Marsaili, testing waters

[wombatsandadoor]

After endeavour having mixed responses, I’m curious about marsaili.

Bearing in mind I’m in Scotland. I went to school with a ciorstaidh, and she coped fine, so Gaelic names do not put me off.

You say it MAR sa lee.

I just know it from the Peter May Lewis trilogy, so would have said it like in this picture.

@MyOtherProfile

It's ok, too close to masala for my liking, as someone said.

To be honest I'm more interested in knowing how you pronounce ciorstaidh.

I'm guessing Kirsty

Yeah you say it like Kirsty.

Yeah the Lewis trilogy is where I know it from. I think the pronunciation difference is just regional differences in the Gaelic.

I love it, one of my favourite names! I'm Scottish but have yet to meet a Marsaili.

Kirsty??? Wow! I can kind of see it now but I wouldn't have got there by myself 😁

Gorgeous name.

It's lovely.

Yes I know it from outlander but it's perfectly pretty even in English.

Laoghaire for example is not easy to decipher and "leg hair" would be said 😂

I think it's lovely

@HoldingTheDoor

Lovely and quite well known Scottish name

I'll have to hand in my Scottish passport. I'd never heard the name before until about a year or so ago.

Maybe I'm English and been aware of it for years as a character name. Never met one IRL though

I'm Scottish. I knew a Marsaili at university and a baby with it as the middle name. Plus Outlander of course. And if you've done any Scots Gaelic Duolingo you'll have come across it: Tha Marsaili cho teth!

linux Lairy? Leery? - remembering my time with a railway relic collector and the Highland station Dun Laoghaire...

I’m literally reading the black house right now 😁 - in the foreword he says it should be pronounced “marshally” although I’ve got a Gaelic name and interpretations vary.

I’m Scottish and have never met one.

@merryhouse yeah Leary is the anglicised version :)

Very pretty! I too know a Marsailidh, but I prefer your spelling.

Outlander fan by any chance?

@Whenigrowupiwanttobea I have never seen outlander, I got the name from the Lewis trilogy books.

Very nice name. Not Gaelic in origin, but the Gaelic version of Marcella or just perhaps Marjorie. Marsailidh is a modern invented fancification.
medievalscotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven/women/marsail.shtml

I asked neighbour - aged 90s, native speaker, born in west Highlands - and they said Mahr-seh-lee. That's how I've always heard it, as well.

The 'sh' sound may perhaps be used on the outer islands, of course, where sounds tend to be softer. Depends on local accent.

I've not heard it before but it reminds me of marsala wine. It's ok but I don't love it. Definitely better than Wednesday!

@wombatsandadoor

I've had a wee name change for this as pretty outing.. my oldest is called Marsaili - it's actually got a 'sh' sound in the middle (we're of native Western Isles speakers) - so like partially but with M at the start.

We love it, after nearly 20 years, and more to the point so does she. She always knows when they reach her name in a list as there is a pause first then they say it as Mar-say-lee. But most people remember it once they've heard it, and no kids had any trouble with it. She gets shortened to Mars sometimes, and nicknames of Marshmallow, Mars Bar and Parsnip (no never liked that!). We live in England btw.

It was first suggested to me by a lovely woman in another online community, who I've just heard has passed away this week, so I'm feeling rather warm and fuzzy about it at the moment. It completely nailed all the things we wanted in a name (pfb!) and wouldn't have found it without Duve. A wee tribute there, I hope you don't mind.

I love it!

(I also love the character Marsali in Outlander, amazing strong female character.)

I am Scottish and tbh I was unfamiliar with Marsali unti I watched Outlander.

I have to say that I love it. Really beautiful.

It's nice, but I can't stop my mind connecting it with the word marsupial.

I really like it. It's really pretty. What does it mean?
Am also a massive Outlander fan.

Re meaning, it's probably a Gaelic version or Marcella, a Latin name which means 'strong' or 'warlike'.

It's just possible that there was an earlier Gaelic name that sounded like Marcella, and the two became combined, but it's not terribly likely. Though no-one knows for sure.

After all, there are many similarities between Gaelic and Latin (they both belong to the same language family). For example, the Latin for man is 'vir' (veer); the Gaelic for senior man is 'fear', which is pronounced in a very similar way. The Latin for ox is 'bos/bovis'; the Gaelic for cow is 'bo' etc etc etc.

stuff here [[https://www.foramnagaidhlig.net/foram/viewtopic.php?t=2786