How would you pronounce Fionn?

[Rosiiiiie]

We live in the Munster region of Ireland and are pregnant with a second boy woo!

I love the name Fionn.
I’m just a bit confused by prononciation.

I always thought it was Fee-on (two syllables).
But we were in Dublin during the week and someone mentioned it was pronounced Fy-un (one syllable).

And Google says it’s pronounced Fin??

How would you personally pronounce it?

@LizzieAnt

Yeah it's like the Munster pronunciation. This link is good, you can search the other names too if you're interested. learngaelic.scot/dictionary/index.jsp?abairt=Fionn&slang=both&wholeword=false

But yeah, Catriona is usually pronounced Ca-trina, without the O. Although in the Western Isles some people do subtley pronounce it. Niall is like Nyee-ul in Gaelic but a bit like Nile (but two syllables) in English. Sine and Iain are more subtle. In English, people just say Sheena with equal emphasis on both syllables. In Gaelic it's a bit more like Sheee-neh, with the first drawn out. Iain is more like Ee-anyh in Gaelic. Its also not uncommon for people with Gaelic names to use the anglicised pronunciation unless they are speaking in Gaelic. So like Angus for Aonghus, Euan for Eoghan.

I suppose my point is just that there's a lot of variation in pronounciation and it seems to be less of an issue here. We have far fewer fluent speakers though.

My friends dog is called this. She pronounces it Finn .
It’s a lovely name for a child.

It’s Fyun in Leinster and Connacht too…

Finn is a different name altogether and pronounced as you see it!

We pronounce it Fyun but there is a subtle break in the syllable/s - it’s really fi -onn, just as it’s spelled., but the two syllables are run together very quickly.

I'm in Cork and my son is called Fionn. We say it fy-un.

Connacht born and its pronounced fyun here too, never heard it any other way

I’m Irish and have only known it to be Fyun. My Irish is pretty dire though! I think I say Fyun or Finn MacCumhaill equally - can’t decide which I use more!

The Welsh girls' name Ffion I'd pronounce Fee-on; the Irish boys' name Fionn I'd expect to pronounce either Fin or Fyun after checking.

Thank you 080Prospect, that's good to know and thank you very much too for the link. We have lots of variation here as well, and some people do use the Irish and English versions of their names in different situations also.

I think pronunciation is more of an issue on here than in real life to be honest Usually people just use whatever form of the name they like or are familiar with and it's not a problem.

Is Fy pronounced as in eye or as it?

We just went with Finn to avoid this! I think it would be Fyun but then I say Finn McCool (which is part of why we liked the name) so think people might have used either. We're in Scotland though so perhaps that's where more of the "Finn" came from.

@TatianaBis

Is Fy pronounced as in eye or as it?

It's a y like in young. So try saying yun and put an f at the start..I hope I haven't made that more confusing!

Aaah thank you.

So would the pronunciation Theon but with an F at the start be wrong then?

Fin - I'm from the north.

@Rosiiiiie

So would the pronunciation Theon but with an F at the start be wrong then?

That would be wrong. It’s more F-yun

Fee-on

I prefer Fiona

@Rosiiiiie

So would the pronunciation Theon but with an F at the start be wrong then?

It might be interesting to talk to the mum you know who pronounces it like that and find out which part of the country she's from. It may be a dialectal variation. One of the speakers in the Forvo link upthread says Fionn a bit like this too and he's either a native or a fluent speaker of Irish.

However, you're in Munster so nearly everyone will default to Fyun (unless you're in a Munster Gaeltacht where it might be something like Fyune).

I don't think the Feeon pronunciation will cause confusion with the Welsh girls' name in Ireland, but if your son ever moves to the UK it could be a problem I suppose.

FEE-on

But I am familiar with the Welsh Ffion

@LizzieAnt she lives in Cork and was born in Kerry.

My in-laws are Welsh so they confused Fionn with Ffion when I first brought it up 😬

But we were in Dublin during the week and someone mentioned it was pronounced Fy-un (one syllable)

That is how it's pronounced. Def not Fee-on, that's how an English person would say it!!

I have a Scottish nephew called this, pronounced Finn - parents understood it to be correct Scots Gaelic spelling, but I know they regret not just spelling it Finn as even by Gaelic speakers he gets Fee-on.

I think Fy-on (with a nasal n) sounds right though as Fionnladh (Finlay) is pronounce Fyongla (ish! the ng not as hard as thing)

Fionn - Fyun or just Finn if you are English (judging by my acquaintances’ kids)

Ffion- Fee-own (like Fiona) or Fee-onn

@YlangYlangYlangYlang

I have a Scottish nephew called this, pronounced Finn - parents understood it to be correct Scots Gaelic spelling, but I know they regret not just spelling it Finn as even by Gaelic speakers he gets Fee-on.

I think Fy-on (with a nasal n) sounds right though as Fionnladh (Finlay) is pronounce Fyongla (ish! the ng not as hard as thing)

Ooooh I love the name Fionnlagh!!! Pronounced Finlay correct?