Spelling of an Irish name

[HRSC]

I am due to have my first baby (girl) in August. My husband is Irish and I am British and we live in Portugal (which is where I grew up and where the majority of my family lives).

We have decided to give the baby an Irish name and now we are discussing the spelling of the name. The name we’ve chosen in Niamh which is easy to say in Portuguese but is going to be minefield for anyone to try and read (or spell!).

Do we stick with the traditional Irish spelling and she has an issue whenever anyone tries to read or spell her name or do we go for a different spelling which can be read much more easily by non English speaking people? (Like Neve or Nieve etc)

We are not likely to ever move to Ireland, most likely we will stay in Portugal so this will be something that she will have to deal with for her whole life.

What are your opinions on this? My husband and I can’t decide.

*I have a name that Portuguese people struggle to read and it is a pain when I’m booking a restaurant or at at doctors appointments etc so I often just give my middle name which is more translatable when booking restaurants etc)

This.
I work with a lot of Irish women and lots of people don’t get the names even when told the correct pronunciation. And every time a new person joins a meeting the whole rigmarole starts again! Niamh gets called Ny-am. I would use Niamh as a middle name and use a more universally pronounceable Irish name for her first as you seem quite an international family! Caitriona, Cara, Ciara, Emer/Eimear, Clíona, Orla (not Órfhlaith 😊) Gobnait (😬). Maybe get a book of Irish girls names and go through them - you might find one you love as much as Niamh. Good luck - it’s a lovely thing to be naming a baby girl.

Quite.
People don't like being corrected, Sone people can't be taught because they don't care/have no natural ear etc

You can't spell it Neve, as all of the Portuguese would call her "nev" (or snow, as you say).

Definitely has to be Niamh

I would pronounce Neve and Niamh slightly differently. Neve to rhyme with Eve and Niamh like "Nee-uv" with a very slight "uv" sound at the end.

Correct other cultures do change names and spellings to accommodate others. A famous example is Li Jun Fan and this person is much better known as Bruce Lee. Polish people are known to change theirs too, e.g., Piotr to Peter, Lukasz to Lucas, Patrycja to Patricia, Ryszard to Richard, etc.

It's pretty common.

@HRSC spell it however you want - Niamh, Neve, Naeve, etc. There's no rule that says you have to stick with the traditional spelling. All names evolve and change over time.

Niamh is one of the easier names too ...but you'll be setting your child up for a lifetime of having her name misspelled or mispronounced. Neve is a lot easier!

"Don't butcher a traditional name by spelling it Neve because some people are ignorant or lazy."

It's not ignorant or lazy to not know how to spell or pronounce something. Obviously, they just have to ask. But imagine being asked, every day for the rest of your life...

@DownNative , Bruce Lee doesn't countt, because it was a stage name. Lots of actors use stage names (David Tennant, Marilyn Monroe, etc)

I have worked with people who call themselves names like Les, Peter, Katie etc instead of Leszek, Piotr, Ekaterina but they chose to do that to their own name, and they probably did it because their names were mispronounced.

Yes I mean languages which both do and don't use the same alphabets. I have travelled extensively and my name is pronounced in the way that is easiest for the culture and language I'm in. And in the three countries I lived in, in informal situations, (not passports etc!!), I changed the spelling to make reading and pronunciation easier. (And Down Native gave some other common examples)

But I make no comment on the OP's dilemma.

I would go with the traditional spelling or choose another name.

Sofia Niamh
Lara Niamh
Sarah Niamh
Hannah Niamh
Cloe Niamh
Erin Beatriz

@briansgardenshed , but again, it's someone adapting their own name, not their child's.

Niamh is a lovely name. I'm with the "spell it correctly or use a other name" camp. (Second generation Irish, for context).

Of course, it counts - Li was anglicised to Lee for Western audiences, but his birth certificate states "Bruce Lee". This isn't the same thing as Norma Jean changing to Marilyn Monroe which was a stage name. 🤦‍♂️

But it's true that people from other cultures do and have anglicised their names. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Some previously asserted that this doesn't happen.

Some do it to save explaining pronunciation, others because it's often mispelled and others do it to blend in with the place they've moved to. It's neither wrong or right - it just is.

I agree. I usually ask, and I can tell that they are fed up with being asked.
They seem to always apologise for having a silly name, when their name is lovely,

If you're going to use the name, spell it the correct/traditional way, then give her an easier middle name to use when she's older like you do.

@DownNative , have you seen his birth certificate? Not that I give a shit.

I know some people from SE Asia who use an english-sounding name instead of a chinese or korean one, and you might see nothing wrong with it, but that is their decision. I can't say I agree with it, but it's their decision.

Will she be given her father's surname and is it an Irish surname? If yes, then I'd scrap Niamh and find something else entirely. Something to represent her British heritage?

@DuchessOfSausage "I agree. I usually ask, and I can tell that they are fed up with being asked"

I was 40 when I gave up . I did try never to look fed up though!

I gave up much sooner. I was flogging a dead horse.

Niamh is a beautiful Irish name, please don't butcher it by spelling it wrong! What about Erin or Orla? Both lovely Irish names and easy to pronounce

Personally I would use the Irish spelling. My daughter has an Irish name and we live in the UK. Barely anyone we meet can spell or pronounce her name without asking but she doesn't mind. It's a beautiful name.

Of course as it's online. Bruce Lee (Jun Fan Lee), so his name was Bruce Jun Fan Lee.

People change their names for all kinds of reasons, including they simply don't like the name their parents gave them. Its one of those things that's neither right nor wrong - it just is.

Niamh, Neve, Naeve - all amounts to the same name, pronunciation and meaning. Not something for anyone to get bent out of shape over.

And OP should just pick whatever she thinks would be easiest. They never know, the child that grows up to become an adult might well change it to something else entirely! It happens.

Just use the normal spelling. It annoys me when people say to me 'just call me x because you won't be able to pronounce my real name'. It's patronising. Some English names are difficult too - took me a minute to get the hang of 'St John' when I met one, but I was able to do it.

I would go with the spelling that works best in Portugal, for the pronunciation you love.
If Nia sounds good and is usable, that's what I might choose, but I do read the word "niamh" like "nia".

I'm amused by the person upthread musing that Caitriona is more likely to be pronounced correctly!

Obviously never heard an English person mangle that one!