stick with the traditional Irish spelling as a general rule. If your friend wants it to be pronounced Bay-veen then i don't think Bevin would achieve that (I would pronounce Bevin as Bev-in).

I would also assume a Bevin was male.