Irish spellings for names

[SeanChailleach]

All these Irish spellings make me wonder, if you use an Irish spelling for your child's name, do you speak Irish? If not, do you hope to learn, and would you have your child learn?
Ar an lámh eile, má tá Gaeilge agat, agus thug tú ainm de Bhéarla, nó de theanga eile do do pháiste, cén fáth?
(Otoh, if you have Irish but gave your child a name from English or from some other language, why?)

[SionnachRua]

Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste...personally there are very few English language names that I think are nearly as nice as Irish names. So I would gravitate to the Irish names with Irish spellings.

I think it used to be the case that the Clárleabhar (the register, not the daily roll book) had to be kept in Irish. I don't know if that's still the rule but that might be why schools did the roll in Irish. Bit off topic but using the Clárleabhar book is HORRIBLE, so much work involved!

[Emeraldshamrock]

I don't think any of my class mates had surnames which were not Irish
My surname is Scottish it was translated to Irish in school I was Ní Ran something or other for role call.

[typicalvalues]

@Emeraldshamrock

I don't know whether that was a thing all across Ireland, or just my school?
Mine too, my Dsis Janet was Sinèad on the roll.

Oh, it was a thing then? Our headmaster in particular appeared rather annoyed when we had names that were not Irish. I don't think any of my class mates had surnames which were not Irish but many had first names which were not Irish (mé féin included).

[Emeraldshamrock]

I don't know whether that was a thing all across Ireland, or just my school?
Mine too, my Dsis Janet was Sinèad on the roll.

[typicalvalues]

In school, our names were read out in Irish for the roll-call.
So for example Ann-Marie was called out as Áine Mháire. Anseo!
I don't know whether that was a thing all across Ireland, or just my school?
My name is a very common French name so only surname called out as Gaeilge, well not so much common as it would be one that everyone would at least have heard of. There is a person of the same name with a show on tv in the UK, but it's rare to meet people with the name.
I always had a shortlist which included both Irish names and other names. None of dc have Irish names, though one dd has a name which tends to be spelt many ways. I chose the arabic spelling as there is a tiny almost imperceptible nuance in how it is pronounced.

[LizzieAnt]

Ironically, Cillian changes to Chillian after some words and to Chilléin for vocative and genitive. I wonder what other Irish speakers would think of using one of these spellings in England.

We're heading into Mhairi, or possibly Hamish, territory now...controversial

[SeanChailleach]

I've loved reading these replies, it has given me a lot to think about. I haven't been able to get onto the site due to the DDOS attack so I'm not going to try to quote individual posts.

Killian v Cillian - when I read the Irish my slender sounds like English ch. Ironically, Cillian changes to Chillian after some words and to Chilléin for vocative and genitive. I wonder what other Irish speakers would think of using one of these spellings in England.

Risteard is an odd-sounding spelling. Without the t it's like French instead of English - maybe it came from French?I don't think it's an Irish name. Pádraig and Proinsias also have a very different feeling than, say Patraic and Fraincis would.

Love these abairtí @RubysArms ! Maybe we should have a thread over on craicnet.

[2littleguineas]

But if you live in Ireland Irish names are pretty common regardless of whether or not you're fluent in the language, so you'll use the spelling that's the norm here fada and all.

The pronunciations of Irish names are beautiful but used outside the country to non Irish parents means they end up mispronounced and ruined.
I'm thinking Siobhan, Deirdre, Ciara.

[RubysArms]

@Drunkenmonkey I'm sure your Sillian is a gorgeous little fella. I have found that Cillians/Killians tend to grow up to be a handsome lot, some kind of totally legit naming science at play there . So you've done well with the name choosing. It's a popular name in France too, or was, not sure if it's still in vogue. Kilian Hennessy of the cognac family has his own high-end men's fragrance brand.

[RubysArms]

I was pretty good at Irish on school and although that was 25 years ago (eep!) I still remember a fair bit. I love following @TheIrishFor on Twitter for lots of entertaining language content. And I use a fair few words and phrases in my everyday life, seems a shame not to. I'd always 'múch an solas' rather than switch off a light and words like plamás, flaithulach and ufásach convey so much more than their English equivalents. And then there are the prosaic words that sound so much cuter to me in Irish, like nóiníní, ispíní, bumbóg and smig.

And a phrase all Irish women should know: ní saoirse go saoirse na mban

[Crackerofdoom]

DH is Irish, born in Ireland and learned it at school. We have never lived in Ireland as a couple and probably never will.

DCs 1 &2 have Irish names and we have a very irish surname, although we use the Anglacised version of our last name .

It was important to DH but although we stuck to the traditional irish spellings, we also went for names which weren't too unknown outside Ireland as we knew we would be raising the kids abroad. DC 3 doesn't have an Irish name. Ithink by the time she came along, we had run out of easier names and it had become less of a priority for DH.

Kids are bilingual English and German and now we are living in France so haven't pushed the Irish much but DH has lots of little things he says to them in Irish. I don't use Irish so it is their private thing which I think is really special.

[IrishMamaMia]

Just to add to add to my post OP, my kids feel quite an affinity with their Irish culture so I'm definitely going to make the language part of that.

