Thoughts on Irish little star!

[Marrilou]

Hi all, after some thoughts... I have a ten month old baby who has an Irish name (his dad's side of the family are Irish) and have another baby due in April that would ideally like to also give an Irish name to. I love the name Rae for a girl and have come across the name Réiltín (pronounced Rae-elle-teen) which is apparently Irish for little star. I am thinking I'd maybe like to call the baby this as their full name but know them as Rei. What do people think of this? If you saw the name Rei would you pronounce it as Rae/Ray? Does anyone in Ireland know of anyone with the name Réiltín as I can't find much about it on the web. Many thanks!

If I saw Rei written down I would assume it was pronounced like Rye.

Haven't heard of it as a name in Ireland in the way that Seren is a name in Wales. I know of a child called River and another called Ocean so I imagine it would be like that (as opposed to Ivy or Rose or something ie a nature name that isn't traditionally used as a name compared to one that is IYSWIM).

It's quite a nice sound....it sounds like it "should" be a name!

I would pronounce it ‘ray’
I don’t like it to be honest, but if you do, use it!

I'm Irish, living in Ireland and have never heard of this name. Is it a 'new' modern name?

I know a Réiltín. In her 40s so not a very new name, but not a traditional name either. It's pronounced more like Rail-teen. I prefer Rae. I would go with that.

I'm Irish, it's a well known name & I quite like it. Do think of your DD though - will she spend her entire life spelling/ explaining her name to people?

Irish here, I know of two little girls with the name and I think it's lovely, but I'm not sure it works in the UK? A lot of Irish people even, would find it hard to pronounce...I would actually pronounce it closer to "Rail-teen" if that matters but I think that's regional. As another poster mentioned if I saw Rei written down I would most likely pronounce it as "Rye".

It’s not super attractive... and a spelling nightmare

If you want the meaning star then Seren, Stella, Estella are all nice

Sounds like a medication

I would pronounce Rei as Ree or Rye!!!

Do you live in Ireland and expect your DD to live there forever? Your child will always be explaining the weird spelling and pronounciation.

If you like the STAR connection, please use something that the majority of the world can spell and pronounce.

I'd pronounce Rei as Ray, because "ei" is also pronounced as "ay" in some other languages (like Welsh). But as a non Gaelic speaker, I'd probably struggle with spelling/pronouncing the full name. Rei/Rae/Ray is pretty but I'm less keen on the sound of Reiltin (my own preference is for Rae as a nn for Aurelia but obviously that's not Irish!)

Beautiful name and meaning.

I know two a woman in her 40s and a child, I'm in Ireland. I would pronounce it Rail teen also, but how I say Rail is not much different to how I'd pronounce Ray.
Its a nice name.

I like Rae.

I think Réiltín is fine as a name. As others have said, it's more like rail-teen or rail-cheen, but not a big reach on the pronunciation for non Irish speakers.

I do think Rei (and even probably Réi) would be pronounced rye. I personally prefer the full long name anyway, especially since Rae seems to be the new May/Mae ubiquitous middle name.

Your child will always be explaining the weird spelling and pronounciation.

If you like the STAR connection, please use something that the majority of the world can spell and pronounce.

Take no notice of narrow-minded comments like this. It is neither a weird spelling nor pronunciation, it's just not English.

The accents will probably be a pain if you're in England.

Take no notice of narrow-minded comments like this. It is neither a weird spelling nor pronunciation, it's just not English.

And, not being English, will be tricky for the child for most of her life, unless she moves to Ireland, where the spelling and pronunciation will be more familiar to people.

I quite like it. I much prefer it to Rae, which I strongly dislike. I would pronounce Rei as Ray/Rae.

Both are lovely names, but I do think she’ll be forever spelling her name if you don’t live in Ireland.

It you love the name Rae why don’t you call her that and give her an Irish middle name, rather than trying to get an Irish name to fit?

Rae Orla
Rae Niamh (pronounced Neve)

Something like that would be gorgeous and would honour the Irish side but still giving you the name you want!

I think the pronunciation is pretty obvious, even to non-Irish people, even if they don’t get it spot on first time.

I like it, although I've never met one tbh. I would pronounce it Rail-cheen.

I'm Irish and whilst I don't know anybody by this name I think it's lovely. I'd know the meaning from the word.

It's not weird or odd. It's just not English. It's really no more weird than names in other native languages.

I would pronounce Rei as Ray but would pronounce the full name as Réil - tein. The fada makes the vowel sound longer. So like 3 "e" in the name instead of 1.

Sorry it sounds like a medicine or an injection

I'm Irish and know of a girl about 20 called this.
I'd pronounce it as Rail-cheen.
It's a lovely pretty name.

@MindyStClaire

I think Réiltín is fine as a name. As others have said, it's more like rail-teen or rail-cheen, but not a big reach on the pronunciation for non Irish speakers.

I do think Rei (and even probably Réi) would be pronounced rye. I personally prefer the full long name anyway, especially since Rae seems to be the new May/Mae ubiquitous middle name.

Your child will always be explaining the weird spelling and pronounciation.

If you like the STAR connection, please use something that the majority of the world can spell and pronounce.

Take no notice of narrow-minded comments like this. It is neither a weird spelling nor pronunciation, it's just not English.

This, but isn’t it Réaltín, though? ‘Réalt’ is star, not ‘réilt’.