Róisín or Beatrice

[SycamoreTall]

Which is your favourite? Two names we're considering at the moment if we have a girl.

I love Roisin. the name of my favourite cousin (and yes, she's Irish). I live in England and have one son with a very English name and one with an Irish name (that most people spell incorrectly and if he's getting a coffee in Starbucks, he calls himself Fred!)

Róisín is so well-known that I don't think the spelling is an issue,
It will.
She'll get Rosheen and Riosin and many other variations.
It will get said as Rosh-EEN

Both names are nice though

Apologies - I didn’t actually explain myself well- I wondering aside from authenticity- if OP could have explained how the fada’s change the pronunciation of the letters
I understand that the Irish alphabet is pronounced differently hence names like Caoimhe etc.

Oh I didn’t realise it wasn’t a name unless you used the fadas.
My understanding was in Northern Ireland years ago some people used Irish names but not always the fadas- although maybe that’s influenced historical oppressions.

I prefer the sound of Roisin, but I'm Irish. I do like Beatrice, 90% like it, and 10% find it a bit sharp. Which goes better with the surname ?

Beatrice
but Beatrix is better IMO

Sorry OP
My last message was meant to be a reply to ‘tablelaid’ but I only learning to use this.

@AnnaBlush , search online for an explanation, but this is my take.

The fadas on Róisín, make both the o and the i longer. The is is a sh sound

Roisin looks like it would be pronounced more like Roshin, whereas Róisín is more like Row-sheen.

I don't speak Gaelge but someone who does is welcome to correct me

Thanks Kirsten

Definatly Róisín 😀

Definitely Beatrice. I don’t like the sh sound in the middle of Róisín, I don’t mind it at the start of names though - Siobhán, Sinéad and Siân (not Irish I know but same sound) are all much nicer for example.

Have a Róisín. Some issues with name spelling and pronunciation (even here in Liverpool) but it suits her and it's a beautiful name

You're welcome, AnnaBlush, but as I said don't take my word for it. I made a typo in 'Gaeilge' BTW.

@AnnaBlush

@KirstenBlest is right when she says the fada lenghtens the vowel sound.

The correct spelling is Róisín, but you're right too, fadas are often left out, especially outside Ireland, but within Ireland as well. People still just pronounce the name as if the fada or fadas were there (hopefully).

For example, the name Seán has a fada on the a, but it's often left out and the name spelt Sean. Strictly speaking, without the fada it should be pronounced differently, as Shan. It also has a different meaning - old - instead of being an Irish form of John. But if you met a fadaless Sean, you'd call him Shawn as if the fada were included in the spelling. Leaving out the fada can be considered an anglicised spelling of the name, I suppose.

I'm a fan of fadas personally, and for me Róisín doesn't look right without them, but it's easy for me as I live in Ireland, and I understand why people leave them out too. Sometimes people use them on birth certs etc to get it right there, but are more relaxed about their use day to day. For what it's worth, in 2021 there were 9 Roisins, 4 Róisins and 152 Róisíns born in Ireland.

I think Irish names have had their day unless the baby has an Irish heritage.

I love Beatrice. In fact it was the second choice for our baby girl. I loved the idea of having a Baby Bea.

Which judging by the number of applications for passports made to the Irish DFA is about quarter of a million per YEAR the last 5 years and 160,000 approx before 2016.

So, hardly anybody. Too random and remote.

Beatrice...beautiful, classic and elegant 💗

Róisín.
I'd pronounce it Rosheen though I've heard it pronounced Rusheen.
I much prefer it to Beatrice. Or Beatrix.
I prefer Rosie though.

I was going to add the stuff about the name Seán last night but wasn't sure if it meant old

I don't like the use of Irish names outside Ireland unless there's a connection either. I got shot down on OP's other thread for saying it.

Not because the name is irish, but because they get anglicised or mispronounced and misspelt. (same goes for welsh, french, german, swedish etc names)

While I'm here, how do you spell the name that is pronounced Neev? I don't mean Niamh (Nee-uv). Is it Naomh?

Róisín is lovely.
Beatrice is very meh.

Not much help I really like both. I've a cousin Roisin, she goes by Rosie.

Beatrice is beautiful and classic too.

While I'm here, how do you spell the name that is pronounced Neev? I don't mean Niamh (Nee-uv). Is it Naomh?

@KirstenBlest No, Naomh isn't a name as such...it means saint, or holy. So Naomh Pádraig is Saint Patrick for example.

Niamh is pronounced Nee-uv in the Irish language, but many people do say Neev too, even in Ireland. This is because most of us speak English as a first language.

Having said that, I came across a reference to someone called Naomhán in today’s Irish Times, which I’d never come across before. But that would be ‘NAY-uv-AWN’, roughly.

@KirstenBlest
Forgot to add that Naomh is pronounced Nay-uv where I am, but the pronunciation varies with dialect. And I guess that Niamh's pronunciation in Irish could vary with dialect too - but it wouldn't properly be Neev in any. I've personally only heard the name said in Irish as Nee-uv, but I'm quite far south and I'm not so sure about Ulster Irish.

That's very interesting @HerTableLaid . I had
come across Naomhán before, but didn't know it was used as a first name these days. It must be very rare.
Just checked and it's anglicised as Nevan.

I like the sound of Roisin, though I didn't know how to pronounce it until some pp clarified it (am not british).

So I'd pick it over Béatrice, which seems much less mysterious and interesting to me.

Another name that is nice is Berenice. Same style as Béatrice but more original.