[IrishMamaMia]

I love hearing Irish names in the UK. We're dual heritage and decided on neutral names with a nod to our religion. It was practicality really, spelling and also didn't come across the perfect as Gaeilge name.
I've always loved Irish but I'm not a fluent speaker. I would like the kids to learn some though, it's such a beautiful language and it's really special.

[LizzieAnt]

Thanks @Drunkenmonkey .

[Drunkenmonkey]

@LizzieAnt your posts are really helpful. I'm sure the information you give is very welcomed and you're right, it gives people the opportunity to make an informed choice. It's more the harsher responses I'm referring to.
Despite the pronunciation issues I'm glad I stuck with Cillian, it is the most common spelling in the UK too so hopefully people will get used to it eventually.
I do also really like the spelling Kilian though and I think if the pronunciation issues continue (and bother him) I will use that spelling instead for school, doctors etc.

[LizzieAnt]

@Drunkenmonkey
I guess it depends whether people are looking for an Irish name or an Irish language name - there's a difference imo. Killian/Kilian I'd consider an Irish name derived from the Irish language name Cillian. Both are lovely names. Killian has been used for centuries as you mention (St. Kilian), but much of that use has been outside Ireland. It is popular in Ireland today but quite a bit less so than Cillian. Cillian could cause spelling or pronunciation confusion outside Ireland, while I'd say it's more the default spelling within Ireland. From my point of view (as a contributor to babyname threads) I'm just trying to give people information - it's then up to parents to make their own decisions on what's most important to them in choosing a name or it's spelling. Opinions can often be quite critical on Mumsnet though I know!

[Emeraldshamrock]

I wouldn't think so.
It is amazing how the language comes back to when the DC start school in NI most of the Catholic DC have Irish names I learnt more of them living up there than years in the Republic.
I don't like the Irish name for Richard Risteárd a boy was bullied relentlessly for his name.

[Drunkenmonkey]

@RubysArms I totally agree. I have a Cillian and I was put off Killian by people saying it wasn't authentic and not properly Irish etc, yet Ireland is full of Killians and it's a spelling that goes back centuries.
I hope my little Sillian doesn't hate me for it one day

[SeanChailleach]

@31RooCambon I'm glad you find it easy to learn the Irish names. I hope you didn't think I was suggesting that anyone has to have any amount of Irish to spell their kids' names in Irish.
I was just wondering how much love there is for the language. Whether people would like to have Irish language nursery rhymes and lullabies, and posters with phrases on.
For parents who are giving their kids the Irish names as it's a part of their heritage, there are easy ways to pick up a hundred or so words, and why wouldn't you? Although my DD has an English name, I use a bunch of Irish phrases for the important stuff like "oíche mhaith a chuisle", and "go dtí tú slán".

[31RooCambon]

@RubysArms, true! and funny. Lasairfhiona! Is there no biro with Lasairfhiona on it in Dealz? Can't believe it.

[SecretIdentitee]

I'm Irish, living in Dublin, LC level Irish. DD has an Irish name where the fada makes all the difference to the pronunciation. No fada, fada over the e or fada over the a are all different names. Recently had a hospital visit and their computer system doesn't allow any fadas so spent the entire visit correcting people.
Tbh I can't get worked up about people using/misspelling names when even our own national systems don't allow for correct Irish spellings.

[31RooCambon]

My name is very English (I guess). Like say Claire Smith, along those lines. The sort of name that sounds like you'd have no problems with it ever but yet then, you might get Clare Smyth and that'd be right for somebody else but still contain two mistakes in an Easy English name.

So I don't think it's possible to have a name that everybody always gets right.

I don't get challenged on my English name! So I feel a bit brought up short (or something) when English people agonize over using an Irish name when they're not Irish.
I was going to use Paloma for my daughter right up until the last minute when I chose an English name.

[31RooCambon]

I don't see the big deal. You don't have to be Irish to figure out that a bh is a v sound. As is an mh

It's fairly consistent isn't it?
Like Caoimhe, you can learn a few rules there that apply to other names.

aoi = ee
That works for Aoife. eefa

I don't speak Irish at all but I just notice where the same letters produce the same sound in different names so I can have a decent crack at pronouncing it.

[JollyGreenGiantess]

Irish names
Some Gaeilge in the home, kids at Gaelscoil.

[MissingCoffeeandWine]

Op I’m Irish, married to a Gaeilgoir, living in the UK. Our kids have Irish names with Irish spellings (ones that according to mumsnet nobody will ever be able to manage). Ta coupla focal agum - which matter a lot to me, but I acknowledge my written irish and spelling/grammar are poor. We try to speak (non fluent) Irish at least one day a week.

I am also one of the posters that sometimes comments on anglicized names. I think I do so because it’s often not clear if posters are choosing something or if they are not aware and my experience as a non fluent speaker is that I wanted to know! People can choose, and do choose, whatever they want. But I do find it difficult that often it’s an acceptable response to say that 90% of the time that kids will “suffer” if their name isn’t traditionally English and easy to pronounce. It doesn’t align with my experience of working in a multidisciplinary field at all.

Professionally colleagues from all over the world - if they want to - simply include a tag line on their email signature or name badge that phonetically explains how to pronounce their name.

As someone with a very common name, I don’t see how it’s any more difficult than being one of four Xxx’s to respond when asked a question.