Can I name my baby Ira?

[phonemouse]

I live in the uk. We like the name Ira (pronounced Eye-ra).
It's a fairly popular name in the states and Australia but I am aware it has some other connotations.
Do you think honestly that it would be an issue?

And in Spanish

I know a woman who wanted to name her daughter Ira, but as someone had pointed out that it’s spelt I R A, she added another i.
Iria. Honestly, if you saw that you’d say Irry-ah, wouldn’t you?
I expect Iria has spent her whole life saying it’s pronounced Eye-rah.

There must be a better alternative.

Ida
Isla
Eira

Yep - phonetically it is definitely irry-ah. Poor girl must spend her life correcting people mistakenly using the proper pronunciation…

Well, he'll never be able to visit Northern Ireland but you can decide whether that's a good or bad thing 😀

No to Ira ..
How about:
Ivor
Ian
Islay
Irwin
Igor
Irving

This thread is a year old. Nothing's changed in a year. Ira was a fine name then and now. It doesn't scream IRA and it really isn't controversial.

Tell me you don’t live in Ireland without telling me you don’t live in Ireland..

Totally fine, I bet no one in her school year would have even heard of the IRA. Totally not an issue

Nor does OP. And I did live in Belfast for 3 years.

If OP did it might be a different matter.

It may not scream IRA, but when you spell it you literally say IRA.

What's the name?

Ira Smith, that's IRA...

Personally, I wouldn't want that little jolt of recognition every time I spelled my name out, so I wouldn't give it to my DC even though Ira itself is a perfectly nice name when said out loud.

Northern Ireland is in the UK, @DappledThings , OP might be in NI.

@phonemouse , the Welsh name is Eira, and is approximately Ey-ra. It sometimes gets said as Eye-ra, but given that it's the Welsh word for Snow, it should follow Welsh pronunciation. It's definitely a girl's name.

Ira is a Hebrew boy's name

I know an Eira who pronounces it eye-rah

You're right, I had indeed assumed that given OP hasn't seen any connotations herself and not commented further that she's not in NI. I may be wrong but it's an assumption I'm OK with.

I know a 3 year old Ira. Nobody has ever commented on it in any conversation ive been in other to mention Ira Gershwin.

I just don't think it's an issue.

Ira Levin. Great author. Would never think about the IRA

Eira pronounced the same as Ira means snow in Welsh

Oh thats hideous

Ira is fine

Because he wasn't named after a terrorist group.
I grew up in the 90s and I'd never heard of the IRA till I got much older. So I cant see how anyone his age would be concerned about it, or even know much about the IRA. Everyone has their own opinion and thats fine, I know that not everyone's going to like his name. But its a beautiful name. And thats literally all it is, a name.

I'd think Gershwin too.

@tinytemper66 , eira is pronounced like ey-ra (approximately) not eye-ra.
Some say the name as ira but it's an anglicisation.

@765penny658 ,I grew up in the 90s and I'd never heard of the IRA till I got much older. So I cant see how anyone his age would be concerned about it, or even know much about the IRA.

It's part of the country's history and your post comes across as insensitive.

Again, Isis is a nice name too but it’s still a terrorist organisation. Obviously nobody is purposefully aiming to name their child after terror groups but you can’t ignore the fact that the IRA is one.

I can assure you that any child growing up in NI or Ireland now is still very much aware of the IRA’s existence and what they did, just because you weren’t aware of it as you obviously didn’t grow up in the same place or circumstances doesn’t mean that everyone else is the same way.

@765penny658 I suggest you read up on your Irish history. Your post comes across as very ignorant and naive

I am Welsh and I pronounce it Eyra. I worked with someone who said it that way so that maybe why I say it that way.

Problematic in UK Ireland. 12 years of teachers saying, 'how are you spelling that, I. R. A......'.

@tinytemper66 , I don't know if you speak Welsh, but the name is just 'Snow' and pronounced (approximately) eyra.

Imagine if Snow became a first name and people said it to rhyme with How - that's how weird the Eye-ra pronunciation is to me.

It's a fairly popular name in the states and Australia but I am aware it has some other connotations

First part is debatable. I’m Australian and while the name would be okay here, it’s not a popular name by any stretch. I wouldn’t though, just in case my child wanted to travel/work in the UK when older, it would be an unwanted chain around their neck.

As for the ‘some other connotations’, that’s putting it mildly surely ………. And yes, your kids g that the name Isis would not be appropriate in this day and age is also pretty spot on! And before you get to it, you should also strike Adolf from your list.

How does it, I honestly didn't know much about it. I found out more, reading things as I got older. But I never learnt about it at school. Which is why I said, I don't think it will be an issue kids in his year knowing about it. I'm all open for discussions, but you're literally picking for an argument. Its a thread about a name. Not about the English schooling system