Ruairidh spelling variations

[Scottishgirl85]

Just discovered our 3rd child is a boy after 2 girls!

Always loved Ruairidh (pronounced roo-ray). I'm Scottish, hubby English, we live in SE England.

Will Ruairidh just cause endless issues or should we be brave and go for it?

There are alternative slightly simpler spellings, such as:

• Ruaridh (Scottish, but not technically correct spelling without the extra i)
• Ruairi (Irish, but we're not Irish).

Please help!

(Note, Rory is a completely different name, not as keen)

They are Scottish and Irish on each side of the family, so that's where the name comes from. I suspect it's more a case of being 'lost in translation' or possibly even an accent issue (they weren't brought up in their parents country of birth and hence do not have the accent) rather than wilful ignorance. I always assumed that it was the Irish/scottish spelling of Rory but clearly I stand corrected! I'm not going to go against his parents in pronunciation though.

I would have said this was pronounced rur - ee?

@Rowen32 yes please see my later updates where I accept my phonetic portrayal may not have been the best. I know I'm saying it correctly, just can't express it in writing 😀. Essentially I say it like brewery without the b.

I have a work contact with that name. I never call him by name as I don’t know how to say it. It’s a lifetime of problems for your child if you live in England.

I cannot comprehend why you would do this to your child. Unless he will live in Scotland for all his life, you have given him a problem to resolve every time he meets someone who isn't Scottish or Irish. Don't be surprised if he decides to dump the name as soon as he is able to. If fact, be kind and give him a nice, easy middle name to help him do so when the time comes.

Are those of us with Irish names never allowed off the island?

Why is it the Spanish/German/Pakistani/Polish people I've met are fine with my and my children's names but some English people get in a flap.

You could ask him. Or Google it. It's only a problem because you some people can't be arsed learning new names.

And I cannot comprehend closed-mindedness and stupidity.

I thought it was pronounced Rory so leaned something tonight! I have to spell my surname every time and it's a pain, so I wouldn't use it as it gets tiresome. Also I wouldn't use it because so many many children (and quite a few adults including me), struggle to pronounce their Rs for a while so would be woo we or similar.

I grew up in Scotland and was at school with a Ruaridh. None of us, his classmates, knew how to spell or pronounce it there either! So we just listened to what he told us and learned the spelling. It was no big deal.

(I think there are more Gaelic names in use in Scotland these days, in the eighties everyone was called Scott, Mark or Steven)

Well, now you do!

When your Ruairidh is a teen/adult OP, "brewery without the b" will be a great ice breaker!

I know a Ruairidh (pronounced brewery but with an 'R' (3 syllables)). Everyone knows him as Ru and there's never any issues with that. There are some issues with spelling on invitations etc but they aren't bothered in the slightest. I say go for it OP!

That's what I was thinking too. I've come across several Ruairidhs and Ruaris none of whom called themselves "RooRay"

I'm in Scotland. I've never heard it pronounced like that.

Isn't Roddy a diminutive of Roderick?

@TheLassWiADelicateAir helpful. Perhaps explain how you HAVE heard it pronounced?

The boy in my class said his name exactly as OP describes - "brewery" without the b.

Go for it! It was my dad’s name. He used the spelling Rory for most of his life as no one in England could pronounce or spell it. He was born in the 1930s. It is a different world now. Many people in England esp big cities are used to more unusual names.

There is a comedian and a former MP called Rory, and both are Roderick on their birth certificates.There's a Ruairí on The Archers, and his name gets said as Rory, Roory and Roo-ery, and on the TA threads there are usually a few different spellings. Waves at fellow TA addicts

@RooniIWazlib you sound overly invested. Have a kit kat.

Sick burn.

You're the one clutching your pearls about something that doesn't affect you.

I am based in SW England, previously lived in London and have known a handful of Ruairidhs. It's not up there with e.g. Siobhan or Niamh as a well known Welsh/Irish/Scottish name but I'd say it's getting there? There are so many names from different cultures and with pronunciations and spellings that might differ from phonetic English that I honestly wouldn't let this stop me from calling my child the name I love. I say go for it!

Out of interest how do you pronounce Mhairi? I've come across both Vari and Mari pronunciations so am never sure now!

Depends on the Mhairi. Varry is correct but I've met more than one Mhairi who pronounce it Marry.

This was on another thread the other day. It's actually quite complicated. I'm not a Gaelic speaker but my understanding is as follows:

The given name is "Mairi" pronounced "Marry". However when you are talking to the person, you use the vocative case which, in Gaelic, is written "Mhairi" and pronounced "Varry".

So you might say "I saw (Mairi) Marry in Tesco the other day, and I said to her "Hello (Mhairi) Varry", how are you?"

My understanding is that to say Varry for "Mhairi" is therefore correct but it is not correct to give someone the name Mhairi as it should not actually exist as a name in its own right, only as a form of direct address. However it's taken on a life of its own and become a name in its own right with English pronunciation "Marry" over the years.

I am sure an actual Gaelic speaker will be able to explain better than me.

Wikipedia explanation