Stick to Irish theme or not?

[Sausagedog1]

Hi all,

My DH is Irish and we have two DS with Irish names. DS1 has quite a common Irish name (think top 50) so a lot of people probably don't assume Irish heritage. DS2 has a more unusual name over here and it has had a few pronunciation issues. I think people would definitely assume Irish heritage on meeting him.

So for DS3 would you go Irish again or something else? Some names I like are:
Gabriel, Zachary, Samuel and Blake.
I wondered if these would seem strange next to our other sons names? (None have the same initial)

DS1 is proud of having an Irish name as he is very close to his Irish family (grandparents loads of aunts uncles and cousins), DS2 is too young to know. I'm worried if I choose something else for DS3 that he might feel the odd one out. Am I overthinking this?

Also which one would you choose?
Thanks!

[quote Sausagedog1]@Marrilou I absolutely love the name Tadhg.
How do you find the issues round pronunciation? After having so many issues with DS2 I kind of want to avoid that again, but I think it is such a lovely name.
Tiernan is a good choice. I have a friend called Tiernan![/quote]
It has been ok so far, I go straight in with: 'Tadhg, like tiger without the 'er'!' and then people seem to get it. I really like how it's different, observes his heritage and I've got totally carried away with the tiger theme for his clothes, nursery etc.

I'm going to go against the grain - DD1 has an Irish name and DD2 doesn't. I don't think sibling names need to match, they're independent people. We just chose names we liked.

@MindyStClaire do you think it makes a difference though if you already have two with Irish names? I wouldn't have thought twice about giving DS2 a non-Irish name, but now I've done that I wouldn't want the next one to feel left out.
I guess as long as we have a good reason for the name we choose, he probably won't be too bothered where it comes from.

I wouldn't have thought so? There's lots of ways to include or exclude children, I don't see why a beloved child in a happy family would feel left out just because their name has a different origin to their siblings'.

I think Gabriel is a fabulous name and none of the teen or adult Gabriels I know have had an issue with being teased because of their name.

For girls, I think you may be overthinking the spelling issues with a name such as Aoife; one of my DDs has a name that only really has one spelling and people get that wrong, the other has a name that only has one spelling in English but alternate spellings in French and Arabic. She ends up with all sorts which is odd as it really does look as it sounds, spelling-wise. Anyway, Aoife is lovely but you could always go for a name such as Imogen, Nora, Erin, Alana which aren't obviously Irish names.

Roisin is nice for a girl.
Colm for a boy.

I think you should stick with the theme too. I had similar as DS has an Irish name and we’ve just had DD. Struggled with her name for ages because we wanted an Irish girls’ name without pronunciation issues in England and most of the straightforward ones weren’t options for various reasons. I agree that sibling names don’t have to match but when naming DS1 I really strongly felt I wanted him to have a name linked to my culture and heritage, especially since he would grow up in England and have an English surname, and those reasons still applied for my second baby too.

Anyway Gabriel is a great choice. Kids these days absolutely do not use gay as an insult (and rightly so!) so your DH’s concerns are completely unfounded. Don’t like Shay at all. If you have a girl please spell it Ciara.

I would stick to an Irish theme.

To my ear, Blake doesn't sound Irish at all.

It's good to hear you don't think a Gabriel will get bullied. Struggling to convince DH though. He's concerned about it especially in a state school. I think it goes well with my second son's name (Cillian) as it's quite long and elegant sounding.
In terms of spelling/pronunciation. I'm not too concerned if a name is spelt wrong, it's the potential for embarrassment when a name is always pronounced incorrectly that I'm more concerned with with names like Aoife/Saoirse.

I quite like the suggestion of Alana, that's quite pretty and one I hadn't really thought of.

Blake and Shay don't seem to be popular. What if it was spelt Shea? Any better?
I know some people think it's 'down-market' but I think it has a soft sound and is quite simple and cool.

