Solamh

[AuntDympna]

Inspired by the thread on Sullivan, I'm wondering what people think of this Irish / Scots Gaelic name. It's used to mean Solomon in the bible. As a functional word means prompt, ready, quick, dexterous.
The genitive form is Solaimh or Solmhan.

I'm stumped on pronunciation and I think a lot of people would be! I also couldn't burden a child with a name that they will always have to spell and pronounce for people (I have one and it drives me mad!!). I'd go with Arthur or Rupert off your previous list, they work so much better with Toby.

What Emma said.

(except the bit about choosing Rupert. Do not do that).

I like Solomon and I'd use that

@Kite22 Rupert wouldn't particularly be my choice either, but then nor would Toby......they seem to go together better than the alternatives!

I'm confused on pronunciation too

I'd be able to pronounce it, but if you live in England, the vast majority of people won't.

Solomon is an AMAZING name. (Unlike Rupert, which is not.)

How is it pronounced?

No-one's going to know how to pronounce that OP. Solomon is nice but doesn't really have any nice shortenings.

Don’t even have a clue where to begin pronouncing this.

Is it sol-av ?

Or sol-eev?

I think it sounds too close to the word solemn... which isn't something I'd want to burden a kid with...

That should have been 'reads as' too close to Solemn - I don't know how it's actually pronounced though!

Never heard this name before but I do quite like it. I’m Scottish and am used to garlic names so would feel reasonably confident pronouncing it

Agree with others, if you're in UK almost nobody will know how to pronounce it. I have an Irish name that people struggle to pronounce and let me tell you, that gets old. Solomon is a much better choice

Gaelic names! Stupid autocorrect

Solamh rhymes with olive or hollow.

@AuntDympna

Solamh rhymes with olive or hollow.

so there's 2 possible pronunciations? Soliv and Sollow?

Olive and hollow don’t rhyme???

I can pronounce it but haven’t heard it as a name before.

@AuntDympna

Solamh rhymes with olive or hollow.

Eh?

Which one is it? Olive and Hollow don’t rhyme?

I’m Scottish and would have guessed the pronunciation with So-leev but have never heard or seen this name. I think your DS would spend his whole life explaining how to spell/pronounce it and answering questions about it’s provenance. Unless you have a particular connection (being a Gaelic speaker for example) I would be unsure about this (as someone who has spent her whole life explaining how to spell/pronounce my name and answering questions about it’s provenance).

Wrt 'rhyme'...

Solamh has a V sound at the end which is very soft. So soft that it is almost glided over.

Depending on whether you glide over the soft V sound or not, the name can be pronounced to rhyme with olive and also hollow, so Soliv, and also Sollo. The O sound of hollow is more of a schwa than the Home Counties O sound.

Hollow and olive don't rhyme; nobody is claiming they do.

I am Irish and would pronounce it with more of a schwa sound for the O - more like the first syllable of Sullivan.

Sulliv, or Sulluwh

I'm Scottish and wouldn't have a clue how to pronounce it. Use the traditional spelling and save your child a lifetime of having to spell out their name and tell people how to say it.

@SatinHeart

No-one's going to know how to pronounce that OP. Solomon is nice but doesn't really have any nice shortenings.

Sol seems the natural way to abbreviate Solomon. And Solan and Solamh.