Irish mumsnetters-Ishka?

[AdmirablePlatypus]

Hi mumsnet (and Irish mumsnet in particular).

we are trying to pin down baby names here in Australia. I’ve strong Irish heritage and love the word (name?) Ishka.

however, as I understand it, there is a packaged water brand in Ireland which has similar or same name.🙄

Therefore, I am asking if it’s one of those names that would attract ridicule in the UK Ireland? Like would people associate it with the water brand or something?😝😝

thanks so much
💕

The Irish word for water is spelt Uisce. It's not a brand, it's the actual thing...

Just to explain the context "Uisce" is the Irish word for water and it is pronounced like Ishka. And yes there is a brand of water very popular in parts of the country that has used this connection to call the brand ishka which I think is quite clever.

However I have never heard of it as a name . Would I think it strange - yes. Would it bother me if I liked the name - no. Do whatever makes you happy but just be aware of the context.

Oh sorry, it's pronounced Ishka.

Sorry crossed posts there @Johnnysgirl

that has used this connection to call the brand ishka which I think is quite clever.
Ooh, I missed this...

Not at all, your post was far more relevant

Yes the brand is all over the place in some parts of country eg Galway but I have never seen it in shops in Dublin for example

Neat marketing, for sure.

I was just reading this out to my daughter because I thought it was quite amusing, only to be informed that she knows a girl at college in Galway who is called Uisce. At first she thought it it was a bit odd but now it’s just her name and they’re all used to it.

There was a goddess called Uisce too so technically it is a name. I have come across one woman called Uisce. However, as it is not a common name, Irish people will associate it with the Irish word for water and will likely think it a little odd.

Ishka is not an Irish name (there is no k in Irish) and as Uisce is not a common Irish name, it hasn't resulted in an anglicised spelling the way names like Cillian have. It is a play on words used by a bottled water company.

uisce is water

The company with the brand:
www.irishspringwater.com/

Ishka would not read at first glance as an "Irish" language word.

ridicule in the UK Ireland 👀 🙊

Uisce Beatha would be a nice name 😁😁😁🥃🥃

@Johnnysgirl thank you- yep should have mentioned that i was aware of the spelling difference. It’s an important point you make- anglicisation of names is an issue here as in all settler colonies. I didn’t mean to reproduce this ‘colonialism’ of an Indigenous name.

@SolasAnla my post auto corrected- I had actually written ‘in the UK and Ireland.’ I do very clearly understand the difference! (and the contested meanings of those terms and their connotations).

thank you @SolasAnla and @Johnnysgirl and everyone else, this is most informative:)

Dunne's stores and Tesco stock it so it would be a no from me.

Reading the word feels like they have shredded the Irish language apart it makes me quiet sad.

Gaeilge is a soft language which conveys so much more than the more abrupt English language. My opinion is if you want to use an Irish name respectfully use it's authentic form.

I think it's a great name. For bottled water.

I do think the name would cause some confusion in Ireland because of the meaning of the word uisce, which sounds the same as Ishka (as pp have said). I think the sound of the name Ishka could be more problematic here than the spelling really, as most people would know uisce to mean water, even if they hadn't come across the bottled water brand.

I have occasionally heard people ridiculing the name of Ishka bottled water too, as they don't like way the spelling uisce has been changed/anglicised.

There is also a bottled water brand called Fíor Uisce. I had never heard Uisce used as a person's name until this thread, but a quick google shows that the name Fíor Uisce (True or Pure Water) crops up in Irish Folklore as the name of a princess in a story about the origins of The Lough, a small lake in Cork City. I don't know how old the story/legend is, but it was included in a publication of folklore in the 1820s. (Apparently, the story has been an inspiration for work by the musician John Spillane too.)

Dd has an Indian friend called Ishika.

I'd just assume it was a name from some other culture (slavic maybe?) as I've never heard it as a name and the word water obviously doesn't have that spelling. It's not awful though..

I think with that spelling no one would regard it as Irish so if choosing a name in order to represent heritage I'd try again. And yes, I do think it would considered a bit odd in Ireland, can't say regarding UK but again with that spelling I'd imagine it'd be considered Asian maybe? Or another made up name. I wouldn't use it as I wouldn't call my child Water, maybe something like Bláithín or Bláthnaid.

I prefer Bainne (pr. bonn-ya)

😁

It's not an Irish name but sounds like the Irish word for water. Use it if you like it but don't say it's Irish because it's not. Like others have said there isn't a 'k' in the Irish alphabet.

I can imagine someone tweeting 'I met a person called Ishka today' and it going viral on Irish Twitter to much hilarity.

If you want something with an Irish connection but that will be easily spelt in Australia I'd go for something like Tara or Orla or something like Dervla that's been anglicised but not in a crazy looking way. (Dervla Murphy died yesterday and that's why it came to mind). Fiadh is the most popular girls' name in Ireland at the moment, it's pronounced Fia (which I'm sure is a legit name in other countries )so you could just go with that.

But not Ishka...

If I met someone called Ishka I would think it was a foreign name, maybe Russian or Scandinavian. The connection with uisce would pass me by totally.

Fiadh is the most popular girls' name in Ireland at the moment, it's pronounced Fia (which I'm sure is a legit name in other countries )so you could just go with that.

Fia is legit in Irish too.
Fiadh is the older spelling and it's more popular as a name, but Fia is also correct.