Gabriel is beautiful, sounds Irish to me, and I can't see why it would cause bullying. It's a nice, classic male name. If my DS had a classmate with that name, I'd immediately be drawn to the family IYSWIM.

Or maybe I've just got a big fat crush on Gabriel Byrne 🤣😳

I know a Shay. Shea will get She-ah.

I was worried about that, Shea butter. I think it's a nice spelling though, shame.

@Sausagedog1

This is very helpful. Is there other names that would fit in the Irish theme but not gaelic? If we have a girl I love Fiadh, Saoirse and Aoife but won't use any of them due to pronunciation problems. If there are any girls names (apart from Mary as that will be a middle name and is DH's mum's name) that would be really helpful.

I was thinking of using an Irish middle name instead so Skye Saoirse Mary (love the name Skye) but it might not fit. I might start another thread.

My DD middles name is Saoirse. First name Eden as have a biblical theme I plan to stick to

I know a boy and girl called Gabriel both are nicknamed gay. One coincidentally is gayzhe says wasntngreat going up.

Boys name that are Irish but not difficult to spell- Connor,Kevin,Colm,Brian,ruari ?

That is what I'm worried about, the sound Gay is so clear at the start. It wouldn't take much for it to become a nickname. Fine if you're confident and don't care and can just shrug it off, not so much if you're shy and self conscious.
I was kind of hoping the youth of today had gone beyond stupid insults like that though, but I'm worried it's still a risk.

Girls names - Cara,Shannon,Clare,dara,orla,

Just thinking for boy can't believe I forgot Patrick not hard to spell at all lol

@warriorwomanx I think if we don't use an Irish first name I would love to use Saoirse as a middle name, I love the meaning. Eden Saoirse is lovely.
Skye Saoirse is one of our options. We love the Isle of Skye so I feel it still has meaning as a name for us.
Still looking at Irish first names too though. Alana has gone on the list.

@newchances I quite like Shannon but someone told me it's a bit 'rough'
I seem to have a thing for rough names apparently. I like the fact it is a name after a river.

Cara is quite pretty but I'm trying to avoid C names due to my DS2.

I don't think its rough,name association can make any name rough. I am irish and live in Ireland I have 4 siblings who all have an Irish name and I don't- but my surname is Irish. I have a sibling called Cillian too. Its popular where we are (hes 30 now)

[quote Sausagedog1]@warriorwomanx I think if we don't use an Irish first name I would love to use Saoirse as a middle name, I love the meaning. Eden Saoirse is lovely.
Skye Saoirse is one of our options. We love the Isle of Skye so I feel it still has meaning as a name for us.
Still looking at Irish first names too though. Alana has gone on the list.[/quote]
Thank you 😊 I chose Saoirse for the meaning too.
Erin was on my list too but was in the top 50 at the time of her birth. Her name is very similar to her dads Irish name.
Skye is beautiful but I love the name Shannon.
Aislíng is nice.
Any consolation on the pronunciation of names, my Irish mum chose a french name for me, leaving out the fada (whatever it's called in french) and I've spent my whole life with it being mispronounced and it doesn't bother me one bit 😊

Love the name Gabriel but we ruled it out due to the potential shortening. Also love Lorcan as a boys name.

Lorcan,Finnbarr and malachy?

If I were picking an Irish name, I would go with Euan.

Gabriel is nice too, but Gabe isn’t my fav nn. I really like Blake, but people will tell you it’s American. Sam’s lovely and classic, but I prefer Daniel. And Zachary is fine, but not something I’d choose.

Obviously it's up to you

My two-penneth - as an Indian I much prefer hearing Irish names over English, Welsh and Hebrew / biblical ones - they sound nicer, prettier and the way they are spelt are beautiful too.
If I had any Irish link I would use Irish names, I don't so I can't.

I'm not keen on Lorcan for some reason. Malachy is on the list. Is it a bit too 'out there' do you think? I don't really want to get lots of faces.
Finnbar is an option. We have considered Finn so many times and don't like Finley. There is something abour it that feels very old fashioned though to me.