Nile?

[CheeCheex]

What do you think of Nile? I like Niall to but no Irish connection.

Like Belleager and BakewellGin1, I'd pronounce Nile and Niall just a bit differently. I don't think you need to be Irish to use Niall. The usual pronunciation is an anglicised version of the name anyway - it's actually pronounced NEE-ul (Neil) in the Irish language.

I like it 💁‍♀️ Mind you, MN vetoed the name I had for my eldest - I went with it anyway, he’s 8 now and I still love it 😂

My second also has a Gaelic name - my family tree goes back to Ireland but I’m definitely not ‘recently’ Irish. ☺️

I prefer Niall, regardless of background. Though as people have pointed out, Nile Wilson wasn’t held back by his name.

Lots of Scots named Niall pronounced Neil/Nee-ul, but end up getting called Niall (Nile) in the south.

Nile - no. God no.
Niall - yes lovely name.

Niall and Neil are two different names, not different pronunciations of the same name?

@GreyhoundG1rl

Niall and Neil are two different names, not different pronunciations of the same name?

No, Niall and Neil have the same root. Niall is an very old Irish name and is pronounced in Irish as NEE-ul. This was spelled phonetically in English as Neil or Neal. Niall also started being pronounced Nye-al, and that's spread and become the most popular pronunciation in Ireland today, but it's an anglicised pronunciation really.

forvo.com/word/niall/

Nile Ranger the footballer

Think they are all versions of Nigellus / Nigel really

I like both Neil and Niall however they are spelt or pronounced..In my part of England Neil is kneel Niall is Nile nice names both

The 'iall' letter combination found in Niall is always said like this in Irish -

www.teanglann.ie/en/gram/iall

I prefer the Nye-al pronunciation though

I know a Nile. She is Turkish.

I know of a teenaged Nile, although can't remember if it was spelt Nile or Nyle. Seemed a bit odd when I first heard it, but soon got used to it as a name.

[quote LizzieAnt]The 'iall' letter combination found in Niall is always said like this in Irish -

www.teanglann.ie/en/gram/iall[/quote]
Oh, right!

Nile Is the river
Niall is good!

I love Nile

I like it. Though I think Niall is better and I don't think you need an Irish connection to use it. Niles is also good. Some of the negative comments on this thread are bizarre - Nile is no more ridiculous than River, which is pretty popular at the moment. I don't think it's particularly 'out there' at all.

Niall is fine, you don't need to be Irish. I know a few. Nile is just the river and will get loads of misspellings

De Nile is the obviously pun for an Amazon - first name prime - etc just don’t do it

No don’t do it

@Belleager

Think they are all versions of Nigellus / Nigel really

I think it's the other way around.

The Old Norman first name Neel was derived from the Norse Njáll, which came from the Irish name Niall. The Norman Neel was mistranslated to the Latin Nigellus (dark) because neel in old french had a similar meaning and it was mistakenly thought the name Neel had the same etymology. Niall is often translated as champion, but that's a bit of a guess. It's so old its meaning has been lost and is uncertain.

Cool, thanks @LizzieAnt

Dislike Nile. Go for Niall and pick a pronunciation. In some accents the distinction isn't all that strong anyway.