Sullivan

[Moomoo36]

I normally like more classic names but for some reason I'm taken with Sullivan.

Has anyone used it/know one/have an opinion on it?

Doubt I'm having a boy anyway as this is dc4 and all the others are girls but good to be prepared!

@harrietm87 And I am perfectly entitled to my own opinion as to whether or not it’s cultural appropriation. As a presumably non Irish person you’re not really qualified to lecture me on that. There’s a very long history of how Irish names and Irish people were treated by the British and you’ll appreciate that your opinion about Persian and Ancient Greek names is entirely irrelevant.

As a non white personal I am fully aware of what is and what is not cultural appropriation. The point is, you can say what you want but by saying 'these Irish names' commonly used for 100 years are ok but 'these other Irish names' that have only in the past 15-20 years are cultural appropriation you just gone across as contrary and with no substance to your issue

Yep. Absolutely we are. But it's a bit rich for people to say they detest surnames as first names but then accept that a whole bunch of commonly used names that started as surnames are fine. That means it's not the surname as a first name they don't like. It's just the babes themselves. Why can't people just say they don't like the names m?

@stingypeasant , I think it is ok to say you don't like surnames as first names.
I don't like names like Harper, Piper or Hunter as first names or the names like Jackson and Harrison or McKenzie.
I don't particularly like names like Campbell, Cooper, Cassidy, Rafferty or Sullivan as first names either.

@SunnyFog
But O'Sullivan translates to Ó Súilleabháin or Ó Súileabháin, these days at least. It's not pronounced the same as O'Sullivan, it is similar though. There is a fada on the u (also on the second a). The etymology isn't certain but the first part is believed to be súil (eye). I've never heard that the surname is related to the first name Solamh (which does sound like the anglicised O'Sullivan). Have you read somewhere that the names Solamh and Sullivan are related or is it most probably a coincidence?

https://forvo.com/word/%C3%B3_suilleabh%C3%A1in/

@LizzieAnt , I thought Solamh was like the Welsh Selyf (Selliv) and a form of Solomon. I'm only guessing.

Don’t like it and will always, always be shortened to Sully

@DuchessOfSausage

Yes, Solamh is the Irish form of Solomon. I never heard that it was in any way related to the name O'Sullivan as a pp suggested.

I’m glad you pointed that out. All I could think of was One Eye.

What about Findlay, Elliot, Oliver, Kieffer, Gregory, Lewis, Harris or Connor?

Except that’s not at all what I said. Did you give your own child a surname from another culture as a first name? Do you love the name Sullivan? If not, then why do you care so much?

Conor has been a first name for over a thousand years , long before its use as a patronymic.

@stingypeasant , I don't think I would use any of those names as first names.

If I had to pick one it would be Oliver. I thought it was from olive and a first name.
I think of Gregory as a first name not a surname because of the popes, but I don't particularly like the name but I don't dislike it.

Lewis is quite nice as a middle name. Conor is ok as a first name but became too popular.

@stingypeasant , I wouldn't call a baby Johnson or Collier or something. like that.

@harrietm87 my DS has an Irish surname as a first name & while I'm not Irish I do have Irish ancestry (recent enough to get an Irish passport not 6 generations back) it's an old family name - is that inappropriate cultural appropriation?

OP I like Sullivan but then all the name options we had for DS were family surnames & I'm Scottish so it's not strange to me.

I also have an uncle called Johnson, again an old family name from my great grannie's side.

This whole thread has got very heated. I don't know about England so much but in Scotland practically every traditional boys' name is also a surname: Duncan, Malcolm, Finlay, Ross, Lewis, Donald, Stuart etc. I suspect what (MN) folk object to is the popular American sounding ones like Mackenzie. There's a definite MN aversion to Celtic/American names.

Not for me, I think it sounds like a pirates name 🤷‍♀️

It's a much better explanation than anything with eyes in.

One of my own clients had a baby Sullivan nn Sully. He must be about 4/5 now. Always reminded me of monster inc.

I like it, and nn Sully.
I guess it depends on your surname though and whether it sounds like an estate agents/solicitors when put together!

Any explanation of the name will have 👀 in it . Súil means eye. That's the only bit we all agree on 😂

@Tintackedsea , I thought Mackenzie was scottish

It's a Scottish surname but not typically a first name. I'd say that's one of the American iterations of this type of name. It would be unusual to meet a Scottish man over the age of 40 with the first name Mackenzie but fairly common to meet a child. Fraser, Ross, Duncan, Finlay etc are common in all age ranges as both first names and surnames.

I really like it, but you'll be told on here that it's a surname and it's American.

The who idea of it being American is nuts, where do people think America got their names and customs, lots are from Scotland and Ireland.