Neutral Northern Ireland names

[Rabbitrescue]

Baby girl’s due date is coming soon and we have absolutely no name contenders!

We both prefer classic names - not very modern

I don’t know if I am overthinking it- but I think my difficulty is finding a name that suits our family identity. We are a mixed marriage, although my husband who was raised in Protestant faith has always had an Irish passport ( kept secret from his staunch parents) . I was raised in Catholic faith but have British passport- to give some indication of where our hearts lie. Child will be raised in Catholic faith

Considering names many of my husbands suggestions - I feel are ‘too English/ I am not that sophisticated/ don’t feel comfortable with. He would be better read/ more cultural than me. My husband also likes Irish names- but it is me holding back.
I think my own experiences; as a child ( knowing not to say your name outloud in a public place) and experiences as a working adult ( some service users reacting to my irish - assumed catholic name) puts me off.
I don’t want to deny faith/ heritage but on the other side - I don’t want child to ever feel fearful.
I know it’s a different world now

Perhaps this post seems ridiculous- but just reaching out for words of wisdom/ name suggestions as I am at a loss
Honestly don’t mean to offend

Would anyone be able to suggest names that have subtle Irish hints? I liked the name Cora ( but best friend has just named her baby that) as it’s simple, feels Irish but actually isn’t and is classic

Or names that are very neutral in Northern Ireland
for example - I know lots of men of different religious backgrounds called James.

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes time to rely

The people I know from NI deliberately picked neutral names for their children, but this was some time ago now.
They used names like Sarah, Catherine, Anne, Lily.
No Irish language names were used (they are Catholic) and nothing too English like Beatrice or Arabella.
Hopefully things are changing but it'll take a while yet.

I still probably wouldn’t give my kids Irish names in NI, just because I think it’s nice not be defined by your name. But I agree it’s not (usually) a huge deal these days. You could give them an Irish middle name?

If you like quite classic neutral names with some Irish history (either they’ve been used for a while or a famous Irish woman had the name) -

Catherine
Elizabeth
Rose
Anna / Hannah (or Susannah I guess)
Sarah
Emma
Rosanna
Cara
Clara
Clare
Grace (Grace O’Malley a cracker to be named after)
Lilian (Lilian Bland is another great one)
Jocelyn (J Bell was cheated out of a Nobel prize!)
Eleanor / Ellen / Helen/a
Constance
Molly

I think of Nora as quite an RC name so not sure about that one

I'm living in Belfast, I do think you're getting yourself a bit worked up, pick a name you want, you won't be able to please everyone as I'm sure you know living here. My son has a more Catholic associated name while my Daughter is more neutral, this is purely because I liked these names. I'm an atheist and send my children to an integrated school where there is a mixture of kids from all sides and different countries. If you like an Irish name go for it, the people who care that much will make it a point to find out someone's religion anyway. If you like Cora what about Clara? Claire? Caitlin?

OP,
I'm in Glasgow and I understand what you mean, I have a catholic sounding name (I am catholic) and some of the abuse I was given when younger and out in town as a young adult was ridiculous.

My partner is English so both my kids have neutral names but with Irish middle names as I have Irish grandparents.

I don't want them to have to be involved in the sectarianism I suffered.

I don't think you realise how alive it still is unless you live it!

I'm also in Glasgow. Have a neutral first name and quite a "protestant" maiden name...and now a very Irish surname. Before I got married I would have thought it was nonsense if someone said that you'd be judged for having an Irish name or vice versa.

However, I've now last track of the amount of comments I've had about how I "obviously must be catholic". Im not, but neither am I offended by the assumption - I couldn't care less about religion or what people think. Im more surprised about the number of people who jump to that conclusion based on a name, then feel like it's okay to make a comment on what they have presumed my religion to be.

A few years ago I flew into londonderry and was hiring a car to drive to Donegal. Guy at the car hire was quite grumpy and made a derogatory comment about my surname. I joked that it was my married name and I was in the process of divorcing H and my name would revert to [maiden name]. How whole attitude and personality changed in a slot second!!

Best laid plans though. I gave dd a totally non-Irish name. She now goes by a nn which people often misremember as a classic Irish name. You can only try…

I know what you mean OP. I’m from NI, live in England now but when we go back home I notice heads turn when I call my English-accented children their very Irish names. When we go to certain parts of Belfast I avoid shouting their names out and I know my mum won’t say their names to eg taxi drivers. It’s shit but it is what it is.

But there are loads of names that are neutral in NI - basically any of the popular names in England. I’m a 90s kid and I had both Protestant and Catholic friends called Claire, Sarah, Catherine, Laura, Jennifer. The equivalents today would likely be Olivia, Evie, Isla, Ava etc.

I love Cora!

On the one hand you're overthinking but on the other hand, I get it and it seems like a good idea to me.

I love Cora but I've no idea how it sounds.

Love Anya, Zara, Leah, zoe and they seem similarly neutral. But I'm from Dublin so not that well tuned in to how names might land.

,@JumpinJellyfish this is a dopey question perhaps, but how do you know which camp the taxi driver might be in,? Or is it just sensible caution.

Not assuming that anybody is being overly cautious btw. I went up to see the titanic exhibition 8 years ago and a lot of people had either a tricolor phone case or a union jack phone case. We stayed in a air b n b that had neighbouring houses with union Jack's and the English host stopped just short of saying why here, why this street. But I hadn't a clue. And excessive tribalism is a bit unsettling, not the particular side.

Zombie thread oops