Pronunciation of Cearbhall?

[TooTiredToCoo]

Can any Irish people out there tell me the proper way to pronounce Cearbhall?

I think like this: car ool (pronounce ool as in pool).

Ker val.

bh together in Irish gives a v sound and the name can be pronounced two ways
Ker vill
or Car vill

I’m Irish and I’ve never heard this name. Where have you gotten the idea for it?

My (very) limited knowledge of Scottish Gaelic suggests Ker vil.

There was a president of Ireland with this name!

K'yar-vull

www.libraryireland.com/names/men/cearbhall-carroll.php
Carroll Kerval or Charvil, which is quite nice

Kyar- vull

Never heard of this name before though!

I’d say carval. I’m from NI.

It’s a nice name, but unless you are in Ireland your child will have a lifetime of ‘Oh, that’s an unusual name, where’s it from?’ My dad is from NI but moved England and has an Irish name (although one that’s straightforward to pronounce without knowledge of Irish IYSWIM) and always had this - drove him nuts.

Curvill

If you live in England your child will need to get used to being called 'Sear ball' .

@MadeForThis

Definately not pronounced Cur

While bh does normally give a V sound, in this case the first poster is correct and it would largely be pronounced Car-ool as that's how Cearbhall O Dhalaigh, Irish president from the 70s pronounced it.

forvo.com/word/cearbhall_%C3%B3_d%C3%A1laigh/

It is name of former Irish President...
It is Car-ool. Most times the 'bh' gets the 'v' sound but not in this one. When he used anglicised version he pronounced it Carroll...

If that helps...it is a lovely old name

This thread does not seem particularly helpful on definitive pronunciation so if you’re considering it for a baby, OP, I think I’d steer clear!

Interesting, lots of replies it’s Car-ool. I was pronouncing it Ker-val.

Charles in England:

Chahrrlz - West Country
Charrels - Far North
Chahlz - posh South
Chawlz - vair posh

Joyilz (Birmingham)

What a tricksy name!

Seriously op, is that your son's name or are you just considering it?

Yes, there seems to be a variety of ways of pronouncing this name. My mother always said it as in the link SionnachGlic gave above (ie as Car-ool), but it does look like it should read Car-val (with the first syllable like the beginning of Carol). However bh isn't always pronounced as a 'v' - it may be pronounced more as a 'w' sound in some dialects. Sometimes it's not pronounced in the middle of a word.
Here is another link to a fluent Irish speaker saying Cearbhall.
forvo.com/word/cearbhall/
The surname Ó Cearbhaill, which derives from the first name, was variously anglicised as O'Carroll, O'Carvill, O'Carwell, O'Carrowill, which seems to indicate different pronunciations of the name too.

@SeanChailleach

It’s not my son’s name. It’s just a name I found on a list of baby names that I liked the look of and I was just curious about the pronunciation.

If you don't know how to pronounce, don't call your child that.

"bh" would be pronounced as a w when it's broad, right?

It depends on the dialect.

But wait up, ladies! Father Dinneen himself has advice for us. His dictionary does not normally include personal names, and cearbhal isn't listed. However, "Cearrbhal" is there, see "carrbhal", which he says is pronounced "carúl" and means "carol, song, conversation". This makes it look like a Gaelicisation of the Latin, French, or English word.

By the way, let's be clear that bh and mh are not v or w. If you say either b or m but without closing the lips together, you will get the sound. Try saying "a ball a bill" and "a mall a mill" without closing your lips and see what you get.