Réaltín

[Herculesfan]

I love the name Réaltín meaning little star but my
husband thinks his family will struggle to pronounce it.

Tintin

Lovely name but you should spell it Réiltín or Réailtín. In the Irish language you can't have a long vowel (a,o or u) before a short vowel (i or e) with a consonant between them. It looks insane to Irish speakers.

Ignore the websites. Most of them are hilariously inaccurate. The ‘accents’ in Irish are called ‘síne fada’ and they lengthen vowel sounds — ‘a’ becomes ‘aw’, ‘e’ becomes ‘ay’ to rhyme with ‘hay’, ‘I’ becomes ‘ee’ etc. It changes the meaning. For instance the word ‘sean’ (pronounced ‘Shan’) means old. The same word with a fada is the name Seán.

It appears that a number of people on here who think they can pronounce it can’t agree, so I wouldn’t give a child a name that very few people know the correct pronunciation, she will be forever correcting people. I also wonder whether some names work better with the corresponding accent, because to me none of the pronunciations offered sound particularly lovely with my accent

OP please do use a recognised spelling for Irish speakers. I have a name that is not English but my parents used an unusual spelling. I also grew up only speaking English so can’t pronounce my name “correctly”. Will your daughter grow up speaking Irish so she can say her own name?

She will grow up bilingually speaking both Irish and English in the home so pronunciation won’t be a problem for her. Husbands family are English with a history of being dismissive of Irish names, including mine and her older sisters.

@CasuirDubh fair point, my ability to read and write in Irish are not reflective of my ability to speak it and while I know the Caol le caol, leathan le leathan rule I never occurred to me that my spelling (and that of a friend of mine which is why I used it) defies the rule 🤦‍♀️

Hi OP, that's my name and I adore it😀
I lived in the UK as a post grad student and once I told people how it's pronounced, they had no difficulty with it. There were a few dicks who wanted me to use an anglicised version 🙄 but I never wavered and assured them there isn't an one.

I now live in the US and I have yet to experience the level of opposition to Irish names as I did in the UK. Some English people are sneery about Irish names and their spellings that isn't projected to other non English names.

My son and daughter have Irish names with Old Irish spellings, once told of the pronunciations, friends, US in-laws and teachers have no difficulty in pronouncing their names.

Go ahead and use it with pride OP😄

Is fear liom “réalt -ín” ná “réilt -ín”.
Chreidim go coir é an litriú “Réaltín”.

Ach briseann sin caol le caol, leathan le leathan. Réailtín b'fhéidir?

My husband is English and his parents eyes nearly fell out of their heads when they seen my sons irish name but 2 years on and they've adapted and can spell and say it better than a lot of irish people.
People on mn are a bit allergic to any name that's alien to them. If you love it then use it , people will learn how to say it

Other names with similar meanings

Stella
Aster
Astra
Hesper (Evening star)
Esther
Estelle
Seren
Vesper (Evening star/ Evening prayer)

I think people will struggle with pronouncing the other.

Oh sorry hadn't seen the post where the child will speak Irish in which case yes lovely choice.

ní bhriseann “Réaltín” an rial Caplin le caolnó is éisceacht é. Cineál comhfhocal atá ann.

Is fearr liomsa an t leathan agus nach anásta “réaltaoin”?

I'd go with Réiltín (caol le caol etc) and pronounce it Railcheen, but I do think people outside Ireland will find it tricky.

Even more so if you went leathan le leathan!

😂😂😂

You mention accents and accents in Irish people vary too, meaning the pronunciation of Irish words can differ from place to place in Ireland.
Hence one poster saying a man from Derry pronounced it differently to how I and the OP pronounced it is perfectly normal.

The UK is a multi cultural society with names that are far more difficult to pronounce and spell than Réaltín.
Go for it OP.

It appears that a number of people on here who think they can pronounce it can’t agree, so I wouldn’t give a child a name that very few people know the correct pronunciation, she will be forever correcting people.

There are different dialects in Irish @crumblingschools. The letter 't' can be said quite differently by Irish speakers in the north and south of the country. Not all the differences you're seeing are mistakes.

Gábh mo leithsceal. Ní fhaca mé spellchecker ag mangáil mo phost ansin.

Could you translate your posts please @SunnyFog? Not everyone can understand them.

I doubt she wants anyone to

I'm not Irish but I think it's lovely, and once someone posted the pronunciation I wouldn't struggle to remember how to say it.
I'd go for it OP.

Sorry but unless you live in Ireland, it’s not going to work

She’s speaking to the other Irish speakers on the thread. About a phonological point to do with Irish conjugation. No one without reasonable Irish will understand the point (which is relevant to the spelling of Réaltín/Réailtín/ Réiltín), so no need to translate for anyone without Irish.

She could have explained that if so @CountessKathleen.
It's rude to exclude people from a conversation.