Is 'Tiernan' acceptable?!

[Marrilou]

Hi could do with some advice. I live in London, my husband's family are Irish and I have an 8 month baby called Tadhg (Irish, pronounced Tyg). I am expecting again and was thinking if it's another boy would like another Irish name beginning with 'T'. I've come across 'Tiernan' online and like the sound of it but can't find much info about whether it's actually an acceptable first name in Ireland; some comments suggest it's frowned upon as a first name in the Irish community as it's anglicized surname. Does anyone have any knowledge of this?! Don't really want to run it past my husband's family as wouldn't want to announce it 'til the birth and my husband isn't sure (he was born here). Many thanks!

Lovely name. I would go for it.

Ignore the suggestion of Leo, Emily, Harry, etc.

There is nothing complicated about Tiernan. Never pander to people who are so stupid that they can't wrap their minds around anything the least bit unfamiliar or different. It only encourages them.

I know two Tierneys here in the US, both girls. There's an Old Hollywood ring to that.

Cactus that must be a regional thing. It is Tier Nan here. I would have said Chiernan was coming from “A Thiernan” it sounds to my ear like it should have a séimhiú

No, 'CH' is the slender T pronunciation. (As in the word 'teach' = house).
A séimhiú ('Th') would give a H sound - 'a Heernawn'.

Hi OP,

I’m Irish - my brother is Tiernan. He has traveled a lot and yes, he may have had to explain how to pronounce it a few times, but once explained it’s an easy one to understand. It’s popular and well liked at home.

Love the idea of linking to heritage and keeping a theme with your boys. Congrats. Hope all goes well x

Also - please ignore the commments re Irish names being impossible to pronounce. Sadly it’s a reoccurring theme on mumsnet, that English is the only accessible language and everything else is “difficult”. I’m part of a large Irish in the UK community and many of us survive perfectly well in work and social environments with “complicated irish” names. Contrary to some beliefs: I’ve found mine very helpful in multinational companies!

I worked with a Tiernan on London. Always thought it was a great name.

Also love Tadhg!

whats the non anglicised version of the surname tiernan

I have a Tiernan it’s an awesome name! We’ve come across the occasional person who struggles with pronunciation but it’s no more an issue than any other name outside of the top 50!

I love it and I absolutely love the name Tadhg. That's what I want to use for my baby but OH doesn't like it. People learn pronunciations really quickly, it's not a problem x