Name list

[Shayisgreat]

Hi, I'm thinking about names for baby. I'm Irish living in England. I'm wondering if you could let me know which ones you like and whether you know how to pronounce them please?

Niamh
Cara
Eimear
Orla
Riona
Iseult
Alannah
Aine
Caitriona

Liam
Dara
Eoin
Rory
Sean
Donnacha
Daniel
Donal
Lorcan
Adam
Thomas
Cormac
Niall
Desmond
Eamon
Conor

I’d go for Iseult or Catriona and Lorcan or Rory

Niamh - nice, getting popular so pronunciation not a huge problem
Cara - ok, bit blah
Eimear - will be a pain
Orla - nice, pretty popular. Oona would be more stand out.
Riona - it’s a bit blah
Iseult - lovely - my favourite
Alannah - getting quite popular, don’t personally like it
Aine - pronunciation pain
Caitriona - nice classic, will get variously pronounced phonetically or as Katrina

Liam - overused and undistinguished
Dara - people will assume a girl’s name
Eoin - Owen?

Rory - great. Super popular though.
Sean - OK, quite a middle aged name
Donnacha - a pain
Daniel - great, classic, not overused
Donal - very granddad
Lorcan - great and fairly unusual
Adam - nice, it’s a middle aged name, but also classic
Thomas - a classic. More popular than Daniel right now
Cormac - OK
Niall - OK, quite middle aged like Sean
Desmond - no, granddad
Eamon - no, granddad
Conor - overused and undistinguished

I like Niamh and Eimear, Eoin and Cormac, all lovely in my opinion.
There’s always a chance of mispronunciation outside of Ireland but I wouldn’t let that stop you using a name from your culture that you love. Good luck.

Niamh - ok but will be said as Neev. A bit too Eve, Evie, Eva
Cara - fine
Eimear - I'm guessing at Emeer?
Orla - will be said as Awluh, too popular
Riona - is it Reena?
Iseult - not sure
Alannah - people will say Al-aAH-na or Alarna if non-rhotic
Aine - I'd guess at Eena or Awnya
Caitriona - Is it Katrina?

Liam - overused in the past
Dara - probably looks girlish
Eoin - Owen
Rory - too popular. Bummer of a name if you can't say R
Sean - - overused in the past
Donnacha - don't know how to say it
Daniel - fine
Donal - will probably get called Donald
Lorcan - good
Adam - ok
Thomas - like
Cormac - maybe
Niall - like but is it Nee-ul or Nigh-ul
Desmond - top of your list
Eamon - Holmes, not sure of spelling
Conor - overused in the past

Apologies if my pronunciations are dreadful but this is what your DC will get IRL on a regular basis

Thanks for your opinions. Niamh, Iseult, and Caitriona are my fav girls names. @luredbyapomegranate undistinguished is the right word for Liam and Conor but wasn't able to articulate it earlier so thanks!

I'd pick Cara from the girl's names and Desmond or Niall from the boys. The Niall I know has irish parents and they say Nigh'l

I love Orla and Rory

I love Caitriona. Beautiful name.

I also like Rory, but spelt Ruairi.

I can read all of them. Donnchadh and Áine are my favourites. I love Rory and Alannah too.

Cara and Cormac are my favourites, such amazing names!

Cara and Rory are my favourites

Thanks everyone for not slating my list! I'm less sure about the boy names but I think Lorcan and Rory are my favourites. Worried about the popularity and the r in Rory though!

@Luredbyapomegranate

I’d go for Iseult or Catriona and Lorcan or Rory

Niamh - nice, getting popular so pronunciation not a huge problem
Cara - ok, bit blah
Eimear - will be a pain
Orla - nice, pretty popular. Oona would be more stand out.
Riona - it’s a bit blah
Iseult - lovely - my favourite
Alannah - getting quite popular, don’t personally like it
Aine - pronunciation pain
Caitriona - nice classic, will get variously pronounced phonetically or as Katrina

Liam - overused and undistinguished
Dara - people will assume a girl’s name
Eoin - Owen?

Rory - great. Super popular though.
Sean - OK, quite a middle aged name
Donnacha - a pain
Daniel - great, classic, not overused
Donal - very granddad
Lorcan - great and fairly unusual
Adam - nice, it’s a middle aged name, but also classic
Thomas - a classic. More popular than Daniel right now
Cormac - OK
Niall - OK, quite middle aged like Sean
Desmond - no, granddad
Eamon - no, granddad
Conor - overused and undistinguished

Agreed.

Doesn't look like you want to use a fada OP, so personally I'd be inclined to use a name that doesn't have one, rather than just leaving it out. Lots of the names you're listed above do have fadas in Irish, others don't. Many people do leave out the fada of course...but it's not really the correct spelling then. Totally up to you obviously, just my two cents.

Orla and Rory here, too.

I am English and know how to pronounce all of these.

Niamh - love, I have one in England, we've had no pronunciation issues
Cara - like a lot
Eimear - like a lot
Orla - like but with an English accent and some surnames it can sound like "all a"
Riona - like, would maybe get said to rhyme with Fiona though
Iseult - ok
Alannah - ok
Aine - like a lot
Caitriona - like a lot

Liam - don't like
Dara - like a lot
Eoin - love
Rory - love
Sean - like a lot
Donnacha - like a lot
Daniel - don't like
Donal - love, due a comeback!
Lorcan - ok
Adam - like
Thomas - like, but I know lots of babies/toddlers
Cormac - love
Niall - don't like
Desmond - don't like
Eamon - don't like
Conor - ok, but similar to a French swearword, so not useable for me (but might be for you)

Please can you tell us how you would pronounce the uncommon ones?

How I'd pronounce them:

Niamh - Nee-iv (neev is fine too)
Cara -
Eimear - eemer
Orla -
Riona - Ree-ina (Reena is fine too)
Iseult - ee-sult
Alannah - Ah-lann-ah
Aine - awn-ya
Caitriona - kat-ree-ina (Katreena is fine too)

Liam -
Dara -
Eoin - owen
Rory -
Sean -
Donnacha - dun-acka
Daniel -
Donal - Doh-nal
Lorcan -
Adam -
Thomas -
Cormac -
Niall - ny-al
Desmond -
Eamon - ay-mon
Conor

Re: fadas - Good point. Pity because I do like Caitríona but it wouldn't be used over here.

@Shayisgreat

Hi, I'm thinking about names for baby. I'm Irish living in England. I'm wondering if you could let me know which ones you like and whether you know how to pronounce them please?

Niamh
Cara
Eimear
Orla
Riona
Iseult
Alannah
Aine
Caitriona

Liam
Dara
Eoin
Rory
Sean
Donnacha
Daniel
Donal
Lorcan
Adam
Thomas
Cormac
Niall
Desmond
Eamon
Conor

Cara and Iseult are my favourites but latter will be hard to pronounce! Most people will know Niamh, Orla and Alannah

I like Eoin, Niall, Lorcan, and Thomas best of your boys and think they will be pronounced ok.