Girls name Seana

[Newmum110]

Hi, just wondering what the general consensus is on this name? I much prefer it to the spelling Shauna but wondering if I will be constantly correcting people. Does that matter??
I'm Irish if that makes a difference 😁

I would pronounce the name Se-Ana rather than Sean-a. It's up to you only you can decide

How do you pronounce it?
I know a Seona pronounced Shona

I think the spelling is fine.

Not so keen on the name..

I’ve never seen it spelled Seana, I pronounced it ‘Seena’ in my head at first before I realised
Shauna is definitely the better spelling

I’d say definitely better to use traditional and correct spelling. Yes she will have to clarify how it’s pronounced many times but that is NOT a reason not to use the proper spelling. My son has the traditional (Scottish) spelling of his name and I’m very pleased he does.

Personally I find it difficult reading the name, to work out how to pronounce (obviously from the post you've explained but in real life without prior knowledge)
It could read phonetically as Sea-Anna - almost like Sienna

I'd say See- nah

Sea ana was how I read it in my head.

Yeah I though sea ana when i read it

I would read Seana as "Shanna" if I thought it was Irish, but I know several girls called Zéanne, Zéanna, and Séanne so I would have to ask.

I think it's fine, and you should do what you want to do - but having a very complicated name myself which everyone either got wrong or tried to change / shorten throughout my entire life, I gave my kids really easy names to say and to spell in order to spare them a life time of dealing with that kind of thing.

I read that as Sienna

I read it as See-ana

You need to put the fada in to get the correct pronunciation if that's what's you're going for - i.e. Seán. But bear in mind that is not an actual name in Irish and will cause a lot of confusion both in Ireland and abroad. When I first saw it I read it as see-anna.

I agree with the pp who says to put the fada in to get the pronunciation right. She's also right that it's not an actual Irish name, so as you are Irish it would look odd to use the Seana spelling.

I live in Ireland and I did guess the pronunciation you want, but it's not obvious. I know a couple of girls called Shauna, and I think their names are spelled that way for a good reason.

In my head I pronounced it "See-Anna". I don't think this spelling works. And I don't really like the name to be honest (with the correct pronunciation, I mean). It seems a little dull and plain.

I think (without checking) that Seána and other names formed by adding an a to a masculine name is inceasingly common in Ireland as it has been in Scots Gaelic areas for a long time.

How would you pronounce Sean Bean's forename? Well it's that with 'a' tacked on to the end so exactly the same as Shauna. I have a brother named Sean and not once in his life has it been pronounced as See Ann.

@happinesslovescompany exactly. How difficult can it be for some to work that out?!

One of my best friends is called Seanagh which I quite like spelling wise.

Yes I would be using fada just didn't put it on here as I thought it would cause more confusion with the pronunciation!!!!! Where I live Seána is not that unusual but I was thinking of a wider audience so thanks for the responses. I guess I'm not 100% so that's why I asked here, if I was going to definitely use it then I probably wouldn't have asked and just gone with it. Plenty of thinking time left.

I have a good friend Seana (she is Irish) spelt like this and I dont think people have problems with the spelling or pronunciation…. I also much prefer it to Shauna.

How would you pronounce Sean Bean's forename? Well it's that with 'a' tacked on to the end so exactly the same as Shauna. I have a brother named Sean and not once in his life has it been pronounced as See Ann

I've noticed in films and tv shows from the USA that they seem to pronounce Sean as 'seen' and use Shaun if they want the proper sound. Very odd.

At first I thought you were misspelling Sienna, then I thought See-anna. A variation on Shawna hadn’t occurred to me.

I think you definitely need the fada - it'll help to avoid confusion in Ireland, but probably not elsewhere.
The spelling Shauna has been much more widely used in Ireland and was very popular for a short while in the 90s. It's more rarely used here now, but still used more than Seána is. So people will likely guess the spelling as Shauna a lot, if that matters to you.

I would assume Seana was pronounced Shawn-a. Not a name I've come across before but it's not too dissimilar to Seona (Shona) and I've known a few of them (in Scotland).