How would you pronounce this name?

[pandarific]

...if you’re non-Irish?

I assume Irish people would know how to say this word! Also interested in Irish people’s opinions, and non Irish people’s opinions on it too as a name, of course.

The name is Líath or Liath (I am easy on fada usage), and it would be for a girl. As gaelige, it means ‘grey’.

Lay-th

@MiddlesexGirl

Yeah like if you choose Saoirse, you have to accept that English people are gonna mangle it for her entire life.

I still can't remember how you pronounce Saoirse despite loving Saoirse Ronan

I always ready it in my head as Sore arse. Good job I don't know anyone with that name.

The i is before the a, why would it be lay-th??

I’m not sure I’d even attempt it. I’d wait to find out the correct pronunciation first.

I would just call her Leah

Grey is not a nice meaning for a name. Could you go for magnolia instead?

@SwimmingOnEggshells

Grey is not a nice meaning for a name. Could you go for magnolia instead?

Ridiculous comment. In many of the oldest languages ‘grey’ is a descriptive word for dawn or twilight or the sunlight that breaks a storm. It can have multiple meanings but in english the closest word that will fit all of it is grey.

It's your choice but I have spent my life having my name mispronounced and having to spell it to people so a Gaelic name causes problems and I would rather have a common English name.

I would ask how to say because I always do. But I would read it "LEE-a" if using English.
There is no fada in the Modern Irish - you can check at teanglann.ie
The Old Irish had a fada sometimes - you can check at dil.ie/30139
In Old Irish the th would have been pronounced like in English "thorn". The Wikipedia article titled "Th (digraph)" is correct.
The th at the end is pronounced h when a vowel follows. Eg "Liath agus Saoirse" and you could do that when speaking English too: "Liath and Saoirse".

I'm English living in Ireland, have some familiarity with the Irish language and know that it would be pronounced like Leah. I'd want to use a fada to lengthen the 'lee' sound, so Líath.

I've never heard it used as a name here, though someone upthread says it is. It has a similar sound to Fíadh, which has become very popular.

I really don't think I'd use it outside Ireland. As you can see from this thread most people don't know how to say it and why should they, they won't be at all familiar with the Irish language.

The other thing to note is that everyone (anglophonic) who hears the child's name will assume it's "Leah".

I've heard three different pronunciations of Saoirse, all from Irish people.

Layth. But why would you want to call your child grey?

Yeah like if you choose Saoirse, you have to accept that English people are gonna mangle it for her entire life.

I'm in England and have a dd named Saoirse. Yes you do have to tell most people how to pronounce it but once told, they pronounce it correctly. It's really not the ball ache it's often made out to be on these threads. Saoirse Ronan proclaiming it's pronounced to rhyme with "inertia" doesn't help, admittedly.

Op, i'm English Irish and familiar with Irish names. Liath would have me flummoxed on sight but I'd know the th was silent so would work it out, if not I'd just ask! It's a gorgeous name.

Not Irish but DP is and our DD has an Irish name. I would say something similar to Lee-ah, like Leah in English. That would be a guess.

Also don't be put off my the comments about how hard everyone will find it to pronounce, it is really not a strong enough reason to avoid a name you love. It is perfectly fine to not use a standard English name despite what MN name threads seem to think. People struggle with my name sometimes and I love it, I also get a lot of comments on it. We haven't had any issues with DDs name except nursery misspelling it occasionally, which is not the end of the world.

*I also get a lot of compliments on it rather

@justthisonce67

Yeah like if you choose Saoirse, you have to accept that English people are gonna mangle it for her entire life.

I'm in England and have a dd named Saoirse. Yes you do have to tell most people how to pronounce it but once told, they pronounce it correctly. It's really not the ball ache it's often made out to be on these threads. Saoirse Ronan proclaiming it's pronounced to rhyme with "inertia" doesn't help, admittedly.

Op, i'm English Irish and familiar with Irish names. Liath would have me flummoxed on sight but I'd know the th was silent so would work it out, if not I'd just ask! It's a gorgeous name.

Yes, DS has an unusual Irish name and two Irish surnames, and we’ve never had issues.

@justthisonce67

Yeah like if you choose Saoirse, you have to accept that English people are gonna mangle it for her entire life.

I'm in England and have a dd named Saoirse. Yes you do have to tell most people how to pronounce it but once told, they pronounce it correctly. It's really not the ball ache it's often made out to be on these threads. Saoirse Ronan proclaiming it's pronounced to rhyme with "inertia" doesn't help, admittedly.

Op, i'm English Irish and familiar with Irish names. Liath would have me flummoxed on sight but I'd know the th was silent so would work it out, if not I'd just ask! It's a gorgeous name.

I guess it depends where you live and how sensitive you are to it lol. In SE England where the English is non-rhotic, people really seem to struggle with it, even after you tell them.

I guess it depends where you live and how sensitive you are to it lol. In SE England where the English is non-rhotic, people really seem to struggle with it, even after you tell them.

I'm in the SE and that's not my experience at all. My dd is saoirse and I'd by lying to say that people don't struggle with it but it's more from an "oooh that's a strange two syllables to string together " angle rather than a struggle to pronounce it. And you will always of course get fools who just refuse to even listen when you tell them how to say it but i must say everyone seems to give it a go and more commonly now she's older some people that have never met her before are saying it correctly without being told. It must be becoming more prevalent or maybe all those people are on mn and see all the threads on Irish names

Lie - ath

Liath is a very 21st century name I think.
My favourite fact about this word is that in Irish "liathrán' means sky-coloured. Because Irish skies are quite cloudy lol.
Liathán also means grey, and a gray (white) horse.
Lia with no t on the end means stone.
In the old legends, Lí is a woman's name.
Laogh, Laogh Alladh (Layla) and LaoghFiadha are terms of endearment. Laogh means fawn.

Lee-agh is the way I would pronounce it in Scottish Gaelic.